Eurasia

France rejoins Japan in N Korea surveillance in East China Sea

A French Navy vessel will conduct surveillance activities in the East China Sea until early March as part of international efforts to block North Korea from engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of goods at sea in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. It will be …

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MQ-9 begins flying missions from Romania

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) — The 25th Attack Group began flying the first active-duty operated U.S. Air Forces in Europe MQ-9 Reaper sorties in Romania via remote-split operations as of Feb. 1. The 25th ATKG is a unit under the command of the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing. Both …

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Iran Offers to Reverse Its Nuclear Deal Violations if Sanctions Are Lifted

Iranian media reported tentative steps by the U.S. and its European allies in the P5+1 group, which negotiated the original 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran, to resume adherence to that deal and back away from Trump administration policies, including the 2018 reimposition of economic sanctions.

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Libya 10 Years After Revolution: To Forgive or Forget

Although the international community can help, Libyans will ultimately have to decide for themselves how to reach a sustainable peace. This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the uprising that overthrew the four-decade dictatorship of Muammar Qaddafi. In the intervening decade, Libya has been mired in conflict and political gridlock, …

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Six Challenges for the Biden Administration’s China Policy

Can Washington work with its allies and partners to shape Beijing’s behavior and find realistic ways to cooperate on shared interests? Last week, President Biden held a call with General Secretary Xi Jinping, China’s paramount leader. They reportedly talked for more than two hours, a length that, combined with the …

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Opening the CIA’s Can of Worms

“The CIA and the media are part of the same criminal conspiracy,” wrote Douglas Valentine in his important book, The CIA As Organized Crime. This is true. The corporate mainstream media are stenographers for the national security state’s ongoing psychological operations aimed at the American people, just as they have …

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Assad Placates Southern Syria Ahead of Elections

Not a lot of time separates us from the next presidential elections in Syria, which are expected to take place next April. In the meantime, the Syrian regime has been trying to increase the number of measures it is taking to calm tensions in the southern regions of Syria, namely …

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Brigadier General Manaf Tlass To Head Syrian Military Council

High-profile regime defector Manaf Tlass will head the Syrian Military Council, according to Zaitun Agency. The head of the Free Officers’ Association, Brig. Gen. Talal Farzat, emphasized in an exclusive statement with Zaitun Media Agency that the idea behind ​​the Military Council is both old and new, as it was …

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Relaunching the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue

What’s new? Efforts to resolve the long-running dispute between Kosovo and Serbia over the former’s independence have foundered. EU-led talks brokered agreement on technical issues but have struggled to address core political questions. Washington’s mid-2020 mediation effort fell apart when Kosovo’s president had to step away because of war crimes charges. …

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