Roberta Metsola began her political career as a university student campaigning for Malta to join the EU as its smallest state. Less than two decades later, she has been elected to preside over its most important democratic institution. Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, said he recognised her talents from her …

The statement from the First President came just after evidence of elite conflict began surfacing in earnest, with suggestions of a purge of Nazarbayev elites. After two weeks with nary a peep, save a spokesman statement that he had not fled the country, Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev surfaced with …

India and China held a 14th round of military talks earlier this week to resolve the border confrontation between the two countries that began in mid-2020. The corps commander-level talks were held at the Chushul-Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that separates …

The standard logic of the division of labor between Moscow and Beijing in Central Asia holds that Russia is responsible for security and China is in charge of the economy. Following that narrative, it can be asserted that neither power suffered losses during this month’s tumultuous events in Kazakhstan. The …

Iraqi security authorities have announced a state of maximum alert as they anticipate armed attacks in Baghdad and other cities. Hours after the visit of the commander of the Iranian “Quds Force,” Ismail Qaani, armed factions held several meetings to discuss “mechanisms to stop Muqtada al-Sadr’s project of forming a …

The formal proceedings began 14 months after the Sweden-based dissident was lured into a “honeytrap” in Turkey before being smuggled home by Iran-assigned operatives. A “Revolutionary” court in Tehran opened the trial of Habib Chaab, the leader of a foreign-based pan-Arab movement, on terror-related charges. Reading out the indictment in …

The Biden administration on Tuesday issued sanctions against a Lebanese travel company and three businessmen for financially supporting Hezbollah, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization based in Lebanon. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sanctions designation was carried out “in solidarity with the Lebanese people, whose security and sovereignty remains threatened …

Despite the Russian Buildup, the Status Quo Still Serves Both Sides In the days leading up to and following last week’s video summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been intense speculation that Moscow is on the verge of a new military incursion into …

Persistent Divisions Will Preclude His Dreams of Global Power On May 11, 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy hosted an extraordinary gathering of American cultural talent to welcome France’s minister of culture, André Malraux. The dinner—which included luminaries such as the novelist Saul Bellow, the painter Mark Rothko, the playwright …

In a new attempt to improve the image of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group’s leader appeared in public in modern clothing to inaugurate a new road linking Aleppo to Bab al-Hawa. Unlike all other leaders of extremist organizations, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani attended a public event …