July, 2021

• 27 July

  Search underway after migrant boat sinks off Turkish coast

  

  Eight migrants are still missing after their boat bound for Italy sunk southwest of the Turkish town of Kas. Search-and-rescue operations are underway in the Aegean Sea after a boat carrying 45 migrants sank off the southern coast of Turkey, Greek and Turkish officials said Friday. The state-run Anadolu Agency …

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• 27 July

  Iraq still needs US help to defeat Islamic State, foreign minister says

  

  Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein made the remarks ahead of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Washington on Monday. Iraq still needs support from the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Friday amid reports the Biden administration is planning to withdraw combat troops …

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• 27 July

  Amid Iranian gas shortage, Iraq searches for alternatives

  

  Iran’s dilapidated gas infrastructure has limited its transfers to Iraq, adding to Iraq’s own energy crisis. Iraqi parliamentary sources said on July 21 political conflicts are “preventing the investment of natural gas in the Mansouriya field in the Diyala governorate (north of Baghdad). The field’s resources are enough to meet …

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• 27 July

  Tunisian police storm Al Jazeera’s offices amid political upheaval

  

  Following President Kais Saied’s suspension of parliament, Tunisian troops on Monday prevented the parliament speaker from entering the building. A day after President Kais Saied staged what critics called a coup, police in Tunisia have stormed the Al Jazeera office in the capital city and Tunisian troops have surrounded the …

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• 27 July

  Syrian air defense strikes down Israeli missiles – report

  Missiles fired from two Israeli fighter jets were reportedly downed by Syrian air defense systems on Sunday while trying to target the Damascus governorate, Russian media has reported. “From 05:40 a.m. to 05:54 a.m., two F-16 tactical fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force, which stayed outside Syria’s airspace, delivered …

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• 27 July

  Tunisian president ousts government in move critics call a coup

  Tunisia’s president dismissed the government and froze parliament on Sunday in a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that his opponents labelled a coup, calling their own supporters to come onto the streets in protest. President Kais Saied said he would assume executive authority with the assistance of a new …

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• 26 July

  Putin warns of ‘unpreventable’ strikes by Russian navy

  

  The Russian president’s warning comes amid tensions between London and Moscow after a British warship entered waters close to Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned that its navy is ready to carry out an “unpreventable strike” on enemy targets if it was in the country’s “national interests.” Putin …

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• 26 July

  Tunisia’s president accused of ‘coup’ after dismissing PM

  

  Tunisian president sacked PM Hicham Mechichi and suspended parliament after day of anti-government protests. Tunisia’s president has suspended parliament and dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi in a move condemned as an attack on democracy by his rivals but which others greeted with celebrations on the streets. President Kais Saied said …

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• 26 July

  Will Biden and Kadhimi Produce Platitudes on Iraq?

  

  At the White House on Monday, the Iraqi leader needs a guarantee that Biden won’t use Iraq’s independence as a pawn in negotiations with Iran. At a military parade in Baghdad in late June, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi saluted the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of largely Iranian-backed …

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• 26 July

  The Final Nail in the Coffin for Privacy? The Saga of the NSO Group’s Spyware

  

  An investigation revealed that spyware tools from Israeli-based surveillance firm NSO Group have been used to target political dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists. NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware tool is so sophisticated that it can defeat high-end encryption and security protocols of electronic devices. Prior to this week’s news reports, …

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