The Canadian government announced Thursday a ban on an additional 324 firearm models, continuing its efforts to restrict weapons deemed inappropriate for civilian use. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc characterized the targeted firearms as belonging “on the battlefield,” not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters. This latest move builds on the 2020 prohibition of 1,500 firearm models, a list that has since expanded to over 2,000 as new variants have been identified. The new ban addresses concerns from gun-control advocates that previous measures left many assault-style firearms unregulated. “These firearms can no longer be used,” LeBlanc stated. Guns for UkraineIn an unprecedented step, Canada is collaborating with Ukraine to donate some of the banned firearms to support its defense against Russia’s invasion. Defense Minister Bill Blair confirmed discussions with Ukrainian authorities, who expressed interest in the weapons. “Every bit of assistance we can offer to the Ukrainians is one step toward their victory,” Blair said. Planned Buyback ProgramThe federal government also reiterated its commitment to a national buyback program for prohibited firearms. The initiative, developed with provincial, territorial, and law enforcement agencies, aims to remove these weapons from private ownership. Read: Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump's tariff threat A Response to Past TragediesThe announcement comes on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, where a gunman killed 14 women before taking his own life. The Ruger Mini-14 used in that attack was among the firearms banned in 2020. Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the attack, voiced her support for the new measures. “These are just killing weapons, war weapons, military weapons,” she said. “I’m proud we are doing something.” Opposition CriticismConservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the measures, accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of targeting “licensed and law-abiding hunters and sport shooters” in a political stunt. Read more: Canada to reduce immigration targets as Trudeau acknowledges his policy failed Despite fewer mass shootings compared to the United States, Canada faces challenges with illegal firearms smuggled across the border, which are often linked to criminal activities. Source: With inputs from agencies

Hungary's foreign minister said a meeting of his counterparts from NATO member countries in Brussels on Wednesday had produced “no consensus” on the prospect of inviting Ukraine to join the transatlantic military alliance, a step Kyiv sees as an essential condition for bringing an end to Russia's war. Péter Szijjártó, a fervent critic of Ukraine with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, criticized some Western countries that have increased military support to Kyiv following Donald Trump's election to the White House, claiming such moves risked escalating the conflict. He warned that bringing Ukraine into NATO’s ranks “would be tantamount to initiating World War III.” Jewish settlers clash with Israeli troops after attack on Palestinian towns “We believe that Ukraine would not be able to add to European security in its present situation, but rather, as a country at war, inviting Ukraine into NATO we would risk ... the threat of war, namely, the threat of a NATO-Russian war," Szijjártó told a news conference. The meeting of NATO foreign ministers came as Russia makes advances on the battlefield in Ukraine while Kyiv's Western supporters seek to improve its position before Trump takes office in January. Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent in supporting Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies. Leaders of the 32 NATO member countries have declared that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership in the alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons. Consensus among all NATO countries is required for admitting new members. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently suggested that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage” of the almost three-year war. Hamas and Fatah are near an agreement on who will oversee postwar Gaza But Szijjártó on Wednesday voiced skepticism over increased Western support being able to influence the conflict in Ukraine's favor. “In spite of the arms shipments pouring there, Ukraine’s situation on the battlefield gets worse every day,” he said. “If someone talks about the improvement of the situation of the Ukrainians as an easily achievable goal on the battlefield, they do nothing but deceive themselves and the Ukrainians as well.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership of the military alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons. Rutte’s remarks, ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, came days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that extending alliance membership to territory now under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage" of the almost 3-year war in Ukraine, where Russian forces are pressing deeper into their western neighbor. “The front is not moving eastwards. It is slowly moving westwards,” Rutte said. “So we have to make sure that Ukraine gets into a position of strength, and then it should be for the Ukrainian government to decide on the next steps, in terms of opening peace talks and how to conduct them.” At their summit in Washington in July, leaders of the 32 NATO member countries insisted that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But some, led by the United States, have balked at moving forward while the war rages and before the country’s borders are clearly demarcated. China bans gallium, germanium exports to US over chip sanctions NATO was founded on the principle that an attack on any ally should be considered an attack on them all, and the alliance has consistently tried to avoid being dragged into a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia. Zelenskyy argued that once open conflict ends, any proposal to join NATO could be extended to all parts of the country that fall under internationally recognized borders. Pressed on this by reporters, Rutte said: “I would argue, let’s not have all these discussions step by step on what a peace process might look like.” The first step, he said, must be to “make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to get to a position of strength when those peace talks start.” Ukrainian officials made it clear Tuesday they won’t countenance any half measures or stopgap solutions on NATO membership. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement saying Ukraine “will not settle for any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” citing its “bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum.” Trump vows to hit hard Hamas if hostages are not released by Jan 20 Under the international agreement signed in the Hungarian capital 30 years ago, Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet-era atomic weapons, which amounted to the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, in return for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The foreign ministry statement called the Budapest agreement a “monument to short-sightedness in making strategic security decisions.” “We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” it said. Reflecting on his recent meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump, Rutte said he had underlined that China, North Korea and Iran were weighing in on Russia's side, putting the United States and the Asia-Pacific region at risk. “Whenever we get to a deal on Ukraine it has to be a good deal, because what we can never have is high-fiving Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping and whoever else," Rutte said, saying this would only encourage the leaders of North Korea and China to endorse the use of force elsewhere.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country will “invariably support” Russia’s war in Ukraine as he met Russia's defense chief, the North’s state media reported Saturday. A Russia military delegation led by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday, amid growing international concern about the two countries’ expanding cooperation after North Korea sent thousands of troops to Russia last month. The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim and Belousov reached “a satisfactory consensus” on boosting strategic partnership and defending each country’s sovereignty, security interests and international justice in the face of the rapidly-changing international security environments in a Friday meeting. Kim said that North Korea “will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony,” KCNA said. North Korea has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a defensive response to what both Moscow and Pyongyang call NATO’s “reckless” eastward advance and U.S.-led moves to stamp out Russia’s position as a powerful state. Kim slammed a U.S. decision earlier in November to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles as a direct intervention in the conflict. He called recent Russian strikes on Ukraine “a timely and effective measure" demonstrate Russia's resolve, KCNA said. According to U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and some of them have already begun engaging in combat on the frontlines. U.S., South Korean and others say North Korea has also shipped artillery systems, missiles and other conventional weapons to replenish Russia’s exhausted weapons inventory. Both North Korea and Russia haven’t formally confirmed the North Korean troops’ movements, and have steadfastly denied reports of weapons shipments. South Korea, the U.S. and their partners are concerned that Russia could give North Korea advanced weapons technology in return, including help to build more powerful nuclear missiles. Last week, South Korean national security adviser Shin Wonsik told a local SBS TV program that that Seoul assessed that Russia has provided air defense missile systems to North Korea. He said Russia also appeared to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system. North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats Belousov also met North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol on Friday. During a dinner banquet later the same day, Belousov said the the two countries' strategic partnership was crucial to defend their sovereignty from aggression and the arbitrary actions of imperialists, KCNA said. In June, Kim and Putin signed a treaty requiring both countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked. It's considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.  

Russia is engaged in a massive missile and drone attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Thursday, officials said, as fears mount about Moscow’s intentions to devastate the country's power generation capacity before winter. “Attacks on energy facilities are happening all over Ukraine,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a post on Facebook. He added that emergency power outages are being implemented nationwide. Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, and many other cities in central and western Ukraine. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said in a Telegram post that Russia had stockpiled missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure and wage war against civilians during the cold season. “They were helped by their crazy allies, including from North Korea,” he wrote. Over 280,000 households in the northwestern Rivne region are currently without electricity because of the attack, said the regional head, Oleksandr Koval. There are also interruptions to water supplies in affected areas. Some schools in Rivne city have been instructed to study remotely Thursday. There were also strikes on the bordering Volyn region, where 215,000 households have no electricity, said the head of administration, Ivan Rudnytskyi. All critical infrastructure that lost power has been switched to generators. Russia to use new missile again in 'combat conditions': Putin Local officials ordered opening the “points of invincibility” — shelter-type places where people can charge their phones and other devices and get refreshments during blackouts. In Kyiv, where the air raid alert lasted over nine hours, missile debris fell in one of the city’s neighborhoods, local officials said. No casualties were reported.  

