According to the latest data published by the Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), as of Saturday January 24, the total number of confirmed deaths from the recent crackdown on anti-regime protests in Iran has reached 5,459, while the number of deaths currently under investigation stands at 17,031.

400 hours… Iran has now been under a total nationwide internet blackout for over 400 hours, with almost all calls, texts, and other methods of outside communication having been entirely blocked by authorities since early January.

Shmuel Zakai, the Director General of the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority, sent a letter Sunday to several international airlines warning that this weekend was the beginning of a “more sensitive period,” stating that air-defense systems remain fully deployed at high readiness and that Israeli Airspace could be closed at a moments notice like it was during the Twelve-Day War with Iran.

China’s senior-most general, Zhang Youxia, the current Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, who the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law,” has been accused of leaking core technical data on China’s nuclear weapons to the United States, people familiar with a high-level briefing on the allegations told The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. Air Force is preparing to launch a multi-day readiness exercise across the Middle East “to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower” in the region, according to the Saudi state-owned news channel Al Arabiya.

According to a summary of the meeting last night between the Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Adm. Brad Cooper, and Israeli Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, along with other senior officials, published by the Israeli right-wing media outlet Channel 14:

- No date for an attack on Iran

- The Americans will need time to build up significant force in the Middle East

- Prepared for an immediate strike if necessary

- The Americans want a clean, swift, and inexpensive operation

- The objective - focus on those who harmed civilians and protesters

- Ready to replace the regime in Iran

The Governor of Vermont, Republican Phil Scott, in a statement about yesterday’s shooting by agents with Border Patrol and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, refers to recent federal immigration operations as a “deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens that's resulting in the murder of Americans.”

FBI Director Kash Patel: “As Kristi said, you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence.”

The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that following discussions with the Trump Administration, Israel has agreed to reopen the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip for pedestrian traffic, possibly as soon as this week, under the condition that Hamas assists with and the Israel Defense Force exhausts all options in the search for Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining deceased hostage held in Gaza.

President Donald J. Trump declined to say whether the federal officer who fatally shot a man in Minnesota this weekend had acted appropriately and said the administration was reviewing the incident, during an exclusive interview Sunday with The Wall Street Journal.

In a five-minute telephone interview, President Trump didn’t directly answer when asked twice whether the officer who shot Alex Pretti had done the right thing. Pressed further, the President said, “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination.”

The President criticized Alex Pretti - the 37-year-old who was shot and killed by agents with U.S. Border Patrol on Saturday morning in Minneapolis - for carrying a gun during protest activity. “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump added. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”

Trump asserted that Pretti was carrying a “very dangerous gun, a dangerous and unpredictable gun,” adding, “It’s a gun that goes off when people don’t know it.” The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was carrying a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, a gun which others have identified as a SIG Sauer P320.

Reports of a crash involving a small passenger jet at Bangor International Airport in Maine.

According to local officials, the aircraft involved is a Bombardier Challenger 650 with eight souls onboard, three crew and five passengers, which was in the process of taking off when it crashed at Bangor. The 650 had arrived earlier tonight from Houston and was likely preparing to return to Texas.

First images of the Bombardier Challenger 650 that crashed tonight with eight souls onboard at Bangor International Airport in Maine appear to show the aircraft entirely upside down and still smoldering, with the status of the crew and passengers currently unknown, according to the Bangor Fire Department.

Senior defense officials have told Fox News that the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and her Carrier Strike Group, consisting of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers; USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), and USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG-121), have not yet entered the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility in the Arabian Sea.

“It is close, but technically not in CENTCOM yet,” an official told Fox News, suggesting that the aircraft carrier and her escorts are not yet in position for strikes against Iran.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reports that overnight the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and her Carrier Strike Group crossed the median line in the Arabian Sea into the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility, with it likely to take 2-3 days for the strike group to reach its position for possible future strikes against Iran.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reaffirmed its commitment to not allow its airspace, territory, or waters to be used for any hostile military action, or logistical support for said action, against the Islamic Republic of Iran.