In Other News: Egypt's Diplomatic Role in the Middle East, Brazil's Economy Improving & More – May 21, 2021
May 21, 2021 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi played a significant role in brokering a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which have been engaged in renewed violence in the last 11 days. Egypt mediated the truce to pause the fighting between the two sides starting today, after diplomats from Egypt, Qatar, and the United […]
In Other News: Russia Denies Ransomware Attack, Renewed Violence in the Middle East & More – May 14, 2021
May 14, 2021 Russia has denied involvement in the ransomware cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline in the United States, which has disrupted activity and supply from the biggest U.S. gasoline pipeline. According to the FBI, the attack was conducted by a criminal network called DarkSide, which is believed to be based in Russia or Eastern […]
In Other News: India's Covid Crisis, Post-Brexit Complications & More – May 7, 2021
May 7, 2021 India’s current Covid crisis could become a global economic crisis if the situation continues to deteriorate. India is suffering from a staggering surge of Covid-19 cases with multiple variants of the virus in circulation across the country. According to the Indian Health Ministry, the country recorded 412,262 cases of Covid-19 in a […]
In Other News: Russian Moves Against Opposition, Venezuela to Receive Humanitarian Aid & More – April 30, 2021
April 30, 2021 Russian authorities have suspended the activities of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s political organization the Anti-Corruption Foundation and is expected to label it extremist. This would put the organization in the same legal category as Al Qaeda and could portend prison sentences for its supporters. Many of Navalny’s aides and staff have […]
In Other News: Russian Aggression, Cuba without the Castros & More – April 23, 2021
April 23, 2021 Russia appears to be seeking out a middle ground between overt aggression and plausible deniability in its western-facing foreign policy, likely in response to the U.S. ratcheting up the rhetoric around and response to Kremlin transgressions in the U.S., UK, and elsewhere. President Putin warned the U.S. and other Western countries in […]
In Other News: Sanctions on Russia, Iran Nuclear Deal & More – April 16, 2021
April 16, 2021 The Biden Administration imposed a robust round of sanctions against Russia for a litany of transgressions, targeting 32 entities and individuals involved in disinformation, Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election, and Russia’s occupation of Crimea. The sanctions aim to stifle lending to the Russian government, barring U.S. financial institutions from the […]
In Other News: Potential Lifting of Sanctions on Iran, China Flexing Maritime Muscle & More – April 9, 2021
April 9, 2021 The U.S. has announced that it is prepared to lift some sanctions on Iran in coordination with steps by Tehran to come back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal’s stipulations on uranium enrichment. The announcements are the result of bilateral communications, carried out via intermediaries, at meetings this week in Vienna […]
In Other News: China's Lack of Transparency, Brazil's Bolsonaro & More – April 2, 2021
April 2, 2021 China’s refusal to provide earlier, more transparent access to data to World Health Organization investigators appears to be strengthening suspicions that Covid-19 was the result of a leak from a Chinese lab, rather than transmission from animal to human in a market, as both China and the WHO have asserted. The Director […]
In Other News: US-China Bilateral Meeting, Suez Canal Traffic & More – March 26, 2021
March 26, 2021 A contentious start to a bilateral U.S.-China meeting in Alaska, in which senior diplomats from both sides exchanged heated words in full view of the press, has sparked concerns that Washington and Beijing are heading inexorably toward conflict. Just days later, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on NATO to join […]
In Other News: Russia Threats, Mexico & More – March 19, 2021
March 19, 2021 A declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence identifies Russian President Vladimir Putin as having authorized a state-sponsored campaign to influence the outcome of U.S. presidential elections in November 2020. According to the assessment, Russia’s efforts included covert operations to influence people close to then-president Trump to spread […]
