CENTCOM says the strike in northwest Syria on Friday killed a man tied to the December attack that killed US troops and an interpreter.
Published On 17 Jan 202617 Jan 2026
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The United States says an air strike in northwestern Syria has killed an al-Qaeda-affiliated leader who had ties to an ISIL (ISIS) member involved in a deadly ambush of US forces last month.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday that an air strike a day earlier killed Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, who was “directly connected with the ISIS gunman who killed and injured American and Syrian personnel” in mid-December.
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“There is no safe place for those who conduct, plot, or inspire attacks on American citizens and our warfighters. We will find you,” CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper said in a statement.
Two US soldiers and a military interpreter were killed in the ISIL ambush in the Syrian city of Palmyra on December 13.
Since then, the US has carried out a series of large-scale strikes in Syria in what it says is a response to the deadly attack on US forces.
On Saturday, CENTCOM said US forces and their partners had struck more than 100 ISIL “infrastructure and weapons” sites since the US military launched its retaliatory operation in December.
“Additionally, US and partner forces have captured more than 300 ISIS operatives and killed over 20 across Syria during the past year,” it said.
US President Donald Trump had promised to inflict significant damage on those responsible for the deadly attack on US troops.
“I can tell you, in Syria, there will be a lot of big damage done to the people that did it,” Trump said on December 13.
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Protesters in Greenland rallied on Saturday against any US move acquire the territory
A threat by President Donald Trump to impose fresh tariffs on eight allies opposed to his proposed takeover of Greenland has drawn condemnation from European leaders.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the move was “completely wrong”, while French President Emmanuel Macron called it “unacceptable”.
The comments came after Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland would come into force on 1 February but could later rise to 25% – and would last until a deal was reached.
Mr Trump insists the autonomous Danish territory is critical for US security and has not ruled out taking it by force.
Meanwhile, thousands of people took to the streets in Greenland and Denmark on Saturday in protest at the proposed US takeover.
Greenland is sparsely populated but resource-rich and its location between North America and the Arctic makes it well placed for early warning systems in the event of missile attacks and for monitoring vessels in the region.
Trump has previously said Washington would get the territory “the easy way” or “the hard way”.
Greenland: ‘Diplomatic channels are the way to go’ US speaker tells BBC before tariff announcement
European countries have rallied to Denmark’s support. They have argued that the security of the Arctic region should be a joint Nato responsibility.
France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK have dispatched a small number of troops to Greenland in a so-called reconnaissance mission.
Announcing the new tariffs in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump said those countries were playing “a very dangerous game”. At stake, he said, was the “Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet”.
He said the proposed 10% levy to be introduced next month on goods exported to the US would rise to 25% in June and remain “payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”.
In his response, Starmer said: “Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.”
France’s Emmanuel Macron said: “Tariff threats are unacceptable in this context… We will not be swayed by any intimidation.”
Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson said: We won’t let ourselves be blackmailed.”
“Sweden is currently having intensive discussions with other EU countries, Norway and the United Kingdom to find a joint response,” he added.
European Council President Antonio Costa stated: “The European Union will always be very firm in defending international law… which of course begins within the territory of the member states of the European Union.”
Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the threat had “come as a surprise”.
Meanwhile, German MEP Manfred Weber, head of the conservative EPP group in the European Parliament, said Trump’s move raised questions about the still-to-be-ratified EU-US trade deal negotiated last year.
Brussels and Washington clinched a deal that agreed a US tariff on all EU goods of 15% and that the 27-member bloc would open its markets to US exporters with 0% tariffs on certain products.
“The EPP is in favour of the EU-US trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” Weber posted on X. “The 0% tariffs on US products must be put on hold,” he added.
Reuters
Trump has recently escalated his drive to acquire Greenland
The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, however, said Denmark “just doesn’t have the resources or the capacity to do what needs to be done in the northern region”.
He told Fox News the life of Greenlanders would be “safer, stronger and more prosperous under the umbrella of the United States”.
