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☆ Arch-rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to revive ties, reopen embassies in China-brokered deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"As a result of the talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies ...within two months," Iran's news agency IRNA reported Friday. Saudi Arabia's state Saudi Press Agency confirmed the announcement in its own statement. The Saudi statement profusely thanked Beijing for its leadership in the talks. The Saudi statement also expressed thanks to Riyadh's neighbors Iraq and Oman, which it said had hosted "rounds of dialogue that took place between both sides during the years 2021-2022." Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016, after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in response to Saudi authorities executing 47 dissidents, including a leading Shia cleric.

Tehran and Riyadh agreed "to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months", according to a statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for missile and drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities in 2019 as well as attacks on tankers in Gulf waters. In Friday's agreement, Saudi Arabia and Iran also agreed to activate a security cooperation agreement signed in 2001, as well as another earlier accord on trade, economy and investment. The agreement was signed by Iran's top security official, Ali Shamkhani, and Saudi Arabia's national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries over Riyadh's execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that while Washington was not directly involved, Saudi Arabia kept U.S. officials informed of the talks with Iran. NUCLEAR TALKSThe agreement comes as Iran accelerates its nuclear program after two years of failed U.S. attempts to revive a 2015 deal that aimed to stop Tehran producing a nuclear bomb. "Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned about Iran's nuclear program," he said. "If this new opening between Iran and Saudi Arabia is going to be meaningful and impactful, it will have to address the concerns about Iran's nuclear program - otherwise the opening is just optics." Friday's agreement also offers hope for more durable peace in Yemen, where a conflict sparked in 2014 has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

☆ Canada will 'never tolerate' foreign interference, minister tells China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, March 3 (Reuters) - Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told her Chinese counterpart that foreign interference will not be tolerated in Canada's internal affairs, amid calls for a broad public inquiry into China's alleged meddling in the past two elections. "Canada will never tolerate any form of foreign interference in our democracy and internal affairs by China," Joly told China's foreign minister, Qin Gang, in their first-ever meeting, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, according to a statement on Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's top security officials acknowledge interference attempts by China, but they insist that election outcomes were not altered. Earlier on Friday, Qin refuted allegations that Chinese embassies and consulates in Canada were trying to interfere in Canadian elections, saying the alleged interference was "completely false and nonsensical." Canada's main opposition party slammed Trudeau for not endorsing a public inquiry, accusing him of trying to cover-up Chinese influence.

☆ A Norwegian guy woke Russian diplomats in Oslo after 2 a.m. with an air raid siren on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A 73-year-old Norwegian man woke Russian diplomats with an 'air raid siren' late on Friday. His noisy protest in Oslo came on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He wanted Russians to wake up to the war, he told Norwegian outlet Nettavisen. On Friday night at around 2.30 a.m. local time, Kjetil Krane carried a loudspeaker out to an apartment block known to house workers at Oslo's Russian embassy, Nettavisen reported. In a video shared by Nettavisen, Krane can be seen wearing a T-shirt that says "wake a Russian" in Norwegian as a newly-awoken resident peers out of a window.

☆ Russian diplomats received an anniversary wake-up call of wailing air raid sirens and the sound of falling bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russian embassies and diplomats were the focus of protests on the anniversary the Ukraine invasion. In Warsaw, protesters blared air raid sirens in the early morning at apartments housing Russian diplomats. Activists in Poland's capital, Warsaw, staked out an apartment block where Russian diplomats lived and sounded air raid sirens and recordings of falling bombs at 6 am to mimic what Ukrainians wake up to daily and serve as a reminder of the realities of Putin's invasion. Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine, is home to approximately 1.6 million refugees reported to have fled Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Warsaw wake-up callOther gestures of support for Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, included:

☆ Fact Check-Embassies say there is no truth to claims about Western diplomats fleeing Turkey before the Feb. 6 earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters found no evidence supporting claims online that eight ambassadors to Turkey left the country 24 hours before the Feb. 6 deadly earthquake. The U.S. and Belgian embassies in Turkey did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. There is also no evidence to support claims these countries’ ambassadors knew about the earthquake beforehand. The online claims may have been inspired by this news, but this meeting took place in Turkey. Reuters found no evidence of claims that eight Western ambassadors to Turkey left the country 24 hours before the Feb. 6 earthquake.

