The COVID-19 pandemic is still surging in many parts of the world, due primarily to slow vaccination rates and the spread of virulent variants. Espionage, particularly human intelligence (HUMINT), has been forced to adapt to a host of significant changes induced by the pandemic.

On June 6, 2021, a bipartisan team of U.S. senators visited Taiwan, arriving aboard a C-17 U.S. military transport plane. Netizens from Mainland China were surprised that Beijing did not react strongly to the presence of a U.S. military airplane in Taiwan, since in the past Chinese diplomats and media …

The three countries discussed Ethiopia’s mega-dam at a UN Security Council meeting; significant disagreements remain between the three parties as Ethiopia fills the dam for the second year in a row. The UN Security Council session on Ethiopia’s Nile River dam got heated Thursday as Egypt and Sudan voiced serious …

After a decadelong hiatus, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya TV, promoting the resumption of relations with Saudi Arabia. The head of Hamas’ political bureau abroad, Khaled Meshaal, has recently called on Saudi Arabia to resume relations with the Hamas movement, and praised Riyadh’s historical role in …

Many supporters of the outlawed Gulen movement have tried to enter Greece since the crackdown against them in Turkey following the 2016 coup. Turkish authorities arrested a group of people for allegedly seeking to enter Greece illegally Thursday, and accused some of them of belonging to the outlawed Gulen movement. …

The Taliban has gained control of a border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran ahead of the pending US troop withdrawal. The Taliban has taken control of a major Iran-Afghanistan border crossing, prompting a response from an Iranian commander. Iran and the Islamic fundamentalist movement have cordial relations ahead of the …

The Pentagon says it is taking a recent spate of drone and rocket attacks “deadly seriously.” Pentagon officials are monitoring the situations in Iraq and Syria with “great concern” after at least five rocket and drone attacks targeted sites used by US personnel in the two countries this week. “You’ve …

Introduction At the Fourth China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, held in Guiyang, China on June 3, 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed various challenges to Afghan peace in the wake of the announcement of the unilateral …

On the eve of the July 2021 OPEC+ meeting, it was expected that the threat of Iran’s imminent return to the oil market would force the cartel to reconsider its plans to increase production to reduce volumes that would be brought to market in the second half of 2021. There …

On June 18, Ebrahim Raisi won a landslide victory in Iran’s presidential elections. After Raisi’s triumph, Maxim Suslov, the press attaché of the Russian Embassy in Tehran, transmitted a message from President Vladimir Putin congratulating Raisi on his win and pledging to strengthen Russia-Iran bilateral relations. Iranian Ambassador to Russia …