BIG Wrap

(CNN) The U.S. Defense Department has been aggressively pursuing laser weapons and defense systems, a push that gained significant attention this week when the use of an anti-drone laser system led to the temporary shutdown of airspace over El Paso, Texas. The interest in high-energy systems has only accelerated as military planners look to grapple with the rise of commercially available drones and as the defense industry has jumped to develop laser-based weapons systems for ground,...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has claimed victory in the country’s first election since a student-led uprising that ousted longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in 2024. Unofficial results confirmed by election officials to Al Jazeera on Friday showed the BNP winning 209 seats, easily crossing the 151-seat threshold needed for a majority in parliament. Its leader, Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is set to become the country’s next prime minister....

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Tom Homan, the US border security chief, says that the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to mass detentions, protests and two deaths is coming to an end. “As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,” Homan said at a news conference on Thursday. “I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude.” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Russia has blocked messaging service WhatsApp over alleged legal breaches, urging users to switch to a state-backed alternative in what is widely seen as a bid to clamp down on free speech amid the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced the move on Thursday, attributing it to WhatsApp’s “reluctance to comply with the norms and letter of Russian law”. He advised Russians to turn instead to MAX, a state-sponsored platform touted...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) A notorious prisoner involved in Guinea’s infamous 2009 stadium massacre was transferred from the capital Conakry’s central prison as witnesses reported heavy gunfire. At least three special forces armoured vehicles were seen in front of the prison on Tuesday and three ambulances viewed leaving it. It remains unclear who was shooting or what triggered it. Gunfire reportedly began shortly before 9am (09:00 GMT) and lasted more than half an hour. Authorities did not explicitly link...

(CNN) When the partner of a 35-year-old magistrate in France checked his phone last week, he saw a picture of his partner accompanied by a stark warning: pay a ransom in cryptocurrency or we will mutilate her. The man – an associate in a start-up that has cryptocurrency activities – reported the demand to French police on Thursday morning, sparking a multi-agency manhunt involving as many as 160 officers, local authorities said. The magistrate and her elderly mother...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Air Canada has said it is suspending service to Cuba due to an ongoing aviation fuel shortage on the island. “Air Canada took the decision following advisories issued by governments about the unreliability of aviation fuel supply at Cuban airports,” the airline said in a press release on Monday. “It is projected that, as of February 10, aviation fuel will not be commercially available at airports on the island. For remaining flights,...

(CNN) Jeffrey Epstein had a message he wanted to get to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was June 2018 – about a year after Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin had suddenly died. Churkin had been someone Epstein met with regularly in New York, according to new documents released by the Department of Justice, and Epstein had even offered to help Churkin’s son, Maxim, get a job at a wealth management firm in New York. Now...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Hamas’s political leader abroad, Khaled Meshaal, has rejected calls to disarm Palestinian factions in Gaza, arguing that stripping weapons from an occupied people would turn them into “an easy victim to be eliminated”. Speaking on the second day of the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha on Sunday, Meshaal described the discussion around Hamas handing over its weapons as a continuation of a century-long effort to neutralise Palestinian armed resistance. “In the context that our...

(CNN) A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and injured 169 during Friday prayers at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, authorities said. It was the deadliest attack in the country since January 2023, when a blast at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed more than 100 people. Pakistan has witnessed a rising wave of militancy in recent years, but attacks have been less frequent in the heavily guarded capital....