Russian milbloggers and Ukrainian officials continue to deny Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unsubstantiated claim that Russian forces have encircled a significant number of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast. Russian milbloggers published maps on March 14 and 15 showing Russian and Ukrainian positions in Kursk Oblast that do not indicate Russian …

South Sudan’s security situation is volatile, as civil war-time leadership divisions deepen. The UN has expressed concern, regional mediators are scrambling and a US evacuation is underway. Tensions are spiraling in South Sudan amid escalating militia violence in the Upper Nile state in the east of the country, cabinet reshuffles …

Lebanon named a new head of the armed forces Thursday to succeed Joseph Aoun, who was appointed president earlier this year. “Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal was named commander in chief of the armed forces,” Minister of Information Paul Morcos said after a cabinet meeting, also confirming a number of other …