U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected Thursday to approve moving the only aircraft carrier based in the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East, two defense officials told VOA. The rare movement of the USS Ronald Reagan, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan, and usually deploys around the Pacific, would …

Last fall, the Nezygar telegram channel reported that Baku via its SOCAR company and embassy in Moscow was investing in Russian media outlets to ensure that they would promote pro-Azerbaijani positions, a violation of Moscow’s understanding of the rules of the game (eadaily.com/ru/news/2020/10/08/smi-v-kremle-razdrazheny-usilivayushchimsya-vliyaniem-baku-v-rossiyskih-media). That was during the latest round of …

The violent clash between Israel and Hamas during May 10-21, 2021 has brought back the prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the forefront of complex issues afflicting West Asia. The Arab Spring and its aftermath had relegated the conflict to the bottom of regional problems. The significance of the conflict had further …

China’s military may be examining its decades-old space program for ways to improve data collection and disrupt the satellites of other countries if needed, analysts said this week following a Mars landing and a debris crash into the Indian Ocean. Earlier this month China placed a rover on Mars, the …

Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two regional arch rivals, held talks in Baghdad in April 2021. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi played a key role in bringing both the countries to the negotiating table. The talks were held between Khalid Al Homeidan, Chief of General Intelligence, Saudi Arabia, …

While in the natural sciences a laboratory experiment can isolate various elements and their movements can be followed through, there is no equivalent in the economic discipline. The introduction of econometrics and model building is an attempt to produce a laboratory where controlled experiments can be conducted. The idea of …

In the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, many have asked themselves what they are doing to tackle racial injustice. For economists, one central question is the extent to which the profession has examined the causes and consequences of racial inequality. This column reports evidence that race-related research …

The World Food Program said on Wednesday it is tripling its assistance to Lebanon, offering cash assistance to nearly 300,000 people amid an unparalleled financial and economic crisis. Lebanon’s national currency has lost nearly 85% of its dollar value since late 2019, sending prices of basic goods soaring in a …

Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said on Wednesday that several missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia from inside Yemen landed in the Kingdom. Lt. Col. Mohannad bin Jasser Zailai, deputy media spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan region, said authorities attended the site to find five missiles near …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his two-day visit to the Middle East Wednesday evening, after meeting regional leaders in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman in an effort to shore up the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire reached last week. During his trip, the US’s top diplomat made several announcements of …