August, 2021

• 13 August

  Iraqi foreign minister visits Iran to invite Raisi to Baghdad summit

  Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein arrived in Iran on Tuesday to personally invite new President Ebrahim Raisi to a summit in Baghdad aimed at defusing regional tension. Mr Hussein was expected to extend the invitation on behalf of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi at a meeting with Mr Raisi …

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• 12 August

  China: Crisis-Testing US Presidents

  

  Trump’s adoption of a realistic relationship with China successfully slowed any CCP plans for military expansion in the South and East China Seas. What ended any possibility of a warming trend in US-China diplomatic ties was Beijing’s repeated lies that there was no human-to-human transmissibility of its Wuhan virus. Soon, …

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• 12 August

  How do Afghanistan forces and Taliban compare?

  

  Analysts and officials say a Taliban victory is far from guaranteed, pointing to the resources of Afghan defence forces, who remain in control. The Taliban now controls about half of Afghanistan’s districts, after lightning pace offensives in the months since foreign troops began their final withdrawal from the country. But …

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• 12 August

  Taliban seizes eighth Afghan provincial capital in five days

  

  Taliban overruns cities of Farah and Pul-e-Khumri in fresh setbacks for Afghanistan’s government. The Taliban has captured two more cities in Afghanistan, taking the number of provincial capitals the group has seized since Friday to eight. Farah city of the eponymous southwestern province and Pul-e-Khumri of the northern province of …

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• 11 August

  United States Names Five African Jihadis as Specially Designated Global Terrorists

  

  U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced that the Department of State added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) five terrorist leaders operating in Africa. The five are Bonomade Machude Omar, senior commander for Islamic State affiliate in Mozambique; Sidanag Hitta and Salem ould Breihmatt, …

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• 11 August

  U.S. Official Says Oman Ship Attack Originated in Yemen, Warns of Further Attacks by Houthis

  

  Pentagon later said remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul ‘did not confirm Mercer Street UAV attack emanated from Yemen’ A senior U.S. official on Tuesday confirmed that the Iranian-orchestrated deadly attack on an Israeli-linked ship off the coast of Oman originated in Yemen. Deputy Assistant Secretary of …

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• 11 August

  Palestinian Authority, Hamas divided on Iran

  

  The Palestinian Authority participated in the annual conference of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which the United States removed from its terrorism list in 2012, while Hamas leaders welcomed incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Within just a few days, the Palestinian division became clearly evident. On July 11, Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of …

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• 11 August

  US announces $165 million for Yemen as humanitarian needs mount

  

  US special envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking urged international donors to step up their contributions to the Arab world’s poorest country. Washington announced $165 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Yemen on Monday, warning the grueling civil war will continue unless international donors scale up their support for the country’s …

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• 11 August

  NATO Cannot Cede the New Art of Modern Warfare to Russia and China

  

  As cyberattacks start to resemble traditional acts of war in their destructive power, initiatives like the EU’s planned Joint Cyber Unit will prove inadequate to the task of preventing cyberwarfare from reaching more destructive levels. Only a bold doctrinal innovation of Article 5 of the NATO treaty will. The most …

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• 11 August

  ‘Nationalists Want to Convince Croats and Serbs They Can’t Coexist’

  

  This week, while Croatia celebrates its victory in 1995’s Operation Storm and Serbia mourns the victims, nationalists on both sides will be seeking to profit politically from one of the war’s most traumatic events, says sociologist Marijana Stojcic. Every August, relations cool between Croatia and Serbia and officials exchange harsh …

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