South Korea’s president on Wednesday met a visiting Ukraine delegation and called for a joint response to the threat posed by North Korea’s recent dispatch of more than 10,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. The North Korean troop deployment is threatening to expand the almost three-year war, with Ukraine and the U.S. saying that some of the soldiers have already begun engaging in battle on the front lines. Seoul and Washington also worry that Russia might in return help North Korea build more advanced nuclear weapons targeting them. In late October, South Korea warned it could respond by supplying weapons to Ukraine. During a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, President Yoon Suk Yeol said he hopes that Seoul and Kiev will work out effective ways to cope with the security threat posed by the North Korean-Russian military cooperation including the North’s troop dispatch, Yoon’s office said in a statement. The Ukrainian delegation later met separately with Yoon’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, and Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun. During the meetings, Umerov briefed the South Korean officials on the status of the Russia-Ukraine war and expressed hope that Kyiv and Seoul will strengthen cooperation, the statement said. It said the two sides agreed to continue to share information on the North Korean troops in Russia and North Korean-Russian weapons and technology transfers while closely coordinating with the United States. The South Korean statement didn’t say whether the two sides discussed Seoul’s possible weapons supply to Ukraine. Many observers say Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could make South Korea more cautious about potentially shipping weapons to Ukraine because Trump has promised to end the war swiftly. Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, South Korea has joined U.S.-led sanctions against Moscow and shipped humanitarian and financial support to Kyiv. But it has avoided directly supplying arms in line with its policy of not supplying lethal weapons to countries actively engaged in conflicts. South Korean officials have said they will take phased countermeasures, linking the level of their response to the degree of Russia-North Korean cooperation. Shin, the national security adviser, said last week that Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for its sending troops to Russia. Experts say it’s unlikely that Russia will transfer high-tech nuclear and missile technology to North Korea in the initial stage of the troop dispatch. North Korea and Russia have sharply increased their military and other cooperation as each face confrontations with the U.S. and its allies. The U.S., South Korea and others accuse North Korea of having shipped artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia.  

NATO’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday said the alliance “needs to go further” to support Ukraine in its fight against a Russian invasion and accused Moscow of dangerously escalating the conflict by bringing in thousands of North Korean troops. “In pursuing its illegal war in Ukraine, Russia makes use of North Korean weapons and troops, Iranian drones and Chinese dual use goods for its defense industry,” Rutte said while on a visit to Greece. “This is a dangerous expansion of the war and a challenge to global peace and security.” Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who took over as NATO chief last month, met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens and thanked him for Greek support for Ukraine that includes weapons and ammunition, as well as training for F-16 pilots and technicians. “Our support for Ukraine has kept them in the fight, but we need to go further to change the trajectory of the conflict,” Rutte said. Greece spends over three per cent of its gross domestic product on defense, above the two per cent committed minimum for NATO members, and is seeking a change in European Union budget rules to allow for greater military spending. It also wants to help create a common European air defense system. “We agree on one of the fundamental priorities for all allies: the need to strengthen our collective defense, a goal that requires a strong defense industry with significant investments,” Mitsotakis said, adding that Athens backed “a more functional relationship between NATO and the European Union, to further strengthen the European pillar of the alliance.” The week that upped the stakes of the Ukraine war Europe’s NATO members have been discussing plans to boost defense investments for months due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and uncertainty surrounding the incoming U.S. administration following the election victory of President-elect Donald Trump. Rutte’s visit to Athens follows meetings with Trump in Florida and Turkish leaders in Ankara Monday. Rutte also held talks with Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis and Minister of Defense Nikos Dendias. Several thousand protesters marched through central Athens in opposition to the NATO chief’s visit. The largest rally was organized by a Communist-backed trade union, at which protesters chanted: “Give us money for health and education, not NATO killers.”  

