September 13, 2021 Middle Orient
BEHIND THE LINES: In the southwest, the outside powers of relevance are Iran and Russia. The arrangement in place from July 2018 until now was the product of an uneasy standoff between them. In a new ceasefire agreement that may bring an end to a 75-day Assad-regime siege on the …
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September 13, 2021 Afghanistan, Middle Orient
Pashtun practices include circumcision on the eighth day and refraining from mixing meat and milk — Is there a connection to ancient Hebrews? With the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban just shy of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the world’s attention has once …
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September 13, 2021 Afghanistan
The Taliban announced their caretaker cabinet 24 days after taking control of Kabul, but more than half of the cabinet members are on the UN sanction’s list. The Taliban seized capital Kabul on August 15 hours before President Ghani fled the country and they are now in full control of …
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September 13, 2021 Afghanistan
The U.S. and international partners should navigate carefully but proactively or risk making a dire economic and humanitarian situation worse. The Taliban’s unexpectedly rapid and complete victory over the now defunct Islamic Republic of Afghanistan brings with it yet another shock to the long-suffering Afghan people and the country’s very …
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September 13, 2021 Afghanistan
How will the U.S., international community and the region engage with a government comprised of Taliban stalwarts? As part of the Taliban’s bid to re-establish the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the militant group announced the line up for its caretaker government on Tuesday. Despite several leading Taliban figures saying the …
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September 13, 2021 Balkans, Eurasia, Middle Orient
While prospects for actual conflict use are slim, Belgrade hopes that by buying Israeli weapons it can alleviate some of the pressure it may face from Washington over Kosovo and ties with Russia and China. Israel’s defense industry just added another buyer to its list. Speaking to the Serbian national …
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September 13, 2021 Africa
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has banned the pro-opposition Orient News channel from media coverage in Idlib, raising fears about the state of press freedom in Syria’s Idlib. The pro-Syrian opposition Orient News channel revealed on its Twitter account Aug. 24, “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [HTS] has decided to end the channel’s media …
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September 13, 2021 Africa
France and Spain already reopened their diplomatic missions in Libya following the end of the civil war last year. Germany’s top diplomat arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli Thursday to reopen the German Embassy. “The former conflicting parties have realized that there can be no violent solution for their country,” …
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September 13, 2021 Middle Orient
It was evident in the meeting in Moscow between Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the two countries do not see eye to eye on the Iranian nuclear agreement and Syria. On an official visit to Moscow, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid warned Sept. 9 …
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September 13, 2021 Africa
Oil production shutdowns are increasingly likely as several players in the sector push their own agenda. The war of words over who controls Libya’s oil sector has now spilled over into its operations. Last week, one of the most powerful men in Libya, National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanallah, …
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