Orientul Mijlociu

Governments in the Middle East have a valid reason to be concerned about the nuclear deal. They have already witnessed its negative consequences.

[T]his would have not been the outcome if Israel and other regional powers had been part of the negotiations.

The composition of the current negotiating team, similar to the previous one, completely excludes those on Iran’s doorstep. In an approach reminiscent of the bygone colonial era, it remains a policy set by governments thousands of miles away.

“The mosque is a gift from Qatar but it’s not free. I have always said that they will expect something in return, and this shows that they are making some claims for their money.” — Lars Aslan Rasmussen, Copenhagen city councilman.

Officials from nearly all of Denmark’s main political parties have expressed their support for the bill to ban foreign funding of mosques.

“It is a real problem if donations are made from organizations that want to undermine fundamental democratic values.” — Foreign Affairs Minister Mattias Tesfaye.

What does the conflict in Syria look like on the ground?

The sides to the conflict are locked in an uneasy standoff that has brought the country a measure of calm, but fighting could rapidly reignite and trigger international instability. The turning point in the past year came when a Russian-Turkish ceasefire announced on 5 March 2020 halted a year-long Syrian regime onslaught on Idlib in the north west. This paused most fighting on the war’s last active front. Turkey expanded its military presence in Idlib, securing the truce. Thus, the area became the latest example of de facto ceasefires around the country.

Oil prices edged up on Monday, with Brent drifting near $70 a barrel, propped up by output cuts from major producers and optimism about global economic and fuel demand recovery in the second half of the year.

Brent crude futures for May gained 50 cents, or 0.72%, to $69.72 a barrel by 0528 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April was at $66.13 a barrel, up 52 cents, or 0.79%.

French TV channel M6 aired lately an investigation on ISIS terrorists who have managed to settle without any problem in Europe, and particularly in Germany.

The M6 flagship program “Enquête Exclusive” showed how ISIS terrorists managed to slip through the cracks by posing as asylum seekers, and how they ended up being greeted with open arms and offered a safe haven in Germany, because of the dangerous laxity of German authorities.

Evidence is mounting: the old vision of “ideal” workers — who give 100% to their employers, without family interference — aren’t actually ideal for 21st century organizations. In fact, the old model of full devotion to work has a negative influence on performance, research says. Now it’s time to talk about “the new ideal worker,” someone who is able to achieve a better work-life balance and bring more to the various tables in their lives.

Today’s warfare is not about hunting down terrorists in buildings or using tanks, it is also about confronting hi-tech missiles and drones

Israel’s Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency have successfully completed an unprecedented, historic test designed to confront multiple threats using a multitiered system. Nothing like this has ever been reported to have been done before, and it represents a response to the latest threats emerging in the region.

MoD: System can intercept a variety of threats, including UAVs and cruise missiles

The Israel Missile Defense Organization has successfully completed a series of live-fire intercept tests of the Iron Dome and David’s Sling weapon systems against threat-representative cruise and ballistic missiles, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. It is the first time the the Iron Dome system intercepted a cruse missile.