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Possible closure of Turkey-Syria crossing alarms aid groups

Fears are mounting about a looming humanitarian catastrophe amid concerns that Russia will close the last border crossing through which UN and NGO aid passes to reach millions of needy in north Syria. The Syrian Response Coordination Group (RCG), an Idlib-based humanitarian nongovernmental organization assisting the displaced in northwestern Syria, …

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Erdogan’s statements shake Tunisian-Turkish ties

Diplomatic and economic relations between Tunisia and Turkey are at stake in the wake of statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following President Kais Saied’s decision to dissolve parliament. Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has recently rejected any foreign interference in his country’s internal affairs. Speaking at an April 6 …

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Russia, Wagner Group expand ties with Sudan

Sudan’s military leaders have expanded ties with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. On March 21, the US charge d’affaires and the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Norway in Khartoum issued an unusually strongly worded statement criticizing Russia’s presence in Sudan to mark the first month of the invasion …

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Iraq’s political deadlock: three scenarios

Iraq’s new parliament has failed to form a government and the political scene is stuck in a difficult deadlock, indicating that the crisis is likely to continue for a long time. About six months after Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the new government has yet to be formed. What are the possible …

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Russia, Ukraine trade barbs over obstruction of wheat shipments to Egypt

As Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves continue to decline, Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations over obstructing the movement of a ship loaded with wheat and bound for Egyptian ports. As Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves continue to decline, Russia and Ukraine have recently exchanged accusations over obstructing the movement of a ship …

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Putin Wants to Rewrite the End of the Cold War

When the Soviet Union collapsed three decades ago, the European security architecture suddenly became uncertain, its future put in play. After all, much of the postwar balance of power in Europe—and the world—had rested on the icy pillars of the Cold War, pillars that in 1991 abruptly melted. It didn’t …

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A War-Weakened Russia Has No Strategic Value to China

Scarcely more than a week ago, Chinese social media and the country’s internet were ablaze with quick takes from both prominent commentators and ordinary folks praising Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armed bid to subdue Ukraine, as well as with fervent celebrations of what many in China saw as a toothless …

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The War in Ukraine Is Testing China’s New Partnership With Russia

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to draw outrage and reprisals from the international community, China is maintaining the cautious distance from Moscow it has taken since the onset of the crisis, with many observers suggesting that Beijing may have been caught unaware by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to …

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Opinion: Biden won’t remove Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from terror list. He’s right.

The Biden administration plans to reject an Iranian demand that the United States lift its designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization as a condition for renewing the 2015 nuclear agreement — putting completion of the deal in jeopardy. A senior administration official told me that …

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Iraq official warns of jihadist threat from Syria camp

The Al-Hol camp for displaced people in Syria is a jihadist threat and should be dismantled, a senior Iraqi security official said on Saturday. Al-Hol, in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, is Syria’s largest camp for displaced people. It houses about 56,000 including displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, some of whom maintain …

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