Eurasia

China’s first domestically made aircraft carrier, the Shandong, has completed regular testing and training missions at sea that focused on actual combat after serving in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy for 10 months, China Central Television (CCTV) reported Tuesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government has been introducing major changes to the laws governing the ownership of land in the Indian-administered Kashmir since its decision to abolish the disputed Himalayan region’s autonomous status last year.

India on Tuesday joined the U.S. in calling for the South China Sea Code of Conduct being negotiated by China and the Southeast Asian bloc to adhere to international law.

Transnational organized crime (TOC) is a growing threat in Africa as technology and growth in trade link the continent ever more closely to licit and illicit opportunities in the global marketplace. Livelihood challenges, political instability, and weak state legitimacy in some countries also amplify vulnerabilities to TOC in its various …

Divisions within Libya’s civil war have been amplified by foreign-sponsored disinformation campaigns. Reconciliation and peacebuilding will require local actors to reclaim Libya’s digital spaces. Nested within Libya’s ongoing civil war are a fog of falsehoods, distortions, and polarizing narratives that have engulfed Libyan social media networks and online news outlets. …

The next president should move swiftly to reassure allies that the U.S. nuclear guarantee remains credible—or risk rapid nuclear proliferation. One important consequence of the fraying of U.S. alliances over the last few years is the reemergence of concern in allied capitals about the credibility of the U.S. nuclear guarantee. …

Latest escalation comes amid increased Turkish military involvement in a region stretching from Syria to the Caucasus and the Mediterranean. Russia and Turkey are two sides of the same coin. They are both heavily involved in some of the world’s most significant ongoing conflicts including in Libya, the Caucasus and …

American drones and U.S. allies killed several Qaeda leaders and operatives in the past week. But the organization has “ingrained itself in local communities and conflicts,” according to the U.N.

Mali has begun the trial of alleged Islamist gunmen accused of killing two dozen people in separate attacks – both targeting foreigners – on a luxury hotel and a restaurant in the capital Bamako, in 2015.

Libya’s internationally recognized government has agreed to release two Russian political operatives who’ve been jailed for more than a year, officials said, signaling a detente with Moscow, which had backed a rival in a devastating civil war.