Trump has often mused that “tariff” is his favourite word, and he has made clear that he views it as something of a blunt instrument with which to convince – or coerce – countries around the world to align their policies with the desired outcomes of the White House.
But his announcement represents a significant escalation in his recently rekindled drive to acquire Greenland, despite their opposition.
It is unclear what immediately prompted the tariffs announcement, which Trump first hinted at while speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday.
While in recent weeks he has repeatedly said that a variety of options – including the potential use of military force – remained on the table, the announcement comes just days after US and Danish officials agreed to set up a high-level working group to discuss the future of the island.
In Washington’s diplomatic and political circles, that announcement was seen by many as a “best-case” scenario for Denmark and its European allies – one that would, at the very least, delay any decision or further escalation from the White House.
Instead, the latest tariffs have injected a newfound sense of urgency into the issue and strained relations with important Nato allies and trading partners.
EPA
Protesters in Copenhagen waved Greenland’s white and red flag in support of self-determination
Opinion polls suggest 85% of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the US.
In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, placards were held up reading: “Hands Off Greenland” and “Greenland for Greenlanders”.
“We demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination,” said Camilla Siezing, heads of Inuit, an umbrella group of Greenlandic associations.
In Nuuk, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen joined protesters holding signs reading “Greenland is not for sale” and “we shape our future” as they headed for the US consulate.
The rallies coincide with a visit to Copenhagen by a delegation from the US Congress. Its leader, Democratic Senator Chris Coons, described Mr Trump’s rhetoric as “not constructive”.
Watch: Why is there so much international interest in Greenland?
By the time Thomas Hearns challenged for his first world title in his 29th professional fight, only three men had heard the final bell against the Detroit knockout specialist.
Hearns’ final outing came, remarkably, in 2006, bringing to a close a 67-fight career spanning 29 years. Along the way he contested 19 world title bouts and won championships across five weight divisions. He is, of course, best remembered for his iconic battles with his fellow ‘Four Kings’ — Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.
The Ring magazine asked Hearns to name the toughest chin he faced during his career, and his answer was unequivocal.
“Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Hands down. He took a lot of shots and kept coming.”
From the opening bell, the fight erupted into a fearless exchange, with both men inviting the other to unleash their heaviest artillery. Atomic shots were traded in a brutal, uncompromising contest that lasted just eight minutes and one second.
The 15,128 in attendance at Caesars Palace watched in awe as a bloodied Hagler stalked Hearns, absorbing everything the challenger could offer before the champion’s relentless pressure told. Hearns was stopped in the third round.
What was scheduled as a 12-round marathon became a three-round sprint — and in the furnace of one of boxing’s greatest fights, Hagler proved the superior finisher.
The future arrived on December 28, 2025 as the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) announced that Iron Beam became the first high-energy tactical laser weapon to be fully integrated and cleared for operations in a national defense array. And it’s not alone.
When the invention of the laser by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Laboratories was made public on July 7, 1960, the press immediately saw the military possibilities, with the Los Angeles Herald proclaiming “LA Man Discovers Science-Fiction Death Ray.”
In the months and years that followed, popular media would often talk about the destructive potential of lasers with the Associated Press publishing an article that proclaimed that a satellite armed with a laser could control the Earth. Concepts of laser weapons were common while thrillers like 1964’s Goldfinger cemented the concept of the laser weapon in the public’s mind.
The Iron Beam Laser
Rafael
However, reality was very, very far behind. For years the laser was infamous as the solution in search of a problem and although lasers could be spectacular, they were hardly weapons-grade in the 1960s. Just look at the fact that the power of the laser then was measured in Gillettes. That is, how many razor blades a laser beam could cut through at one time.
Even as the laser found applications in science and technology, giving rise to miracle surgery and revolutionary communications, lasers mainly found military applications as targeting systems and range finders. The only real laser weapon that saw service during the 20th century was a low-power laser used by the Royal Navy during the 1982 Falklands War to temporarily dazzle and distract enemy pilots.
Not that this was due to lack of trying. Both the US and the Soviet Union had ambitious programs to develop laser weapons. The Americans even modified a Boeing 747 to carry a huge experimental and alarmingly dangerous chemical laser designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles that was more of a menace to the crew than the missiles.