☆ A year into war, Ukraine's Zelenskiy defies Putin against the odds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/4] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sings the national anthem during his visit in Kherson, Ukraine November 14, 2022. Nor does Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched his "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 and appears to be preparing for a long war. They underestimated his leadership qualities," said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based analyst who said Putin misjudged Zelenskiy. "(Putin) prepared a special operation not a full-fledged war ... because he thought Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian army were weak and that they would not be able to put up lengthy resistance. Anton Grushetsky, deputy director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, put public trust in Zelenskiy at 70% to 80%.

☆ Al Qaeda's new leader Adel has $10 million bounty on his head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say. The department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $10 million for information on Adel, whom it says is a member of "al Qaeda’s leadership council” and heads the organisation’s military committee. He and other Al Qaeda leaders were placed under house arrest in April 2003 by Iran, which released him and four others in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Yemen. OPERATIVE TO LEADERAdel, one of the few remaining al Qaeda old guard, has been close to the central command for decades, experts say. Adel gained more jihadi credentials after he joined other Arab militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, where he eventually headed a training camp before becoming a senior figure in al Qaeda.

☆ At least 39 migrants die in bus crash off Panama cliff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Elida Moreno | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Rescue teams work at the site of the accident of a bus, which was carrying migrants who had traveled through the Darien gap, in Los Planes de Gualaca, Panama February 15, 2023. REUTERS/StringerPANAMA CITY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - At least 39 have died in Panama after a bus carrying more than 60 migrants fell off a cliff early on Wednesday, the country's migration authorities said, marking the worst migration accident in the Central American country's history. Migration authorities did not provide details on the nationalities of the victims, saying it would first communicate with the relatives and respective embassies of the passengers. Last year, a record 248,000 migrants crossed the Darien Gap, most of them Venezuelans. Since the beginning of 2023, a further 32,800 have crossed the Darien Gap, Panama's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

☆ Taiwan president to donate a month's salary for Turkey relief efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President William Lai will each donate a month's salary for Turkish earthquake relief efforts, the presidential office said on Thursday, adding to existing aid already sent by the island. Turkey, like most countries, has no diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two maintain de facto embassies in each other's capitals and there are direct flights between Istanbul and Taipei. Last year, Tsai and Lai also both donated one month's salary to aid humanitarian relief efforts for war-torn Ukraine. Taiwan, which frequently suffers earthquakes itself, has already announced $2 million in disaster relief and has sent two rescue teams to Turkey to help in search efforts for survivors. Turkey joined international efforts and sent rescuers to Taiwan in 1999 after a massive earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.

Summary Trickbot targeted hospitals during COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. saysSanctions could hit hackers' ability to move money-analystWASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The United States and Britain have imposed sanctions against seven leading members of a notorious Russian hacking gang known as Trickbot, officials announced on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States and Britain were "committed to using all available authorities to defend against cyber threats." Both Trickbot and Conti were accused by U.S. and British authorities of having ties to the Russian intelligence services. Sanctions tend to be largely symbolic given that Russia is already heavily sanctioned and cybercriminals based there tend to steer clear of the United States or Britain. He said that U.S. officials had been lobbying to get other countries to impose sanctions on cybercriminals.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The United States held briefings in Washington and Beijing with foreign diplomats from 40 nations about the Chinese spy balloon that entered the U.S. airspace in late January, a senior administration official and diplomats said on Tuesday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday briefed nearly 150 foreign diplomats across 40 embassies, the official said, while in Beijing the U.S. embassy gathered foreign diplomats on Monday and Tuesday to present U.S. findings about the balloon. China's foreign ministry has said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting. The State Department also sent U.S. missions around the world information about the balloon incident to share with allies and partners, the official added. Washington said the balloon was controlled by the Chinese military, the People's Liberation Army.

