Missiles fired from two Israeli fighter jets were reportedly downed by Syrian air defense systems on Sunday while trying to target the Damascus governorate, Russian media has reported. “From 05:40 a.m. to 05:54 a.m., two F-16 tactical fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force, which stayed outside Syria’s airspace, delivered …
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Tunisian president ousts government in move critics call a coup
Tunisia’s president dismissed the government and froze parliament on Sunday in a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that his opponents labelled a coup, calling their own supporters to come onto the streets in protest. President Kais Saied said he would assume executive authority with the assistance of a new …
Read More »Putin warns of ‘unpreventable’ strikes by Russian navy
The Russian president’s warning comes amid tensions between London and Moscow after a British warship entered waters close to Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned that its navy is ready to carry out an “unpreventable strike” on enemy targets if it was in the country’s “national interests.” Putin …
Read More »Tunisia’s president accused of ‘coup’ after dismissing PM
Tunisian president sacked PM Hicham Mechichi and suspended parliament after day of anti-government protests. Tunisia’s president has suspended parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi in a move condemned as an attack on democracy by his rivals but which others greeted with celebrations on the streets. President Kais Saied said …
Read More »Will Biden and Kadhimi Produce Platitudes on Iraq?
At the White House on Monday, the Iraqi leader needs a guarantee that Biden won’t use Iraq’s independence as a pawn in negotiations with Iran. At a military parade in Baghdad in late June, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi saluted the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of largely Iranian-backed …
Read More »The Final Nail in the Coffin for Privacy? The Saga of the NSO Group’s Spyware
An investigation revealed that spyware tools from Israeli-based surveillance firm NSO Group have been used to target political dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists. NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware tool is so sophisticated that it can defeat high-end encryption and security protocols of electronic devices. Prior to this week’s news reports, …
Read More »Operating in the Gray Zone: China’s Cyber Operations Call for a Unified Response
The Biden administration responded to China’s aggressive cyber operations by “naming and shaming” Beijing in an attempt to confront the growing threat posed by criminal hackers. For China, cyberattacks are an asymmetric means of confronting the West while attempting to maintain a thinly veiled veneer of plausible deniability.
Read More »Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Counterterrorism and Peacekeeping in the Sahel
The recent announcement by President Macron that France would end Operation Barkhane, its regional counterterrorism military operation in the Sahel, raises questions about the role of regional and international partners in countering the rising tide of jihadist violence in the region. At the July G5 Sahel summit, Macron further explained …
Read More »‘Pegasus Project’ Uncovers a Privacy Nightmare
Pegasus, military-grade spyware designed by the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group to track terrorists, was used to hack 37 smartphones of journalists, human rights activists and politicians, according to an investigation known as “The Pegasus Project” conducted by The Washington Post and 16 other news organizations led by the journalism …
Read More »Taliban active in Pakistan too, retain links with Al Qaeda
New Delhi: Afghan Taliban and their local associates are active in Pakistan’s border regions, sources told VOA as Pakistan has acknowledged that bodies of militants killed in Afghanistan arrive in Pakistan, and wounded Taliban are treated in local hospitals. In a June 27 interview with Geo News, a local Pakistani …
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