IRGC grounds US drones

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps says its Aerospace Force has managed to ground two more American MQM-170 reconnaissance drones, as they were flying over southern Qeshm Island. According to the IRGC’s statement, these were the fifth and sixth MQM-170 drones grounded using advanced electronic warfare systems.

The new achievement came just a day after the IRGC Aerospace Force destroyed the 15th U-S MQ-1 drone over the same island. The IRGC said its forces had already grounded 14 drones of the same type. Earlier, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force also managed to destroy the 55th American MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz. Following the successful operation, the IRGC said US forces have stepped up spying and intelligence flights in the region to map Iran’s air defenses, but its Aerospace Force has responded with several successful interceptions.

Gaza humanitarian crisis

An international human rights organization warns that Israel continues to deprive Palestinians in the Gaza Strip of safe shelter for the fourth consecutive year, as another cold season approaches. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in its statement that around two million people need shelter aid in Gaza after Israel destroyed or damaged most homes across the war-torn territory. It added that the regime continues to prevent displaced people from returning to areas under its control and blocks the entry of shelter supplies and materials needed to repair homes. As a result, hundreds of thousands of families face another winter in worn-out tents and cracked buildings at risk of collapse. Euro-Med noted that despite repeated deaths and warnings about the dangers of cold and flooding, Israel is imposing destructive living conditions on the people of Gaza as part of its ongoing genocide. It said Gaza is in urgent need of around 200,000 tents and one million tarps, but Israeli restrictions are preventing these supplies from being delivered.

US-Canada relations

The Canadian prime minister has presented a new budget, which seeks to reduce reliance on the United States, as tensions between Washington and Ottawa escalate. Prime Minister Mark Carney's second budget since taking office last year was presented to parliament just two days after US President Donald Trump suffered a sweeping defeat in midterm elections. The text of the budget said Canada and the United States will not return to their old relationship, reflecting Carney's previous remarks that pre-Trump tariff-free North American trade is not coming back. Carney stated that political developments in the US are "important" and that bilateral relations will "evolve," but his priority remains more "independence" despite the results of the US midterms. His remarks came after, on Wednesday, Canada’s finance minister said "no matter what happens south of the border” or elsewhere in the world, the country will become more independent. Relations between the two neighbors have been strained over Trump's trade tariffs on Ottawa, notably on the auto, steel, aluminum and forestry sectors.