Author: M Barbu

Afghanistan: Sustaining urgent medical care as conflict flares across the country

Violence has surged in Afghanistan since May, with conflict in and around provincial capitals between Afghan forces and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA, also known as the Taliban). The fighting is impeding access to medical care, increasing the numbers of people killed and wounded by bullets and explosions, and causing widespread displacement. In the areas where Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works—Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, Kandahar, Kunduz, and around Herat—the consequences of the conflict have been felt acutely.

Arabs Celebrate Downfall of Tunisia’s Islamists

Tunisia is the third Arab country after Egypt and Sudan to say that it is fed up with the rule of the Islamists. With the exception of Qatar, most of the Arab countries have long regarded the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups as a major threat to security, stability and peace.

The Palestinians… seem to be the only Arabs who continue to believe in the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, particularly Hamas, the terrorist group that has been ruling the Gaza Strip since July 2007.

Project Pegasus: Unauthorized Snooping Or Threat To National Security? – OpEd

‘Pegasus’, the mythical winged horse has been the center of the universe of discourse for the last few days. Only this time, this is not a horse, but a spy software developed by Israel’s NSO group that exploits the weaknesses of someone’s phone that even the manufacturers don’t know about. Using ‘Pegasus’, a cell phone can be hacked and it will start transmitting data to the attacker through the apps, microphone or camera. It’s like having a spy in one’s pocket; turning the phone, one paid for, a weapon, used by others.

China, Russia Showcase Growing Ties With Joint Military Exercises – Analysis

In the latest display of deepening ties between Beijing and Moscow, Chinese and Russian troops kicked off five days of military exercises in northwestern China on August 9.

More than 10,000 troops from the Chinese and Russian militaries are participating in the Zapad/Interaction 2021 drills in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region that will involve large numbers of aircraft, weapon systems, and vehicles.

Croatia Urged to Ease Path for Wronged Serbs to Gain Citizenship

Legal changes are now helping Croatian Serbs who couldn’t get citizenship of Croatia for years because of administrative failings, but a few are still having trouble obtaining approval, sparking claims of ethnic discrimination.

After amendments to Croatia’s Citizenship Law came into force last year, the problems of Croatian Serbs who had not been able to obtain Croatian papers since the collapse of federal Yugoslavia in 1991 have finally started to be resolved.

‘Nationalists Want to Convince Croats and Serbs They Can’t Coexist’

This week, while Croatia celebrates its victory in 1995’s Operation Storm and Serbia mourns the victims, nationalists on both sides will be seeking to profit politically from one of the war’s most traumatic events, says sociologist Marijana Stojcic.

Every August, relations cool between Croatia and Serbia and officials exchange harsh words about what happened back in 1995 – the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm, which liberated territory controlled by rebel Croatian Serbs and effectively ended the Croatian war.

Tudjman’s ‘Freedom Train’: Celebrating Croats’ Victory and Serbs’ Exodus

After Croatia’s victory over rebel Serbs in Operation Storm in August 1995, President Franjo Tudjman set off on a triumphalist cross-country railway journey, staging celebratory rallies along the way – with harsh words for the refugees who fled.

Two weeks after the Croatian Army’s victory in Operation Storm in early August 1995, which effectively ended the war in Croatia, President Franjo Tudjman gathered state officials at the Presidential Palace in Zagreb to discuss his next political moves and a new strategy to promote his Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ party.

Ten Years On From Revolution, Tunisia In Uncharted Waters – Analysis

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied has propelled the country into the unknown. On July 25, he announced he would dismiss the prime minister, suspend parliament and assume new powers, effectively concentrating all three branches of governance in his hands.

His actions were met with mass celebrations across the country, even as the military moved to lock down parliament and a number of state institutions. Simultaneously, the dominant political party Ennahda and its allies accused the president of orchestrating a coup.