The Apollo laser weapon
EOS
In the past two decades the development of a new generation of lasers began to change all this. The basic problem was three fold. First, figure out how to make a laser with enough power to be practical. Second, learn how to seek targets. Third, how to adjust the beam to compensate for atmospheric effects.
The breakthrough was the development of solid-state lasers that use bundles of glass fibers doped with exotic elements like ytterbium, erbium, and thulium along with aluminum, germanium, and phosphorus. These curled up bundles allowed for very long, efficient lasers to be stuffed into very small volumes and new technologies allowed multiple lasers to be combined into a single, far more powerful beam.
At the business end, new targeting systems were developed to identify and lock onto targets quickly. Along with this came systems that used things like reference lasers to analyze the air between the weapon and target so the deadly beam could be altered to compensate for any distortion.
The Rheinmetall/MBDA navy laser
Rheinmetall
The result of all this is that in recent years new laser weapons were beginning to show up and these weren’t just coming from the usual suspects like the United States nor were these mere concepts that might one day lead to practical systems. They were popping up in Russia, China, South Korea, France, Britain, Turkey, Japan, Germany, India, and, most notably Israel.
Israel’s Iron Beam began life in 1996 as a joint US/Israel project. Originally conceived as a chemical deuterium fluoride laser, it swapped over to solid-state, electrically-powered, ytterbium-doped lasers when it moved to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. In 2024, recent conflicts resulted in the system being fast tracked for combat duty to intercept hostile drones and missiles and now it has been officially integrated into Israel’s armed forces as the innermost layer of the air defenses tasked with intercepting short-range threats, including rockets and mortars.
As far as laser weapons are concerned, this is a major milestone. While other systems have been deployed with various militaries and have even been tested in combat, this is the first time that a laser weapon has been formally added to a country’s armed forces as a fully integrated system.
The US LOCUST laser mounted on a tactical vehicle
AeroVironment
The reason why this has taken so long is that there’s a big difference between developing a functional, practical laser weapon and making one that’s fully operational. Modern weapon systems act as one component in a much larger – often global – network. They also have to be compatible with a very complex logistical supply and maintenance line. Not to mention that there has to be an actual production line for the weapon instead of it being a series of one-offs.
That’s why online assertions that this or that experimental weapon should be rushed to the front lines immediately because this or that cause me to rub my eyes.
For a laser weapon to be fully operational, it needs to be rugged enough to handle being knocked about like any other piece of equipment. Systems under development are designed (oddly enough) for development. They include things like manual overrides to shut the laser down if it runs into problems like unexpected software reboots or cooling systems suddenly having troubles with dust. They also need safety buffers to make sure the system doesn’t accidentally harm anything as it’s watched by the monitoring safety team– a requirement that combat systems don’t have.
The UK Dragonfire laser
Crown copyright
In addition, test units work alone while operational ones must integrate with command and control systems that can decide in milliseconds whether to fire on a suspected target. Add to this, operational units must be built to military specifications, withstand nasty environments and inadequate storage conditions – all while maintaining reliability. If something does go wrong, a field technician has to be able to bang it back into shape. That means having standard spares available and maintenance procedures drawn up and tested.
Finally, the targets are different for development lasers and combat lasers. The targets used for development are scripted or semi-controlled, so the engineers can lock down all the variables and concentrate on only one problem at a time. On the other hand, combat lasers have to handle live saturation attacks that are the complete opposite of controlled.
What all this boils down to is that even a laser weapon that’s already shooting down hostile drones is streets away from one that’s officially part of the armory.
Currently, there are about 17 tactical lasers that are operational, combat-cleared, field tested, or under development. With the advantages of a weapon that can engage targets at the speed of light, has an infinite ammo magazine, and costs the famous “dollar-a-shot” to operate, there’s a lot of incentive to bring these online.