A far-right faction of House Republicans is pushing against continued US aid to Ukraine. Those concerns ratcheted up amid House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's tumultuous journey to secure the gavel last month. Kyiv, for its part, has kept a close eye on Congress' dynamics since the GOP won a narrow House majority in the November midterms. "This GOP House majority will demand more oversight, transparency, and accountability to ensure assistance to Ukraine is used as intended," McCaul said in a statement. "Most Europeans don't think that suddenly the US is going to cut support to Ukraine," Araud said, adding that nobody anticipates Washington will "dump Ukraine."

ANKARA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Turkey summoned ambassadors of nine Western countries including the United States and Sweden on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts following Koran-burning incidents in Europe. The envoys of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Britain were also summoned, according to foreign ministry sources in Ankara. Germany, France and the Netherlands were among countries that temporarily closed diplomatic missions in Turkey for security reasons this week. The source added that the security of all diplomatic missions is ensured in accordance with international conventions and "allies should cooperate with" Turkish authorities. The U.S. embassy confirmed its Ambassador Jeffry Flake attended a meeting at Turkey's foreign ministry on Thursday.

☆ Italy facing attacks by international anarchists, foreign minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Italian embassies all over the world are at risk of anarchist attacks linked to the case of the hunger-striking Alfredo Cospito, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday. Cospito, 55, is an Italian anarchist who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days to protest against being jailed under the strict "41 bis" isolation regime. "We are raising security in all of our embassies and consulates because at the moment international anarchists are mobilised against the Italian state," Tajani told a news conference in Rome. Italian embassies, consulates or culture institutes have been targeted in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Germany and Switzerland, he said. Cospito was placed under the regime in May, after he wrote articles from prison calling on fellow anarchists to continue their armed struggle.

☆ U.S. issues another warning of possible terrorist attacks in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISTANBUL, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Turkey warned Americans on Monday of possible attacks against churches, synagogues, and diplomatic missions in Istanbul, marking its second such notice in four days, following Koran-burning incidents in Europe. In an updated security alert, the U.S. embassy said "possible imminent retaliatory attacks by terrorists" could take place in areas frequented by Westerners, especially the city's Beyoglu, Galata, Taksim, and Istiklal neighbourhoods. On Friday, several embassies in Ankara including those of the United States, Germany, France and Italy issued security alerts over possible retaliatory attacks against places of worship, following separate incidents in which the Muslim holy book, the Koran, was burned in Sweden, Netherlands and Denmark. On Saturday, Turkey warned its citizens against "possible Islamophobic, xenophobic and racist attacks" in the United States and Europe. Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Turkey alerts citizens to risk of attack in United States, Europe on heels of Western warnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ANKARA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Turkey warned its citizens on Saturday against "possible Islamophobic, xenophobic and racist attacks" in the United States and Europe after its Western allies cautioned their citizens in Turkey about possible terror attacks. Recent increases in "anti-Islam and racist acts" reflect the dangerous dimensions of religious intolerance and hatred in Europe, the ministry said. Several embassies in Ankara including those of the United States, Germany, France and Italy on Friday released security alerts for their citizens in Turkey that flagged "possible retaliatory attacks by terrorists against places of worship." Sweden's foreign ministry also advised its citizens in Turkey on Saturday to avoid crowds and demonstrations. A far-right, anti-immigrant politician burned a Koran last week near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm during a protest, heightening tensions between Turkey and Sweden.

