The United States and other democracies are facing a rising wave of increasingly assertive autocracies, including China and Russia.
Through the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese investment has helped Beijing make political inroads in several democracies worldwide.
Violence by Islamist extremists in Africa reached a record high last year. Now, the Islamic State is using those attacks to project an image of strength.
The Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate has fallen, its fighters have dispersed and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed.
A string of recent terrorist attacks and plots in Southeast Asia has authorities concerned over the enduring threat posed by regional terrorists.
Militant groups tied to the Islamic State have repeatedly sought to attack targets associated with Christians, including churches, as well as police.
Syed Waseem Rizvi, an Indian Shi’ite leader known for issuing provocative statements against the majority Sunni Muslim leadership to gain favor with the country’s Hindu rightwing, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India seeking the removal of 26 verses of the Koran on the grounds that the verses spread extremism among Indian Muslims.
On March 27, 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement valued at 400 billion USD and integrating Iran into the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.[1] For Russia, the agreement was received on two levels. On one level, Russia, which has been on the receiving end of Western sanctions viewed the agreement as a blow to the sanctions policy and therefore as a positive. On a different level, the Sino-Iranian agreement, coupled with recent activity by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the region that included visits to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman raised the question of Chinese competition for Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was queried about this issue in a press conference at the Valdai Discussion Club think tank. Lavrov welcomed “honest competition”.
د ملی امنيت دلوی رياست ځانګړو ځواکونو د پکتيکا په ګيان کې د القاعدې د هند وچې غړی دولت بیګ مشهور په ابومحمدالتاجکي دتاجکستان تبعه او طالب ترهګر حضرت علي مشهور په حمزه مهاجر د وزیرستان اوسیدونکی ګيان ته پر لاره وژلي. #اعتماد_یک_ملت#د_یو_ملت_اعتماد#TRUST_OF_A_NATION pic.twitter.com/H49C6T2bPv
— NDS Afghanistan (@NDSAfghanistan) March 30, 2021Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security killed an Al Qaeda commander and a Taliban leader during a recent operation in the eastern province of Paktika. That happened despite the fact the Taliban insists that Al Qaeda operatives, and all foreign fighters, have not been present in Afghanistan since 2001.
The European race has received from heaven, or acquired by its own efforts, such an unquestionable superiority over all the other races composing the great human family, that the man placed in our country, by his vices and ignorance, on the last step of the social ladder, is still first among the savages.
According to a leaked draft of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, circulated last year, Iran will receive $400 billion dollars in Chinese investments over the next 25 years in key Iranian economic sectors, including energy, telecommunications, defense, infrastructure, banking, petrochemicals, railways and ports. According to the leaked draft, there will be also an expansion of military assistance, training and intelligence-sharing. Nearly 100 projects are cited in the draft. In return, Iran will commit to providing regular and heavily discounted oil, gas and possibly other natural resources to China.
Mediterranean crossings from Libya are continuing, despite dangers.
At least five people died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya on Tuesday night. Mediterranean crossings are continuing from Libya, despite persistent dangers.
The Pentagon recently asked Congress for an astronomical $27 billion budget increase to support a massive military buildup in Asia as part of its new Indo-Pacific plan, which calls for a substantially more aggressive military stance against China.