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Egypt weighs UAE mediation initiative in Nile dam crisis

Sudan approved an initiative by the United Arab Emirates to break the deadlock in the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, but Egypt has not yet followed suit. A Sudanese delegation headed to Abu Dhabi on Feb. 26 for talks on the border dispute with Ethiopia, as part of …

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US offers up to $10M reward for information on Hezbollah operative

The United States is seeking information on the whereabouts of Salim Jamil Ayyash, who is wanted for the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister. The United States is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on the whereabouts of Salim Jamil Ayyash, a top Hezbollah operative who …

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Afghan President Offers Three-Step Peace Plan

Addressing a conference on Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani described a three-step process for “making, building and sustaining peace” that he said should result in a “sovereign, democratic, united, neutral and connected Afghanistan.” The two-day Heart of Asia conference in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, is one of a host of regional conferences …

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NATO jets intercept Russian warplanes during unusual level of air activity

NATO fighter jets scrambled 10 times on Monday, March 29, 2021, to shadow Russian bombers and fighters during an unusual peak of flights over the North Atlantic, North Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea. In all, NATO aircraft intercepted six different groups of Russian military aircraft near Alliance airspace in …

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Japan, Indonesia Sign Defense Deal Amid Beijing’s Maritime Expansion

Indonesia and Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday for the export of Japanese-made military equipment and technology to Jakarta, as both nations face Beijing’s increasing expansionism and maritime activities in disputed regional waters. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi inked the deal in Tokyo after …

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Battle For The Soul Of Islam

Trouble is brewing in the backyard of Muslim-majority states competing for religious soft power and leadership of the Muslim world in what amounts to a battle for the soul of Islam. Shifting youth attitudes towards religion and religiosity threaten to undermine the rival efforts of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and, …

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With Netanyahu vulnerable, Israel again ignored by Washington on Iran

Knowing he is politically vulnerable, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is silent on Washington’s intention to return to the nuclear deal with Tehran. Israel finds itself irrelevant and inconsequential as the race against the Iranian nuclear threat enters its most important leg. As was the case on the eve of the …

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Despite Baghdad-Erbil agreement, Iraq fails to pass federal budget bill

Disagreements over the dollar exchange rate and foreign loans have blocked the parliament from passing the country’s budget bill for a fifth time. Iraq’s parliament failed to pass the federal budget bill on Sunday despite a last-minute agreement between Erbil and Baghdad over the Kurdistan Region’s share. Now disagreements loom …

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US, China, Russia and Thucydides Trap

The Paris Climate Accord is more of an aspiration than a strategy while the Iranian nuclear problem has always been a way of avoiding the real issue: the danger that the Islamist regime poses for regional peace and stability. [T]he Biden doctrine, if one might suggest such a label… could …

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China Grabbing Whitsun Reef: ‘Sudetenland’ in Slow Motion

The failure of the Obama administration to defend the Philippines in early 2012, in a confrontation similar to today’s, emboldened China’s regime to adopt an even more aggressive posture in its peripheral waters. China claims all the waters inside the dashes are sovereign as well, terming them “blue national soil.” …

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