It’s an incentive that’s so great that the Royal Navy has pushed its schedule forward to field its Dragonfire laser to 2027 and others are likely also to see the fast track in the near future. In the short term, these systems will be used to counter drones as well as rockets, mortars, and other close-in aerial threats.
However, that’s only the short term.
As to the long term? That is anyone’s guess. If these tactical lasers fulfill their promise, they could be the biggest change to the battlefield since gunpowder went from fireworks to guns. That started up as popguns on sticks and ended with ballistic missiles that could reach any spot on Earth in minutes.
Where a class of weapons that started out as glorified pointers will go makes the phrase Death Star jump easily to mind.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has been re-elected to a seventh term, according to official results, winning nearly 72% of the vote to extend his 40-year rule. But opposition candidate Bobi Wine said the results were ‘fake’ and called for non-violent street protests.
President Donald Trump escalated his campaign to gain control over Greenland after several European countries deployed troops to the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
In a social media post on Saturday, he said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be hit with a 10% tariff starting on Feb. 1 that will rise to 25% on June 1, unless “Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
The announcement came after those NATO allies sent troops to Greenland this past week, ostensibly for training purposes, at the request of Denmark.
European officials have said it was meant to show they’re serious about security in the Arctic as Trump claims China and Russia are threatening Greenland, and not to defend against a possible U.S. attack. But Trump alluded to the troop deployment in his post Saturday.
“On top of everything else, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland have journeyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown,” he wrote. “This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.”
Trump has consistently refused to rule out using the U.S. military in his Greenland plans, while the administration has also left open the possibility of buying the island.
That’s despite estimates that extracting oil and rare earth minerals from Greenland would cost $1 trillion and take decades to yield any returns.
Trump’s latest post suggests he’s leaning toward leveraging trade relations for a purchase rather than conquering Greenland with troops and Navy ships.
A White House meeting with officials from Denmark and Greenland failed to result in any diplomatic breakthrough with the administration refusing to budge on its stance.
While Greenland has offered the U.S. military and commercial access, Trump has insisted that only an outright takeover can secure the island and ensure national security.
“The United States has been trying to do this transaction for over 150 years. Many Presidents have tried, and for good reason, but Denmark has always refused,” he said on Saturday. “Now, because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, both Offensive and Defensive, the need to ACQUIRE is especially important.”
Ajay Banga, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are among those on the committee
The White House has released the names of the members who will be part of the senior executive working with his new “Board of Peace” for Gaza.
With the US president as chair, the founding “Executive Board” will oversee the work of a committee of technocrats tasked with the temporary governance of Gaza – and its reconstruction.
Each member is expected to be in charge of a portfolio that will be “critical to Gaza’s stabilisation”, the White House has said. But it is not yet clear who will be responsible for which priorities.
There will also be a separate “Gaza Executive Board” – responsible for overseeing all on-the-ground work of yet another administrative group, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).
Meanwhile, the Board of Peace is expected to sit above these two executive bodies and comprise a number of world leaders.
No women and no Palestinians have been announced so far at the top level, but the White House said additional members will be announced over the coming weeks.
So, who is on theExecutive Board?
Sir Tony Blair
BBC/Monika Ghosh
Former UK Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair had long been talked about as a potential member of Trump’s “Board of Peace”, with the US president confirming back in September that he had expressed an interest in joining the body.
The former Labour Party leader was the UK prime minister from 1997 to 2007 and took the country into the Iraq War in 2003, a decision which means some may view his presence on the board as controversial.
After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet of international powers – the United Nations, European Union, US and Russia – from 2007 to 2015.
Sir Tony is the only founding member of the executive board who is not a US citizen.
He previously described Trump’s plans for Gaza as the “best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering”.
In a statement, Sir Tony said he was “honoured” to be named on the executive board, and thanked president Trump for his leadership in establishing the group.
He will also serve on the Gaza Executive Board.
Marco Rubio
Getty Images
As US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is central to the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy.
Before Trump’s return to office, Rubio had spoken out against a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that he wanted Israel “to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on”.
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate and golf partner to Trump, will also serve on the Gaza Executive Board.
