Eurasia

SDF separatist forces between Turkey and Russia

On the evening of Tuesday 9 November, Turkish warplanes targeted separatist elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Syrian city of Qamishli. The drone attack is not the first of its kind in the city, as it was preceded by similar attacks in the city and Ain Al-Arab …

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A Risky Role for Russian Peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

When Russian peacekeepers arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a ceasefire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenian, they found it empty, blanketed in a thick November fog. After 44 days of brutal war, most [people] had fled, not believing the fighting was over. A year later, the region’s main city of …

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Russian Defense Minister Claims U.S. Presence In The Black Sea Is A Provocation

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has called the presence of the U.S. Navy in the Black Sea a provocation after another ship entered the strategic waters. “This is an almost constant attempt to test us, to check how ready we are, how much we have built the entire [defense] system …

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North Macedonia’s Opposition Gamble Plays Into Zaev’s Hand – OpEd

A member of parliament gone missing, deputies with COVID in full protective suits stuck for hours in glass cubicles, no quorum for a plenary session to resume, numerous press conferences by the opposition – threats, appeals and frustration. That sums up the dramatic events on Thursday, when the opposition failed …

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Warming Mediterranean Sea Causing Marine Species To Migrate Deeper Into Cooler Waters To Survive

A new Tel Aviv University study has found that due to the temperature difference across the Mediterranean Sea, species of marine animals such as fish, crustaceans and mollusks (such as squid) are changing their habitats to live tens of meters deeper in cooler waters. The groundbreaking study was led by …

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Foreign Experts Assess Prospects For Maintaining UK Integrity – Analysis

The Welsh Government has established the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, which will consider the issue of the region’s independence in the context of future relations with the rest of the United Kingdom. According to the message published on the Cabinet website on October 19, the Commission …

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Whither Muslim Solidarity And Moderation? – Analysis

Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki AlFaisal Al Saud must have gotten his tenses mixed up when he asserted in a recently published memoir that no one should underestimate the political importance of Muslims’ commitment to helping other Muslims. Prince Turki’s memoir is focused on Afghanistan, a major preoccupation during …

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¿Nucleares? ¿Sí, gracias?

Hay muchos discursos rimbombantes sobre el futuro unido de la UE y la homogeneización de las políticas de los diferentes países para converger en un proyecto común. La realidad, sin embargo, es muy diferente. Estos días, en plena discusión medioambiental en la cumbre de Glasgow, se aprecia como las apuestas …

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Democracy Digest: More Talk of an Axis of Rightists in the European Parliament

Orban hasn’t given up on his plans for an all-encompassing far-right grouping in the European Parliament, though obstacles remain. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki and leader of Italy’s Lega party Matteo Salvini held a videoconference on Wednesday to reinvigorate plans for creating a new alliance …

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Sounding Out MEPs on the Polish Prime Minister’s Pitch to the EU

Morawiecki ran up against a European ‘wall of resistance’ of infuriated MEPs, who accused him of lying and attempting to dismantle the very structure of the EU. To BIRN, they also laid out their fears for the future. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki came to office promising to be an …

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