Author: M Barbu

Recap: Israel Intensifies Attacks on Syria

For the second time in just a week, Israel targeted the Aleppo International Airport last Tuesday. A message to Bashar al-Assad?

For the second time in just a week, Israel targeted the Aleppo International Airport last Tuesday. This second attack comes amid an intensification of Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria. Already on August 31st, Israeli strikes targeted the Damascus countryside only two hours after an attack on the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport, resulting in material damage. The strikes are believed to have targeted Iranian warehouses and supply lines. Recently, Ram Ben-Barak, the chairman of the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign affairs and defence committee, told Israeli media that the strikes had been a signal to al-Assad. “The attack meant that certain planes would not be able to land, and that a message was relayed to Assad: If planes whose purpose is to encourage terrorism land, Syria’s transport capacity will be harmed,” he said, according to al-Jazeera.

Erdogan: ‘Without Turkiye, NATO is weak’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Friday that “without Turkiye, NATO is weak,” Turkish media reported.

As Erdogan spoke to journalists following Friday prayer in Istanbul, he commented on NATO’s removal of a tweet about Turkish Victory Day (marked on 30 August) following a Greek complaint.

Russia demands Iran remove its militias from Western Syria, amid increasing Israel airstrikes

Russia has demanded that Iran remove its forces and militias from areas in western Syria in order to avoid further airstrikes from neighbouring Israel, according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Citing a source reportedly close to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the outlet reported that in a meeting on Wednesday between three Russian officials and their Iranian counterparts at the Hama military airport, Moscow “demanded that the Iranians evacuate” their military positions near Hama and the coastal city of Tartous.

Saudi Arabia’s power and global influence are wasted on one man

It takes just a few seconds to post a tweet, but for one woman in Saudi Arabia it has resulted in a 45-year prison sentence which has shocked ordinary citizens across the kingdom. Nourah Bint Saeed Al-Qahtani was convicted in the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court on charges of using the internet to violate public order by sending out tweets critical of the regime.

Afghan Website: National Resistance Front (NRF) Fighting With 4,000 Armed And Trained Men In Six Provinces Against Afghan Taliban

The National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, an anti-Taliban resistance group led by Ahmad Massoud, is fighting against the Afghan Taliban in six provinces of Afghanistan, according to an Afghan website.

The report published by Afghan newspaper Hasht-e-Subh quoted Ali Maisam Nazary, head of NRF’s foreign relations, as saying that NRF’s operations against the Taliban have expanded during the past year to six provinces with 4,000 well-equipped and trained forces.

A New Era of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

A local jihadist group and a violent protest movement are driving renewed sectarian strife in Pakistan. To prevent a slide back into violence, Islamabad should ensure those inciting or perpetrating violent acts are prosecuted while denying hardliners the civic space to propagate their hatred.

Russian Sanctions, The Hungarian Veto, And The Long Road Ahead – Analysis

This week we saw the first real challenge to the EU’s ever-growing sanctions regime against Russia. Predictably, it was Hungary who threatened to derail what should have been a standard renewal of the over 1,200 people and 100 companies that the bloc has slapped visa bans and asset freezes on since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February.

How Food And Energy Are Driving The Global Inflation Surge – Analysis

Global inflation was generally moderating when the pandemic began, and the downward trend continued into the early months of the crisis. But surging prices since late 2020 have pushed inflation steadily higher. The average global cost of living has risen more in the 18 months since the start of 2021 than it did during the preceding five years combined.

Putin Makes Civilizationalism Fashionable, Dugin Puts Flesh On Its Skeleton – Analysis

Russian President Vladimir Putin has inspired civilisationalist leaders to emerge from the woodwork and publicly define their states as civilisational rather than national entities.

These leaders speak of civilisational or ethnic worlds with borders that transcend national frontiers, not nation-states. How far they may wish to push claims that challenge the nation-state-based international order is likely to be heavily influenced by whether Mr. Putin achieves his civilisationalist goals in Ukraine.