Earlier this month, Witkoff announced the start of phase two of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that it would see the reconstruction and full demilitarisation of Gaza – including the disarmament of Hamas.
He added that he expects Hamas to “comply fully with its obligations” under the deal, or face “serious consequences”.
Witkoff has been a central figure in US-led efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, including holding a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December.
Jared Kushner
EPA
Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, has also played a key role in the Trump administration’s foreign policy negotiations.
Alongside Witkoff, Kushner has often worked as a US mediator for the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars, and he will now also serve on the Gaza Executive Board.
At a talk at Harvard University in 2024, Kushner said “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable… if people would focus on building up livelihoods.”
Marc Rowan
Getty Images
Billionaire Marc Rowan is the CEO of Apollo Global Management, a large private equity firm headquartered in New York.
Rowan was seen as a contender to become US treasury secretary for Trump’s second term. He will also be a member of the Gaza Executive Board.
Ajay Banga
Getty Images
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, has advised a number of senior US politicians, including President Barack Obama, during his lengthy career.
Born in India in 1959, Banga became a US citizen in 2007, and later served as the CEO of Mastercard for more than a decade.
Former US President Joe Biden nominated him to lead the World Bank in 2023.
Robert Gabriel
Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser, will be the final member of the “founding executive board”.
Gabriel has worked with Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign, shortly after which, according to PBS, he became a special assistant to Stephen Miller, another of Trump’s key current advisers.
Nickolay Mladenov
Getty Images
While not on the Executive Board,Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former UN Middle East envoy, will be the Board of Peace’s representative on the ground in Gaza, the White House has said.
He will sit on the Gaza Executive board andoversee a separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), charged with managing the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza.
The NCAG will be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority (PA) which governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that members of the executive boards were members of the Board of Peace.
SESAC Performing Rights has appointed UK-based music veteran Chris Sheehan as Vice President, International.
Sheehan joins the performing rights organization after more than 25 years working across artist management, publishing, recorded music, and creator advocacy.
He has been a long-term collaborator with SESAC through his role as co-founder of London-based Karousel Music, which operates as a management company, boutique label, publisher, and community interest company.
Through Karousel, Sheehan has worked closely with SESAC on a number of live initiatives, including a London showcase series launched in 2018 in partnership with the Music Managers Forum (MMF).
According to SESAC, the showcase has provided more than 600 performance opportunities for emerging artists, with artists retaining 100% of all the proceeds.
“As a trusted partner of our organization and close friend to John Sweeney, we’re confident he will honor John’s legacy while providing exceptional support to our affiliates in the UK and beyond.”
Sam Kling, SESAC Chief Creative Officer
Sheehan has also curated and hosted a SESAC and Karousel-affiliated showcase at Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, which has run annually for eleven years.
In his new role, he will build on the work of John Sweeney, who represented SESAC in the UK for more than 20 years before his death in June 2025.
Sweeney played a key role in supporting UK-based artists, including Glass Animals, Mumford & Sons, alt-J, Rex Orange County, Disclosure, Thin Lizzy, and others.
Commenting on the appointment, SESAC Chief Creative Officer Sam Kling said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Chris to the SESAC family. As a trusted partner of our organization and close friend to John Sweeney, we’re confident he will honor John’s legacy while providing exceptional support to our affiliates in the UK and beyond.”
In addition to his work with Karousel, Sheehan continues to manage UK-based songwriter and artist Ruby Duff. He is also involved in a range of industry networking and professional development events, including “Industry Speed Dating” sessions and Music Biz #QuizWAR!, which is sponsored by Amazon Music.
Earlier in his career, Sheehan worked at UK music charity Help Musicians and served on the organization’s advisory board. He has also held a board position with the International Association of Artists and Rightsholders (IAFAR).
Before moving into executive and advisory roles, Sheehan also spent 17 years as a recording artist and songwriter, releasing five studio albums, working with collaborators such as Matt Deighton and Mark E Brydon.
He later founded 50:50 Studios in 2005, where he worked as an engineer and producer for approximately 15 years.Music Business Worldwide
