TODAY:
- AROUND THE WORLD
- DEFENSE – MILITARY – CYBER
AROUND THE WORLD
Australia – China
- May 16, 2022. By Graeme Dobell, The Strategist. As a Chinese navy ship nosed around Australia’s northwest coast, China sailed to the centre of the formal foreign policy debate. The ship got more attention from the press than the National Press Club face-off between Foreign Minister Marise Payne and her Labor shadow, Penny Wong. The China consensus in Australia’s election
Burkina Faso
- May 16, 2022. By HRW. Armed Islamist groups and government security forces and militia in Burkina Faso are committing increased abuses against civilians as the conflict there intensifies and widens, Human Rights Watch said today. The Burkina Faso government, which took power in a January 2022 coup, should better protect civilians from attack and ensure that government forces respect human rights. Burkina Faso: Armed Islamists Kill, Rape Civilians
Cuba
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Cuban lawmakers on Sunday approved a new penal code for the country that is being critiqued by some rights groups who say its clause on foreign funding may be used to unjustly stifle dissent and independent journalism in the wake of widespread anti-government protests last July. Cuban lawmakers pass new penal code critiqued by rights, media groups
Ethiopia – Tigray
- May 16, 2022. By Giulia Paravicini, Katharine Houreld, Reuters. Authorities in Ethiopia’s war-shattered Tigray region are forcing young people to join their army’s fight against the central government by threatening and jailing relatives, according to captured fighters and residents. Some Ethiopians claim forced recruitment by Tigrayan forces
Iran – UAE
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Iran’s top diplomat is expected to visit the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said, welcoming the appointment of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan as the Gulf state’s president last week. Iran’s foreign minister to visit UAE on Monday – spokesperson
Lebanon
- May 16, 2022. By Laila Bassam, Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily, Reuters. Iran-backed Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon’s parliamentary election with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party saying it had gained seats. Lebanon vote brings blow for Hezbollah allies in preliminary results
- May 16, 2022. By Agence France-Press. The results of Lebanon’s first elections since multiple crises ravaged the country were expected Monday, with opposition groups hoping for modest but unprecedented gains. Lebanon awaits results of first vote since multiple crises
Libya
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. Foreign ministers from the G7 group of industrialized nations called for the rapid identification of the legal basis for holding free, fair, and inclusive elections as soon as possible in Libya. G7 urges swift adoption of voting rules in Libya
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. The Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanallah, has confirmed that Libya has the potential to develop hydrocarbon resources and then provide Europe with safe supplies of oil and natural gas using the existing pipelines in the sea. Sanallah: Libya is the appropriate place to invest in natural gas
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. The coastal road leading to Janzour district west of central Tripoli has been reopened for traffic after being blocked in the early hours of Sunday following clashes between two armed factions. Road to Janzour reopened after being blocked by clashes early morning
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. Libyan Crimes Watch (LCW) has condemned the kidnapping of lawyer Adnan Al-Arfi in Benghazi. LCW decries detention of lawyer in Benghazi
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. The mayor of Ghadames Municipality has renewed his call for UNESCO to remove the old city of Ghadames from the list of threatened sites. Mayor of Ghadames urges UNESCO to remove old city from list of threatened sites
- May 15, 2022. By The Libya Observer. Washington has reiterated support for the temporary freezing of oil revenues in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) account at the Libyan Foreign Bank until reaching an agreement on a revenue management mechanism. US supports temporary freezing of NOC revenues at LFB
Malaysia
- May 15, 2022. By Francis E Hutchinson, East Asia Forum. Long characterised by ‘stability’ and excessive concentration of power, Malaysia’s politics have become fluid and unpredictable. With elite compacts and agreements hammered out behind closed doors, the country now has public plot twists worthy of a Netflix series. Malaysian politics now a three-legged race
Mekong
- May 16, 2022. By Anoulak Kittikhoun, The Interpreter. Milton Osborne mischaracterises the Mekong River Commission when writing last month in The Interpreter that the regional organisation “ignores reality”. To say we were “celebrating” the health of the river at our Mekong Day event on 5 April overlooks the fact that on that day I continued to “sound the alarm” about the Mekong’s perilous condition nowadays. Diplomacy is indispensable to manage the Mekong
Pakistan – China
- May 16, 2022. By Syed Fazl-e-Haider, The Interpreter. In Pakistan’s southwest region of Balochistan – the country’s largest province by area but least populous and least developed despite having huge mineral and energy resources – there is a battle being waged for independence. The Baloch have grievances against the Pakistan government, which has historically exploited the province’s resources and neglected its development needs. Military handling of unrest in the region by Islamabad has deepened the sense of alienation and frustration felt in Balochistan, spawning several separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Pakistani separatists turn their sights on China
Philippines
- May 16, 2022. By East Asia Forum. The last time a Marcos claimed victory in a Philippine presidential election, it was on the back of a victory so tainted by fraud it sparked a democratic revolution. Thirty-six years later, voters in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest democracy have delivered Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr to the presidential palace from which he fled along with his father into exile. Those who fought for democracy in the 1986 ‘people power’ revolution, and who fought to protect the achievements of the movement since then, are understandably shellshocked. Marcos victory in the Philippines reflects a new arc of old politics in Southeast Asia
