Raisi, under personal US sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the “lifting of all US sanctions and neutralization of sanctions.” Iran will not back down “in any way” in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2021
Ex-IDF intel chief: New Iran nuke deal will be worse, but worthwhile
Ex-Mossad official: Talks may be tactic for Tehran to buy time to advance its nuclear program. A new nuclear deal that may emerge between Iran and the world powers in the coming months “will likely be worse” than the 2015 deal, former IDF intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi Farkash told The …
Read More »Israel ‘will do what it needs to’ against a nuclear Iran, Bennett says
“Iran poses a strategic threat to the world and an existential threat to Israel, and they ought not to be allowed to get away with it,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Israel will do what is necessary to protect itself against the Iranian existential threat, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said …
Read More »Pakistan: The Anti-American “Ally”
In an interview aired in the US in June 2021, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that Pakistan will deny US use of its territory for “over-the-horizon” surveillance of possible terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Now, there are negotiations for the US to use Pakistan’s airspace for military operations in Afghanistan, …
Read More »The rise of jihadist groups in Africa
While ten years ago there were only two significant Africa-based violent extremist groups – Nigeria-based Boko Haram and Somalia-based al-Shabab – a new report by HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies shows that today there are at least ten active extremist groups operating on the continent. Despite the number of …
Read More »DEMOCRACY DIGEST: EUROPEAN COURT’S POLISH RULING ECHOES OVER EASTERN EUROPE
Court decision to fine Poland is reverberating throughout Central and Eastern Europe, where far-right leaders are converging ahead of their respective election campaigns. The Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, on Wednesday issued a million-euros daily fine to Poland, the largest in the block’s history, for not dismantling …
Read More »Political Exhaustion Weighs on Voters in Third Bulgaria Poll
While the November 14 presidential election looks like a shoo-in for the incumbent Radev, the general election on the same day looks harder to call Bulgaria is closing an unprecedented year: by the end of 2021, its citizens will have voted in no less than four elections: inconclusive general elections …
Read More »HUNGARY’S OPPOSITION HAS NEW FACE THAT ORBAN WILL PAINT AS PART OF THE PAST
The initial omens are good for the joint opposition candidate for PM in Hungary’s 2022 election, but Peter Marki-Zay has his work cut out to convince rural voters and is already the subject of vicious character attacks from Viktor Orban’s Fidesz. International politicians and journalists alike had a terrible time …
Read More »In Serbia, Justice Gets an Early Release
The release of the convicted war criminal Sreten Lukic and his return to Serbia highlights how the Belgrade authorities are still doing nothing to prosecute other high-ranking officials for wartime crimes in Kosovo and the subsequent cover-up. Isaw him only once – in court. But I tracked the results of …
Read More »MOLDOVA AND THE DNIESTER RIVER – DAMMED BY UKRAINE
Studies show the Dniester Hydropower Complex is already having a devastating impact on the water quality and biological diversity of the river – the main source of drinking water for 8 million Ukrainians and Moldovans. Yet Kiev plans to continue expanding the complex as it looks to secure its energy …
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