The circumstances of Abboud’s death were not disclosed, the regime only stating that he was killed in the Aleppo governorate, according to Baladi News.
A high-ranking regime army officer was killed on Tuesday, in mysterious circumstances, in Aleppo city.
Recent weeks in Syria have witnessed an escalation of violence between U.S. forces and militias backed by Iran.
Recent weeks in Syria have witnessed an escalation of violence between U.S. forces and militias backed by Iran. According to the opposition website Baladi News, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has stated that two positions of its forces in the fields of Omar and Kuniko, located in Deir-ez-Zor, were hit by rocket attacks on Wednesday evening. In a statement, CENTCOM said that it responded to the attacks using a helicopter, destroying three cars and equipment used to launch missiles.
Newly leaked information from inside Iran, obtained by Iran International, reveals that the Biden administration has made even more concessions to revive the nuclear deal, which have not been revealed to the public. According to the report, “the US guarantees that its sanctions against IRGC would not affect other sectors and firms: e.g. a petrochemical company shouldn’t be sanctioned by US because of doing business with IRGC.”
Taiwan has been the perennial flashpoint between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This has been the case for decades. While each side has consistently pointed to the Three Joint Communiques as the basis of the bilateral US-PRC relationship, the reality has always been that each side had nuanced, if not different, interpretations of these documents, particularly as they pertained to Taiwan.[1] Furthermore, the Shanghai Communique is largely comprised of unilateral statements and declarations that highlight that the two sides held differing opinions on key issues. Additionally, the US also had the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as relevant framing documents. Despite the incongruous frames of reference (or at least the incongruous interpretations thereof), both sides have historically admonished the other to not change the status quo over Taiwan. On the heels of what many are now referring to as the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis, we have to wonder what status quo even means 50 years after the original Shanghai Communique.[2]
Monkeypox is a contagious viral disease that can be especially serious for children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. Increased access to vaccines is critical to prevent its spread.
Notice that no nation has managed merely to print money and tax its citizens on the path to prosperity. Real wealth cannot simply be conjured from thin air. There must be recognized value in what a nation and its citizens possess.
How Distortions About the Past Feed Delusions About the Future
Vladimir Putin is determined to shape the future to look like his version of the past. Russia’s president invaded Ukraine not because he felt threatened by NATO expansion or by Western “provocations.” He ordered his “special military operation” because he believes that it is Russia’s divine right to rule Ukraine, to wipe out the country’s national identity, and to integrate its people into a Greater Russia.
Another round of discussions between Serbia and Kosovo ended inconclusively Thursday in Brussels, even as tensions between the two countries continue to spiral. The stakes are high: Violence almost erupted two weeks ago in the north of Kosovo, with local Serbs raising barricades and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warning that open conflict was imminent.
Last week, Turkey and Israel announced that they would normalize their diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors and consuls for the first time since 2018. The announcement follows a series of recent high-level visits, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s March trip to Turkey, Israeli Foreign Minister and acting Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s visit in June to Turkey, and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s May trip to Israel.
When it was first launched in the wee hours of February 24, the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was supposed to last just a few days and end with the quick capture of Kyiv.
Fast-forward six months: Those plans collapsed in spectacular fashion as Ukraine beat back Russian troops through a combination of sheer determination and plentiful Western arms. But despite Ukraine’s success, the conflict is far from over. On the contrary, it appears to be settling into a long, attritional battle that will test Ukrainian and Western resolve.