Two soldiers were killed and three were injured in an explosion in northern Iraq, Iraqi state news said Thursday.
The soldiers were traveling in an army vehicle a day earlier in the Makhmour district when an explosive device detonated, the state Iraqi News Agency reported.
In the early days of the Covid pandemic, pro-Kremlin commentators praised China’s successful Zero-Covid policy as proof of the superiority of authoritarian regimes in protecting their citizens. China’s recent difficulties with this policy as exemplified by the harsh lockdowns and the mass protests that they have sparked, has not produced a reassessment of the original viewpoint. The earlier triumphalism had vanished, once Russia itself experienced difficulties in coping with the pandemic.
Introduction
Iran’s mullahs’ regime may be toppled and replaced with a secular setup, but the repression in the country won’t end if minorities in Iran are not given their rights. The people of Balochistan are demanding not just regime change but independence. The solution to Balochistan’s problems is to break the chains of slavery for which its people have paid enormous sacrifices over decades. This position is shared by the people of Kurdistan and Ahwaz as well. For these reasons, it is the minorities in Iran that are most committed to the uprising against the Islamic Republic and they who are suffering the harshest consequences from the regime’s crackdown.
France on Sunday announced the end to a visa dispute with Algeria, amid efforts to mend relations with North African neighbors.
After meeting Algerian officials on a visit to Algeria, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said consular relations will “return to normal.”
On November 29, 2022, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani, who was on his first visit to Tehran since assuming office. Al-Sudani was elected on October 27, 2022 by the pro-Iranian majority in the Iraqi parliament. In their meeting Khamenei instructed him on how to promote Iran’s interests, and warned, for the first time, that if Baghdad fails to impose its authority in Kurdistan – which, according to Tehran, is a source of terror against Iran, especially in the form of encouraging civil protests by Kurds within Iran – Iranian forces will “defend Iraq.” Khamenei added that ” Iraq’s security is Iran’s security, just as Iran’s security affects Iraq’s. He also called on Al-Sudani to “make maximum use of young and motivated Iraqi forces,” namely the Shi’ite militias established by Iran in Iraq, apparently as a counterweight to the public influence of Muqtada Al-Sadr, who has declared his opposition to the Iranian order promoted by Tehran in Iraq.
Dmitry Sytii under US sanctions for links to mercenary group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to Vladimir Putin
A Russian businessman believed to be a close ally of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group founder, has been taken to hospital in Central African Republic (CAR) after an “assassination attempt”, the RIA Novosti news agency has reported, citing the local Russian embassy.
France on Sunday announced the end to a visa dispute with Algeria, amid efforts to mend relations with North African neighbors.
After meeting Algerian officials on a visit to Algeria, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said consular relations will “return to normal.”
Tunisia’s main opposition coalition has said President Kais Saied must resign after fewer than 9% of eligible voters took part in parliamentary elections.
The National Salvation Front head, Nejib Chebbi, said Saturday’s poll was a “fiasco”, calling for mass protests to demand snap presidential elections.
Lone-wolf attacks have evolved as the new face of terrorism and bring unique challenges for counter-terrorism studies. Violent terror attacks by extremist individuals acting upon their radicalised beliefs are termed ‘Lone-wolf terrorism’. Their actions are either inspired or influenced by a specific terrorist organisation and ideology or operate within a particular social atmosphere. Lone-wolf terrorists might be ‘loner’ acting individually without a particular ideological influence and therefore without a leader, they’re free to move between groups. But upon arrest, they may associate themselves with specific terrorist organisations. On the other hand, some terrorist organisations may also claim responsibility to gain ‘free glory’ or publicity. Lone-wolf terrorists and their attacks have an element of unpredictability, because of which counter-terrorism agencies, police and intelligence organisations have found it challenging to tackle.
Many of us who watched the parade of new politburo members walking onto the stage at the recent meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Congress were struck by the total absence of women. Unlike the previous 25 years, not even one.