Thursday, Apr 25th
Last update06:55:08 AM GMT
International Glance
Commercial flights including Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting their routes early on Friday morning over western Iran without explanation. Local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
The incident comes as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program.
Foreign malign influence in the U.S. presidential election got off to a slower start than in 2016 and 2020 due to the less contested primary season. Russian efforts are focused on undermining U.S. support for Ukraine while China seeks to exploit societal polarization and diminish faith in U.S. democratic systems.
Additionally, fears that sophisticated AI deepfake videos would succeed in voter manipulation have not yet been borne out but simpler “shallow” AI-enhanced and AI audio fake content will likely have more success. These insights and analysis are contained in the second Microsoft Threat Intelligence Election Report published today.
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
Israeli daily Ma’ariv also said on Wednesday that troops had been put on alert and “the governing principle of the operation” had been approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general staff and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it was buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town in the Gaza Strip, which is only major urban area in the territory that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
White House will be imposing new sanctions on Iran, targeting Tehran’s missile and drone program, following the country’s “unprecedented” air attack on Israel, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan announced on Tuesday.
The new sanctions, set to take into effect “in the coming days,” will penalize Tehran for its attack on Israel over the weekend.
Sullivan stated the new sanctions will target “entities” backing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry.
“These new sanctions and other measures will continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviors,” Sullivan said.
TVNL Comment: Why did the US not place sactions against Israel when they bombed the Iranian Embassy in Syria, killing 6 Iranians? The drone attack was retaliation for that violation of International Law.
Qatar called Rep. Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) criticism of the country’s mediation efforts in the Israel-Hamas war “not constructive” and rebuked the lawmaker for “threatening” to “reevaluate” the U.S. relationship with Doha.
Hoyer stated on Monday that Qatar should signal to Hamas that “repercussions” will ensue if the militant Palestinian group stalls “progress” toward releasing the hostages held in Gaza and getting to a temporary cease-fire.
“Qatar needs to make it clear to Hamas that there will be repercussions if it continues to block progress toward releasing the hostages and establishing a temporary ceasefire,” Hoyer said in a statement released Monday. “Consequences ought to include cutting off funding to Hamas or refusing to grant Hamas’ leaders refuge in Doha. If Qatar fails to apply this pressure, the United States must reevaluate its relationship with Qatar.”
Powell was right.
We broke Iraq when we began dropping "daisy cutter" bombs more than a decade ago. And while we don’t “own” Iraq now, we pay a lot of rent in exchange for our position as its ally, protector and arms supplier. After the Iraqis themselves, we remain the key player in determining that country’s fate.
Today, Iraq's future is in doubt. Renewed sectarian violence and rising attacks from al-Qaeda and its affiliates are threatening to tear a barely reassembled Iraq into pieces.
“The situation is fragile,” said a senior State Department official, who spoke to The Huffington Post anonymously so that he could give frank assessments. “Al-Qaeda is now a very serious threat, and the [Iraqi] government needs to be more active in reaching out to all groups.
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