China sent 14 warships, seven military aircraft and four balloons near Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the island in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent visit to Pacific allies, including U.S. stops in Hawaii and Guam. China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people, as its own territory, and bristles at other countries’ formal exchanges with Taiwan. The United States, like most countries, doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country but is its main unofficial backer and sells it arms.

South Korean prosecutors on Sunday detained a former defense minister who allegedly recommended last week’s brief but stunning martial law imposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case. The development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him in parliament, with most ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote to prevent the two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The main opposition Democratic Party said it will prepare a new impeachment motion against Yoon. On Sunday, ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was taken into custody at a Seoul detention facility after undergoing an investigation by prosecutors, a law enforcement official said, requesting anonymity in line with privacy rules.

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Naval Academy can continue considering race in its admissions process, finding that military cohesion and other national security factors mean the school should not be subjected to the same standards as civilian universities. During a two-week bench trial in September, attorneys for the academy argued that prioritizing diversity in the military makes it stronger, more effective and more widely respected. The group behind the case, Students for Fair Admissions, also brought the lawsuit challenging affirmative action that resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

The massacre of October 7th, 2023, will be remembered as the day Iran’s grand strategy began to crumble before the world’s eyes. When Hamas launched its barbaric assault on innocent Israeli civilians, it was acting at the behest—or at least with the tacit encouragement—of the Iranian regime. Tehran believed that a decisive terror attack would pressure Israel, rally sympathizers across the Middle East, and reaffirm Iran’s stature as the region’s puppet master. Instead, the opposite occurred: what was meant to show Iranian strength and influence exposed its vulnerabilities and set off a chain reaction that left Iran’s proxies shattered and Iran’s regime imperiled. Hamas, long considered Iran’s frontline force against Israel, was the first domino to fall.

In a dramatic move, the IDF on Sunday afternoon re-captured the Syrian side of Har Chermon, expanding the buffer zone along the Syrian border and several other important defensive posts. It marks the first time Israel has controlled the Syrian Ramat Hagolan in decades. Sources told Ynet that Israeli Air Force commandos captured the highest peak of the Chermon on the Syrian side. The Chermon mountain range is considered a strategic defensive area as it overlooks the entire area and enables IDF forces to foresee possible invading forces. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law, as most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but the party is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “historic day for the Middle East” during a visit to Mt. Bental on the Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, following the collapse of the Assad regime. He was joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Golan Heights Regional Council Chairman Uri Kellner. During the visit, Netanyahu received a briefing from Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin, Head of IDF Northern Command, and Brig.-Gen. Yair Peli, Commander of the 210th Division. The discussion centered on developments in Syria, the IDF’s increased presence along the border, and preparations for future security operations.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked targets across Syria on Sunday for the first time since the fall of Assad’s regime in the country, according to foreign reports. The strikes were reportedly aimed at airports in the capital city of Damascus and rural areas in southern Syria, where the IDF is likely targeting weapons and arms manufacturing plants that could threaten Israel. The IDF has reinforced its forces in Ramat HaGolan, including bolstering the 210th Bashan Division Division [the division in the IDF’s Northern Command responsible for the Syrian front] with armored units, infantry, and artillery. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said earlier during a situational assessment of the region that “every event here sets a standard and signifies changes ahead.

The IDF on Sunday morning declared certain areas near the Syrian border in Ramat HaGolan as closed military zones as part of the bolstering of its forces in the area following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. The decision was made following a situational assessment by the IDF’s Northern Command. The military zones encompass agricultural areas near Buq’ata, Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, and Khirbat Ein Hura. Access for farmers will be limited to periods of several hours in accordance with military needs and in full coordination with the 474th battalion. The IDF emphasizes that entry into these areas is absolutely prohibited.

Two Syrian sources told Reuters that there is a very high probability that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have been killed in a plane crash. In the wake of the rebel takeover of Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning, Assad boarded a plane for an unknown destination after 24 years in power. His whereabouts – and those of his wife and two children – are now unknown. According to data from the Flightradar website, a Syrian Air Plane took off from the Damascus airport early Sunday morning and initially flew to Syria’s coastal area, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect. But the plane then made a sudden U-turn and briefly flew for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.