September 27, 2021 Afghanistan
Scenes of thousands of Afghans flooding the Kabul International Airport to flee the country as Taliban fighters were quickly consolidating their control over the capital, raised many questions, leading amongst them: who are these people and why are they running away? In the US and other Western media, answers were …
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September 27, 2021 Eurasia, South East Asia
The fallout over the AUKUS deal, as we are now seeing, has been a severe rift in relations between two historic allies, the U.S. and France. And the collateral damage may also include NATO. Only weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden courageously ended the war in Afghanistan—in the face of …
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September 27, 2021 Eurasia
President Biden addressed the UN General Assembly on September 21 with a warning that the climate crisis is fast approaching a “point of no return,” and a promise that the United States would rally the world to action. “We will lead not just with the example of our power but, …
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September 27, 2021 Afghanistan
In a statement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban jihadi organization which seized power on August 15, 2021) has condemned remarks by American officials that some ministers appointed by the Taliban are on the U.S. blacklist of terrorists and still targets for United States counterterrorism forces. The statement …
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September 27, 2021 Iran, Middle Orient
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi used the occasion of his first UN General Assembly speech to heavily criticize the United States. President Ebrahim Raisi has used the occasion of his first United Nations General Assembly speech to criticize US foreign policy and sanctions against Iran. Participating via video, Raisi said there …
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September 27, 2021 Middle Orient
The Islamic State is still active in Iraq, despite losing its territory in 2017. Iraq announced new airstrikes against “terrorists” near the disputed northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday. The Iraqi air force conducted “destructive strikes” targeting hideouts belonging to unspecified groups in Wadi Shay, southwest of Kirkuk. They used …
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September 27, 2021 Africa
It seems the Egyptian state will not respond to the recent Muslim Brotherhood calls for reconciliation, despite pressure by the US administration to fix its human rights record. The Muslim Brotherhood is calling for dialogue with the Egyptian presidency without preconditions. In a letter dated Sept. 14, prominent Brotherhood leader …
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September 27, 2021 Iran, Middle Orient
Iran’s demands for US forces to withdraw from a critical air base in Iraqi Kurdistan coupled with threats to expand operations against “American and Zionist mercenaries” are sending jitters across the Kurdish enclave, with many asking how far Tehran will go and what, if anything, the United States will do …
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September 27, 2021 South East Asia
As the dust settles on the Taliban’s reconquest of Afghanistan, regional neighbors are adjusting their policies to take the new geostrategic reality into account. Among these countries are the self-proclaimed “iron brothers”—China and Pakistan. The good news for Beijing and Islamabad is that their respective policies on Taliban-run Afghanistan broadly …
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September 27, 2021 Eurasia, Middle Orient, Turkey
The Turkish judiciary’s weakness in dealing with Islamic State suspects comes under the spotlight after a bombshell report on how a Syrian man suspected of ordering the burning to death of two Turkish soldiers in 2016 walked free from court and lived as a shopkeeper in Turkey. The first time …
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