Category: International Conflict

China sends 43 aircraft, 7 ships close to Taiwan

TAIPEI: Taiwan said on Wednesday that China sent 43 military aircraft and seven ships near the self-ruled island, the latest sign that Beijing plans no let-up in its campaign of harassment, threats and intimidation. Taiwan’s defenceministry said 37 of the aircraft had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which China no longer recognises as an informal divider between…

Jordan, key US ally, recalls its envoy from Israel in protest over the “humanitarian catastrophe”

Jordan, a key US ally, said Wednesday it has recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel’s ambassador to remain out of the country in protest over the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. Jordan’s deputy PM said the return of the ambassadors is linked to Israel “stopping its war on Gaza … and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.” Jordan signed…

Unprecedented Cyber Breach via MOVEit Software Rattles Multiple Sectors

In a devastating cyberattack that unfolded over three days in May 2023, numerous victims fell prey to a large-scale intrusion. The attackers exploited a vulnerability in MOVEit, a managed file transfer software, sending shockwaves across various sectors. Government agencies, airlines, educational institutions, financial organizations, and healthcare providers found themselves in the crosshairs of this breach. The attackers absconded with sensitive…

Gaza’s only cancer hospital goes out of service – health officials

DUBAI: The only cancer treatment hospital in the Gaza Strip has gone out of service after it ran out of fuel, health officials said on Wednesday. The director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital told a press conference aired by Al-Jazeera TV that the hospital, which mainly treats cancer patients, had used up its fuel and was now out of service….

Telecom Sector Sees Major Layoffs Despite Historic Stretch Of Tax Breaks, Regulatory Favors

The Trump era was very, very good to the country’s giant telecom monopolies. Trump officials doled out billions in tax breaks (AT&T nabbed $42 billion alone) and billions more in poorly tracked subsidies. It also approved anticompetitive mergers without even reading the details, and handed out all manner of regulator favors like the dismantling of net neutrality or the elimination…

Taiwan detects 43 Chinese warplanes around island

More than 40 Chinese warplanes were detected around Taiwan in a day, the self-ruled island’s defence ministry said on Wednesday. Beijing claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary, and has ratcheted up military and diplomatic pressures on the island this year. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said in a daily statement that…

Russian Hackers Accessed 632,000 Emails From Pentagon, Other Agencies: Report

Hackers have accessed approximately 632,000 emails from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies this year, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed. The report detailed a large-scale cyberattack in May 2023 in which emails from US government offices, private sectors, airlines, and academic entities were accessed by a suspected Russian group called “CL0P.” Alongside electronic personal data,…

Islamic State Group Claims Deadly Blast in Kabul

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed on its Telegram channel Friday that it was behind a blast at a sports club that killed four people in the Afghan capital the night before. The Sunni Muslim extremist group said it had used a parcel bomb that “IS fighters placed in a room where Shiites gather.” The explosion occurred Thursday evening at a commercial center in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of…

The US Imperative to Blacklist the IRGC as a Terrorist Organization 

[…] ‘The Daily Telegraph’ and ‘Mail Online,’ disclosed that following the Hamas attack on Israel, the United States urged Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). On October 21, 2023, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported, quoting Matthew Miller, the official spokesperson of the US State Department: “We absolutely think that other…

US to build new nuclear gravity bomb

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department on Friday announced the government is moving forward with developing a new version of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb. The bomb, designated B61-13, would have a yield similar to the B61-7 and replace some of those older gravity bombs, the Pentagon said in its announcement. The B61-7′s yield is higher than the B61-12, the…

Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza; internet collapse cuts territory off from outside

DEIR AL-BALAH: Internet and phone services collapsed in the Gaza Strip under intensified Israeli bombardment Friday night, largely cutting off its 2.3 million people from the outside world and each other, as Israel’s military said it was “expanding” ground operations in the besieged territory. The military’s announcement signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it…

US Air Force Launches Two Electronic Warfare Detachments

The US Air Force (USAF) has launched two new detachments at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia to bolster the force’s electronic warfare capability. Detachments from the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing (SWW) and the 87th Electronic Warfare Squadron (EWS) will be tasked with responding to electronic threats by developing new countermeasures. The launch is part of the standup process for…

US Strikes Two Sites Used by Iranian Forces in Syria: Pentagon

  The US military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday. “The precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” he…

Al Jazeera journalist’s family killed in Israeli airstrike

According to Al Jazeera, their Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al Dahdouh, tragically lost his wife, son, daughter, and grandson in an Israeli airstrike that occurred on Wednesday. The explosion targeted a residence in the Nuseirat refugee camp, located in central Gaza, where the family sought refuge following their displacement. “Members of the family of our colleague Wael Al Dahdouh, including…

Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Arizona

Ukrainian military pilots have begun learning to fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet in Arizona, the U.S. Air Force confirmed Wednesday. A “small number” of Ukrainians started training at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson this week, Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley said in an emailed statement. Morris is home to the 162nd Wing of the Arizona National Guard,…

Death toll in Gaza approaches 7,000 as aid groups raise alarm about fuel, refrigeration, water

The streets of Gaza are empty of cars. Many of its bakeries are shuttered; meat suppliers have no refrigeration. Doctors perform operations by flashlight. Although 62 aid trucks have entered Gaza since last weekend carrying much-needed food, water and medical supplies, none have delivered fuel — which Israel has blocked over concerns it could be stolen and used by Hamas….