In the early months of 2003, I was in the Kurdish capital Erbil in northern Iraq, an area outside Iraqi government control, waiting for the start of the US-led invasion. The Kurds were all too accustomed to conventional warfare, but what truly terrified them was the prospect of Saddam Hussein’s forces using chemical weapons.
A Turkey-Israel gas pipeline is being discussed behind the scenes as one of Europe’s alternatives to Russian energy supplies, but it will take complicated maneuvering to reach any deal, government and industry officials in both countries say.
South Sudan’s vice president is urging regional mediators to intervene to protect the country’s fragile peace deal, warning of a return to war amid alleged attacks by government troops on his forces.
Riek Machar accused President Salva Kiir of violating a 2018 truce in a letter to the regional mediator, the 8-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian central bank, the government, and Gazprom to present proposals by March 31 for gas payments in rubles from “unfriendly countries,” including all European Union states.
Russia is working out methods for accepting payments for its natural-gas exports in rubles and it will make decisions in due course should European countries refuse to pay in the Russian currency, the Kremlin said on March 28.
The Pentagon on Monday released a $773 billion budget request for fiscal year 2023, asking Congress for a big spending boost to build new weapons to curb an emergent Chinese military, check Russia’s aggression in Europe and boost pay for troops.
The Biden administration has been unable to get Gulf states to increase oil production to bring down prices and some European states are seeking alternatives to Russian natural gas.
The United Arab Emirates’ energy head has endorsed an agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia. Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that the war in Ukraine should not affect the oil giants’ plans.
Last week, good news emerged from Ethiopia. The federal government announced a truce in its sixteen-month conflict with Tigrayan forces, expressing hope that its action would improve the humanitarian situation in the region and pave the way for lasting peace. Tigrayan forces responded in kind, pledging to make the truce a success.
A slowdown for good or a temporary lull during the storm of war?
While the number of refugees who have flooded out of Ukraine nears 4 million, fewer people have crossed the border in recent days. Border guards, aid agencies and refugees themselves say Russia’s unpredictable war on Ukraine offers few signs whether it’s just a pause or a permanent drop-off.
Tunisian police forces have dismantled about 150 militant cells in the past six months, a spokesman for the National Guard said on Saturday.
He added that some of the foreign militants arrested were planning to join “Jond Kilafha”, a group linked to Islamic State in Libya and in the mountains on the Tunisian-Algerian border.
An Extremist Regime Is Pushing Afghanistan to the Brink
When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, some observers suggested that their approach to governance might prove more moderate this time around. Twenty years had elapsed since the group was last in charge. The country had transformed dramatically, and with the fight against the United States over, tasks like collecting garbage and keeping the lights on now seemed largely nonideological in nature.