Author: Mideast discourse

Hours after the FBI searched former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, his supporters gathered outside in an impromptu rally: Trump flags flew, pickups roared and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” blared. Why it matters: Trump and the American right mobilized to use the raid as a symbol of government overreach and “political persecution,” with a speed, fury and ferocity not seen since he left office. The FBI and Justice Department have said nothing official about what happened. Republicans instantly moved to portray the raid as President Biden trying to hurt a potential 2024 opponent. The conservative National Review said: “[T]he idea that a law enforcement organization under…

On August 9, explosions rocked Russian military air base “Saki” near the town of Novofiodorovka in the Republic of Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that at around 15:20 local time several aviation munitions detonated on a storage site in the area of the airbase. According to the report, the aviation equipment at the airfield was not damaged. “Measures are being taken to extinguish the fire and find out the causes of the explosion,” the statement said. The defense ministry added that “there was no fire impact” on the ammunition storage area at the airfield. Media reports claimed that there…

Dmitry Medvedev has lashed out against the leader of Ukraine for his call to retaliate against all Russians globally Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wants the West to seek inspiration from German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed on Tuesday. Medvedev, who now holds the position of deputy chair of the Russian national security council, blasted Zelensky over his call for the collective punishment of Russians. The NATO-backed leader has called for all Russians – regardless of their leanings or circumstances – to be deported from Western countries. “Adolf Hitler tried to implement such ideas about an…

Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is bumping up against quotas imposed by the European Union for sanctioned goods that it can import across Lithuania from mainland Russia or Belarus, the region’s governor said on Tuesday. Lithuania infuriated Moscow in June by banning the land transit of goods such as concrete and steel to Kaliningrad after EU sanctions on them came into force, Reuters reported. As part of a deal reached in July, the EU imposed limits on the volume of such goods crossing by land between Kaliningrad and mainland Russia or Belarus, based on average volumes over the last three…

According to Academician Leonid Bolshov, following the Fukushima accident, all nuclear plants in Russia were equipped with additional diesel generators and movable pumps to be launched in case of electricity outages or a pressure loss in the reactor’s cooling loop The main risks for the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are disturbances in the reactor cooling mode, which are fraught with serious consequences, Academician Leonid Bolshov, the founder and scientific director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Nuclear Safety Institute (IBRAE), told TASS on Tuesday. “There are two options. Option one: electricity supplies to the station are cut, with all transmission…

30 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli forces fire as they stormed of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. Palestinian Wafa Agency said that large forces of the occupation army stormed the eastern alley of the old city in Nablus and encircled the buildings and opened fire at the Palestinians, injuring 30 of them, some of them seriously, and they also prevented emergency crews from reaching the injured. The occupation forces also encircled a house in the Old City and targeted it with a missile and imposed a tight cordon on the town’s alleys and closed all its entrances.…

Deadly clashes erupted on Monday between rival security units across various residential neighborhoods of the Yemeni oil-rich province of Shabwa, a government official told Xinhua. Security units loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party launched an attack against the rival security forces of the government in Ataq, the provincial capital, triggering intense street battles, the local government source said on condition of anonymity. The ongoing street clashes in Shabwa have left 18 people killed and more than 25 others injured, according to local medical sources. “The infighting occurred following the appointment of a new commander to lead the special security…

At least 7 people have been confirmed dead and more than 50 wounded after Nigerian Police Force and Army opened fire with live bullets on the peaceful Ashura procession in Zaria city of Kaduna State on Monday. Nigerian security forces opened fire at the peaceful, unarmed Ashura mourners in the Zaria City of Kaduna State in the Northwestern of the country. One of the martyrs is ‘Muhsin Badamasi Yaqub Zakzaky’, a son of the younger brother of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Maryam Gashua, head of the ‘Shuhada Foundation of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria,…

The priority is now to supply Kiev with ammunition so it can stay in the fight with Russia, the US undersecretary of defense says The US appears reluctant to supply further HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, judging by the latest statement from Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl, who said the focus is now on providing ammunition for previously delivered systems. “We sent 16 HIMARS systems, which is actually quite a lot,” Kahl said during a briefing on Monday, when asked whether the Pentagon has reached the limit of military hardware it can deliver to Kiev. He noted that the UK…

NSO Group’s iPhone malware capabilities are revealed through rare Pegasus screenshots. A new study has unearthed previously unseen screenshots of NSO Group’s Pegasus iPhone malware in action, displaying its user interface, capabilities, and more. The screenshots show a prototype version of Pegasus intended for use by Israeli cops. Reading WhatsApp messages, activating a phone’s microphone, and recording incoming or outgoing calls are all capabilities of the spyware. It’s unclear whether the version of Pegasus shown in the screenshots is the same as the one used by governments around the world to monitor activists, dissidents, and journalists. Following an investigation by…