☆ NYC bike path killer convicted, could face the death penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in the New York City truck attack is seen in this handout photo released November 1, 2017. An Islamic extremist who killed eight people with a speeding truck in a 2017 rampage on a popular New York City bike path was convicted Thursday of 28 federal crimes and could face the death penalty. A death sentence for Saipov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, would be an extreme rarity in New York. A federal jury in New York has not rendered a death sentence that withstood legal appeals in decades, with the last execution in 1954. Saipov's lawyers have said the death penalty process was irrevocably tainted by former President Donald Trump, who tweeted a day after the attack that Saipov "SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!"

☆ Britain sounds alarm on Russia-based hacking group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( James Pearson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A Russia-based hacking group named Cold River is behind an expansive and ongoing information-gathering campaign that has struck various targets in government, politics, academia, defence, journalism, and activism, Britain said on Thursday. "There is often some correspondence between attacker and target, sometimes over an extended period, as the attacker builds rapport," the advisory said. A second, Iran-based, group known as Charming Kitten has deployed the same "spear-phishing" techniques to gather information, according to the NCSC. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said the Iranian government had no knowledge of the group. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Cold River has escalated its hacking campaign against Kyiv's allies, cybersecurity researchers and western government officials told Reuters.

☆ Spain Arrests Suspected Letter-Bomber
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Xavier Fontdegloria | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Spanish police arrested a suspect in the town of Miranda de Ebro in northern Spain who they said was a 74-year-old Spanish retired man. BARCELONA—Spanish police said they arrested a 74-year-old man suspected of sending letter bombs to government leaders, the U.S. and Ukrainian embassies and other targets late last year. The man, described as a retiree and Spanish citizen, was arrested in the town of Miranda de Ebro in northern Spain. Investigators presume he made and sent the six explosive packages by himself, the police said, but they didn’t rule out the participation or influence of other people. The man was in police custody on Wednesday while officers searched his house, where they believe he made the explosives.

☆ Spanish police arrest man suspected in 2022 parcel-bomb case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Vincent West | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Spanish police officers guard outside a building after the arrest of a man suspected of being the sender of letter-bombs in November and December to the Ukrainian and U.S. embassies and several institutions in Spain, in Miranda de Ebro, Spain January 25, 2023. The man was detained in the northern town of Miranda de Ebro, and police searched his home. The suspect is a retired Spanish citizen with the initials P.G.P. The man used to work for the town hall of the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz before retiring in 2013, a city spokesperson said. Spanish officials have declined to comment on the report, while a senior judicial source denied having knowledge of such a line of investigation.

“The intentions, of course, were never to cross over to Venezuela, he was just accompanying her,” said Henry Martínez, Hernández’s brother. The men told Hernández that if they wanted to enter Venezuela, he had to pay $100. Hernández told them he was not trying to enter the country and did not have $100. The U.S. has not had a diplomatic presence in Caracas since 2019, so access to jailed Americans has been limited since then. “Sometimes I can hear his voice weak and just frustrated and anxious,” said Henry Martínez.

☆ Ex-FBI official arrested for alleged money laundering, Russia sanctions, taking money from former foreign agent
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan_Dienst_Byline.Jpg | Jonathan Dienst | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Charles McGonigal, 55, was arrested on Saturday after arriving at JFK airport in New York on a flight from the Middle East. From August 2017 through his retirement in September 2018, McGonigal allegedly concealed his relationship with this former foreign security officer from the FBI. Charles McGonigal, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York office. In 2022, federal prosecutors in New York charged Deripaska with violating sanctions. McGonigal joined the FBI in 1996, and was first assigned to the New York Field Office, where he worked on Russian foreign counterintelligence and organized crime.

☆ Americans can sponsor refugees directly under program launching this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ted Hesson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program launching on Thursday, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a step that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs. The sponsor groups will also be required to pass background checks and create a support plan. The program will aim to find U.S. sponsors for 5,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30, another of the sources said. The administration also used parole to admit Afghans and Ukrainians and piloted sponsor programs to support them in the United States. Refugee Resettlement Program, which takes referrals from the United Nations and U.S. embassies.

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