Eurasia

A White House plan to reduce the number of U.S. forces in conflict areas includes removing more than 700 troops based in Somalia, where the military in recent years has expanded operations against al-Qaida-linked fighters, news reports say.

Maryam Shmoil thought it was unusual that she and her daughter were stopped on Nov. 6 from entering into Nahla Valley, a northern Iraqi region home to ethnic Assyrians. Shmoil owns a house in the area and said she travels from Erbil to Nahla nearly every weekend, but a new …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was in Athens amid common hostility toward Turkish activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a “good friend and a friend of Greece” during the Egyptian leader’s first official visit to Athens since the Aug. 6 …

Earlier this week, the leader of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, announced that his movement will no longer abide by the three-decade UN-supervised ceasefire in Western Sahara.

In spite of a fatwa issued by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Emiratis remain defiant and will not be bullied. Emirati worshipers remain defiant in the face of a fatwa banning them from praying in al-Aqsa Mosque, claiming it is their religious right to do so.

A year after Operation Peace Spring, the residents in the areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fear a new Turkish operation.

Reacting to a New York Times report about President Donald Trump’s “possible moves” in the region, particularly against Iran, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic government said the likelihood of such actions was “low,” but “any action” would face a “crushing response.”

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS John Finn (DDG-113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System-equipped destroyer, intercepted and destroyed a threat-representative Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) target with a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile during a flight test demonstration in the broad …

Following to removal of US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the Pentagon and acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller have announced a withdrawal of thousands of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving around 2,500 residual personnel in both countries.

Speech As prepared for delivery by Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller Good afternoon. I’m Chris Miller, Acting Secretary of Defense, and I am here today to update you on President Trump’s plan to bring the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to a successful and responsible conclusion, and to bring …