Eurasia

In early May, a high-speed boat pulled alongside the Rio Mitong, a Panama-flagged cargo vessel, just off the coast of Equatorial Guinea. Using ladders to board the ship, a group of assailants kidnapped two crew members, taking them back to the shore, where they subsequently held them for ransom. Another …

After a steep reduction, piracy seems to be on the rise again off the coast of Somalia, with “five or six” incidents occurring in the past two months, according to U.S. military officials. These have included the hijacking of a Comoros-flagged tanker that was later released, as well as the …

Following Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s approval last month of a new naval base to be built on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, official Kremlin statements have billed the facility as a logistics center that will be defensive in nature—for principal use as a resupply station for Russian warships. In spite …

On July 2, 2021, Vladimir Putin approved Russia’s updated national security strategy, the previous version was authored in 2015. The national security strategy gives the appearance of a laundry list. It runs the gamut from military concerns to building internal consensus and defending Russia from pernicious Western ideas. The doctrine …

The US justice department’s counterterrorism division has revived its plan to acquire balloons to keep the border between Libya and Tunisia under surveillance, saying that following the failure of Lockheed Martin and TCOM, two other US firms are still in the running, according to the French website, Africa Intelligence. The …

Russia skipped U.N. Security Council negotiations on Tuesday on whether to extend approval for cross-border aid access into Syria, diplomats said, as China pushed for “solutions” to its concerns about unilateral sanctions and aid transparency. The council mandate for the long-running U.N. operation delivering aid into northern Syria from Turkey …

Suspected Russian-speaking cybercriminals behind what may be the largest ransomware attack to date have demanded $70 million in Bitcoin in exchange for a decryption tool as companies and security experts continued to assess the extent of damage. Cybersecurity experts believe thousands of victims in at least 17 countries may be …

Egypt said Monday that Ethiopia has reported it is starting to fill the reservoir of a controversial dam on the Nile River’s main tributary, a move likely to increase tensions ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting on the dispute, which also includes Sudan. A statement by Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry …

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett holds first call with Vladimir Putin, agree to face-to-face meeting. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin made plans to meet in the near future, when the two leaders held their first phone call on Monday since the new government was sworn in last …

The largest pension fund in Norway, KLP, has divested from 16 companies for doing business in Israeli West Bank settlements, selling off nearly $32 million in shares of the companies. The companies include Motorola and Altice Europe, three telecom and communications companies, five Israeli banks and two energy companies. Because …