Russia – Finland – Sweden – NATO
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday said Finland and Sweden should have no illusions that Moscow will simply put up with their joining the NATO military alliance, calling it a mistake that would have far-reaching consequences. Russia calls Finland, Sweden joining NATO a mistake with ‘far-reaching consequences’
Russia – Ukraine (impact, reactions, consequences)
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Russia on Monday said its forces had shot down three Ukrainian fighter jets, one near Snake Island in the Black Sea and the others in the Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions, while its missiles continued to pound targets in the east of the country. Russia says it shot down three Ukrainian fighter jets, one near Snake Island
- May 16, 2022. By Orhan Coskun, Can Sezer, Jonathan Spicer, Reuters. Turkey must maintain a delicate diplomatic balance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so that it remains able to help facilitate an eventual negotiated end to the war, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said in an interview. Turkey must keep diplomatic balance for peace talks -Erdogan adviser
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Ukraine said on Monday troops defending the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia. Ukraine says troops defending Kharkiv have reached Russian border
- May 16, 2022. By Jonathan Landay, Tom Balmforth, Reuters. Ukraine counter-attacked Russian forces on the eastern front on Monday with fighting reported near its second-largest city of Kharkiv, after Western military agencies said Moscow’s offensive in the Donbas region had stalled. Ukraine counter-attacks Russian forces in the east
- May 16, 2022. By David Uren, The Strategist. The impact of the Russia–Ukraine war on global food supplies is being magnified by nations imposing bans on food and fertiliser exports to preserve stocks for their domestic needs. Since the invasion, 15 nations have imposed restrictions on food and fertiliser exports, including new bans imposed last week by India on wheat exports and Indonesia on sales of palm oil. Food supplies squeezed by Ukraine war and trade bans
Sudan
- May 16, 2022. By Baher al-Kady, Al Monitor. Political deadlock has prevailed in Sudan following the actions of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Transitional Sovereign Council, on Oct. 25, 2021, to dissolve the military-civilian Sovereign Council and the government, impose a state of emergency and suspend work on some provisions of the constitutional document. Skepticism about Sudanese military’s calls for dialogue
Sweden – Turkey – NATO
- May 16, 2022. By Reuters. Sweden will send diplomats to Turkey to try to overcome Ankara’s objections to its plan to join NATO, Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said, with a formal decision to hand in an application expected on Monday. Sweden to try to overcome Turkish objections to its NATO bid | Reuters
USA – Middle East
- May 16, 2022. By Agence France-Press. The United States will remove a Jewish extremist group linked to late rabbi Meir Kahane as well as a Palestinian militant group from a terror blacklist after years without violence, an official said Sunday. US removes Jewish extremist Kahane movement from terror blacklist
USA – ASEAN
- May 16, 2022. By Susannah Patton, The Interpreter. US President Joe Biden hosted ASEAN leaders in Washington last week for a special summit to commemorate 45 years of US-ASEAN ties. Such a meeting was long in the making, having been mooted under the Trump administration but deferred due to the Covid pandemic, and then delayed in 2022 due to scheduling difficulties. Five takeaways were evident from the meeting for US engagement with the region. Scoring Biden’s ASEAN summit
Yemen
- May 16. By Abdulkarim al-Marani and Mohammed Huwais, AFP, Al Monitor. The first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen’s rebel-held capital on Monday, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict. First commercial flight in 6 years leaves Yemen’s rebel-held capital
DEFENSE – MILITARY – CYBER
- May 16, 2022. By Pierluigi Paganini, Security Affairs. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Cyble analyzed a Tor website named named ‘Eternity Project’ that offers for sale a broad range of malware, including stealers, miners, ransomware, and DDoS Bots. Eternity Project: You can pay $260 for a stealer and $490 for a ransomware
- May 16, 2022. By Naval News. Babcock, the international defence, aerospace and security company has been awarded a 10-year contract to provide dry-dock maintenance for the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth class (QEC) aircraft carriers. Babcock Awarded 10-Year Contract for HMS Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers Dockings
- May 16, 2022. By Peter Jennings, The Strategist. Military lessons from the Ukraine war are being absorbed quickly in Asia. The message for democracies arming against the threat from authoritarian regimes is to select weapons that are simple and available rather than small numbers of expensive and complex ships, aircraft and vehicles that may not survive the first hours of conflict. Australia must learn defence lessons from Ukraine
- May 15, 2022. By Naval News. The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest Arleigh Burke-class (Flight-IIA) destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG 121), May 14 in Charleston, South Carolina. U.S. Navy Commissions Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG 121)
- May 15, 2022. By Lauren C. William, Defense One. The Army is in the midst of a significant shift in how it buys, builds and delivers technological capabilities to warfighters. At the crux of those plans is a cloud infrastructure called cArmy that can deliver communications, tools, and sensor data so commanders can have a clear digital picture of the battlespace and make crucial decisions more quickly. US Army Is Battle-Testing Cloud Computing