NATO has launched joint military exercises in Albania with thousands of military forces from the United States and other countries in the first such large-scale drills since World War II in the western Balkans, a U.S. Army official said Thursday. Col. Joseph Scrocca said “a staunch NATO ally since 2009, …

The top US military intelligence official said during a congressional hearing on Thursday that the Russian military is an “existential threat” to the United States. “The Russian military is an existential threat to the United States,” Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said during a Senate …

A rare gunfight between U.S. paratroopers and pro-Syrian regime forces last summer has led to charges against a senior enlisted soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The clash occurred near Tal al-Zahab, in Syria’s northeast, where a tenuous U.S. military presence has guarded lucrative …

Saudi Arabia and Iran held talks in Baghdad earlier this month to de-escalate tensions. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has restated Tehran’s support for a cease-fire in Yemen and talks between the country’s Houthi rebels and the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. …

The meeting follows talks earlier this week involving Israeli officials and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the head of Israel’s Mossad, Yossi Cohen, in Washington on Thursday, Reuters reported. The pair reportedly discussed Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Israel’s ambassador to the United …

Depuis la signature de la “convention de main-d’œuvre entre la France et la Turquie” en 1965, la diaspora turque n’a fait que s’amplifier en France pour atteindre les 700 000 personnes en 2020. La religion (islam) et l’attachement au pays d’origine (turcité) sont les caractéristiques de cette immigration. La communauté …

Pour le grand spécialiste du monde musulman Gilles Kepel, trois événements survenus en 2020 bouleversent le Moyen-Orient : le retrait des forces américaines, la pandémie et la chute du cours du pétrole. Le résultat en est une alliance surprenante entre sunnites et chiites qui, dirigée par Recep Erdogan, devient une …

A newly-painted mural of Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic and a gun attack on the local mosque have scared Bosniaks who returned to the town of Foca after fleeing because of wartime atrocities in the 1990s. Near the school and the municipality building in the little town of Foca, …

Some war crime survivors have applied to join an innovative scheme to allow victims to get involved in trials at the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers, but others remain hesitant, fearing violent retribution if their identities are revealed. When Kosovo war victim Gani heard that former guerrilla Pjeter Shala had been …

A new report by US-based democracy watchdog Freedom House argues the two countries “stand out for their unparalleled democratic deterioration over the past decade”. The countries of Central and Southeast Europe are continuing to witness declines in democracy, media and election freedom, and respect for human rights, according to the …