Ukraine's parliament canceled a session on Friday as security was tightened after Russia deployed a new ballistic missile that threatens to escalate the nearly three-year war. NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks next Tuesday, the alliance said, following a request from Ukraine. The meeting will be held at the level of ambassadors and will most likely address the new missile threat. Russian troops also struck Sumy with Shahed drones overnight, killing two people and injuring 12 more, the regional administration said Friday morning. The attack targeted a residential district of the city. Ukraine’s Suspilne media, quoting Sumy regional head Volodymyr Artiukh, said the Russians used Shaheds stuffed with shrapnel elements for the first time in the region. “These weapons are used to destroy people, not to destroy objects,” said Artiukh, according to Suspilne. Separately, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský arrived on a visit to Kyiv. He posted a photo from Kyiv’s railway station on his X account Friday morning. “I am interested in how the Ukrainians are coping with the bombings, how Czech projects are working on the ground and how to better target international aid in the coming months. I will discuss all of this here,” Lipavský wrote. Three Ukrainian lawmakers confirmed that the parliamentary session previously scheduled was canceled due to the ongoing threat of Russian missile attacks targeting government buildings in the city center. Not only is the parliament closed, “there was also recommendation to limit the work of all commercial offices and NGOs that remain in that perimeter, and local residents were warned of the increased threat,” said lawmaker Mykyta Poturaiev, who added this is not the first time such a threat has been received. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office continued to work in compliance with standard security measures, a spokesperson said. Russia on Thursday fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile in response to Kyiv's use of U.S. and British longer-range missiles capable of striking deeper into Russian territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address on Thursday. It struck a missile factory in Dnipro in central Ukraine. Putin warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at 10 times the speed of sound and which he called Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. Russia attacks Ukraine with a new missile that the West can't stop: Putin Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate also released details. It said the missile was fired from the 4th Missile Test Range “Kapustin Yar” in Russia’s Astrakhan region, and flew 15 minutes before striking Dnipro. The missile had six warheads each carrying six submunitions. The peak speed the missile reached was 11 Machs. Test launches of a similar missile were conducted at the range in October 2023 and June 2024, the directorate said. The Pentagon confirmed that Russia's missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate-range missile based on its RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.  

The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate range missile based on it’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. “This was new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern," Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels, she said. The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv's use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia, Putin said. Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region, he said. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian president said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.” Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn't obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch. Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Read: Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine as first use Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the use of the missile was an "obvious and serious escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter.” He also said there had been “no strong global reaction” to the use of the missile, which he said could threaten other countries. “Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If there is no tough response to Russia’s actions, it means they see that such actions are possible.” The attack comes during a week of escalating tensions, as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said hours before Putin's address. “And how afraid he is.” Russia was sending a message by attacking Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of releasing multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even if they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Why might you use it therefore?” Savill said. "Signaling — signaling to the Ukrainians. We’ve got stuff that outrages you. But really signaling to the West ‘We’re happy to enter into a competition around intermediate range ballistic missiles. P.S.: These could be nuclear tipped. Do you really want to take that risk?’” Military experts say that modern ICBMs and IRBMs are extremely difficult to intercept, although Ukraine has previously claimed to have stopped some other weapons that Russia described as “unstoppable,” including the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile. David Albright, of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, said he was “skeptical” of Putin’s claim, adding that Russian technology sometimes “falls short.” He suggested Putin was “taunting the West to try to shoot it down ... like a braggart boasting, taunting his enemy.” Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow. Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. Read more: US will allow Ukraine to use antipersonnel land mines against Russian forces The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Russia’s formal lowering of the threshold for nuclear weapons use did not prompt any changes in U.S. doctrine. She pushed back on concerns that the decision to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles to strike deeper inside Russia might escalate the war. ″They’re the ones who are escalating this,” she said of the Kremlin — in part because of a flood of North Korean troops sent to the region. More than 1,000 days into war, Russia has the upper hand, with its larger army advancing in Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians suffering from relentless drone and missile strikes. Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and could complicate the logistics that are crucial in warfare. Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to help fight off Russian forces. Speaking to reporters during a trip to Laos, he said the shift in policy follows changing tactics by the Russians. Austin said Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces more protected in armored carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians.” “The land mines that we would look to provide them would be land mines that are not persistent, you know, we can control when they would self-activate, self-detonate and that makes it, you know, far more, safer eventually than the things that they are creating on their own,” Austin said.