Eurasia

The Russian media outlet Vz.ru reported that Russia had, for the first time, surpassed the U.S. as a supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe, and that this positive news for Russia meant that “our gas has once again proven its superiority.” The article stated: “Russian LNG is in more …

Egypt and Turkey opened talks in Cairo on Wednesday, seeking to normalise relations after eight years of sharp differences over a wide range of bilateral and regional issues. The landmark, two-day talks, the first between the two Muslim nations since 2013, are being held at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in …

“The general view at the Atlantic Council is to send them back to the Cato Institute where they came from.” The quote, from an anonymous but “prominent” staffer at the Atlantic Council, purported to sum up the reaction at the establishment Washington think tank to the recent arrival of two …

It all started in late April with an open letter written by a group of 20 retired French generals and published in a right-wing weekly news magazine, Valeurs Actuelles, known for its inflammatory provocations. Describing France as teetering on the edge of civil war, the letter called on France’s civilian …

The Iran-Iraq border has recently witnessed a fresh uptick in cross-border attacks by Kurdish armed groups fighting for autonomy. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said one of its members was “martyred” during intense clashes with Kurdish fighters near the border with Iraq early on May 4. The IRGC claimed …

The meeting takes place during the first official visit to Damascus by Saudi Arabia since 2012. Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief met with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus on Monday in a sign of possible rapprochement between the two governments a decade after relations were severed. London-based Rai al-Youm news outlet …

The Tehrik Labaik Pakistan (TLP), in a very short time, has emerged as one of the strongest neo-fundamentalist radical organisations. The TLP was the fifth largest party in the national elections held in July 2018. Several factors contributed to its rise. Most notable of them was the leadership provided by …

The United States appears upbeat about the resumption of stalled peace talks between warring parties in Afghanistan, even as fighting escalates amid the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the country. A senior U.S. official said Tuesday during a background briefing in Kabul that Washington’s diplomatic efforts are continuing …

Ethical hackers now have many more targets within the Defense Department, DOD officials announced. The department is expanding its Vulnerability Disclosure Program to include all publicly accessible DOD information systems. The program grew out of the success of the “Hack the Pentagon” initiative that began in 2016. That initiative enabled …

The head of Reporters Without Borders says that French journalist Olivier Dubois was kidnapped April 8 while working in Mali’s northern city of Gao. A video was released Wednesday showing Dubois saying he was kidnapped on April 8 by the al-Qaida-linked group JNIM. In the video he calls on his …