The building described as ‘Mossad Headquarters’ in Iraqi Kurdistan with underground facilities for conducting covert operations hit by Iranian missile attack, Erbil, Northern Iraq, January 15, 2024 The stunning missile and drone strikes on three countries — Syria, Iraq and Pakistan — over a period of 24 hours and Tehran taking the extraordinary step of …
An anniversary West would rather forget
On the 75th anniversary of the battle that lifted the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2, people walk in snowfall to the Motherland monument to place flowers at the Piskaryovskoye Cemetery where the victims were buried, St. Petersburg, Russia, January 26, 2019 An epochal anniversary from the annals of modern history is coming up …
Taiwan: cross-strait brinkmanship to continue
Taiwan’s electoral laws provide for the candidate with the highest number of votes becoming the winner on a first-past-the-post basis, and it is a moot point that the incumbent Vice President William Lai from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who secured only 40 percent of votes is still elected as the next president. The DPP …
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India gets a rude awakening in West Asia
Britain’s HMS Diamond deploys missiles to attack Yemen From the standpoint of affirming ‘solidarity’ with the regime of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the October 7 attack, India has swung away to the far horizon and has unceremoniously dumped the US-Israeli axis, which provided beacon light to Delhi’s West Asian policies in the past few …
Palestine: EU’s Borrell bats for US
Video image of a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile hitting a radar dome at Israeli air base on Mount Meron, Jan. 6, 2024 The diplomatic arena of the Middle East was dominated in the past week by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s regional tour to Türkiye, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West …
Blinken’s window dressing tour of Arab capitals
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in AlUla, January 8, 2023 The expectation raised by the United States in allowing a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza pass through on December 22, 2023 without having to exercise its veto — albeit a watered-down one that stopped …
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India-Russia ties get a makeover
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and President Vladimir Putin (R) in Moscow during a five-day visit to Russia (Dec 24-29, 2023) The visit by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Russia on December 24-29 presented an extraordinary spectacle reminiscent of the halcyon days of Indo-Soviet relations. There …
Putin lifts the fog of war in Ukraine
A victorious Russian soldier patrolling in Maryinka settlement in Donetsk, Ukraine, which was liberated on December 25, 2023 Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is entering a new phase. President Vladimir Putin lifted the fog of war and hinted at what can be expected going forward in a landmark speech at the National Defence Control …
India’s turnaround on Palestine has more than meets the eye
A Palestinian man carries his daughter’s body near Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza after she was killed by an Israeli airstrike Indian diplomacy is ending 2023 with a momentous turnaround. What began as a course correction necessitated by the torrential flow of events in West Asia is assuming strategic overtones. Truly, the aberration in India’s policies can …
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US’ war on terror against Houthis is smoke and mirrors
A November 20, 2023 file photo of a Houthi military helicopter flying over Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea The United States has hosted the first meeting of the new working group on terrorism in the Quad format in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 19-21. The QUAD working group on terrorism was constituted in …
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