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The world’s most liveable cities for 2024
  + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +4 min
The Austrian city has been crowned the most liveable city in the world yet again in the annual list from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which was released today. Perfect scoresVienna has been named the most liveable city in the world on the EIU’s Global Liveability Index. ‘Acute housing crisis’Canada's Toronto dropped out of the top 10 most liveable cities list this year, coming in 12th. Swiss city Zurich scored impeccably in the education and health care categories. Gaetan Bally/Zürich TourismusUK capital London was ranked as the 45th most liveable city in the world.
Persons: CNN — It’s, Emmanuele, Australia’s, Gaetan Bally, Abu, Al Khobar, Drazen Zigic, , Barsali Bhattacharyya, , headwinds, Bhattacharyya Organizations: CNN, Economist Intelligence Unit, Vienna, Switzerland’s, Melbourne, Canadian, Calgary, Japan’s, Auckland, Toronto North America, Toronto, Zurich, impeccably, Zürich Tourismus, London, UAE, Nigeria’s Locations: Vienna, Austrian, Denmark’s Copenhagen, Switzerland’s Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver, Japan’s Osaka, New, Western Europe, Honolulu, Hawaii, Atlanta , Georgia, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Canada, Australia, Asia, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh, Jeddah, Al, Israel’s Tel Aviv, Israel, Damascus, Syria, Tripoli, Algeria’s Algiers, Nigeria’s Lagos, Austria, Copenhagen, Denmark, Zurich, Switzerland, Melbourne, Calgary, Sydney, Osaka, Japan, Auckland , New Zealand
Why Europe’s youth are flirting with the far-right
  + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +11 min
In this month’s European Parliament elections, far-right parties performed predictably well – but especially, and unexpectedly, among young people. Far-right parties enjoyed a similar uptick in support in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and continued to do well in Italy. Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersBut young voters appear less concerned by these roots, says Simon Schnetzer, author of a recent survey of Germany’s youth. But the burst in support for far-right parties could spell a darker trend. This success of far-right parties should be a warning to Europe’s mainstream.
Persons: CNN — Pollsters, , , , Roberto Foa, ” Foa, “ I’m, Alice Weidel, Tino Chrupalla, Annegret Hilse, You’d, Le Pen, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Jordan Bardella, Arthur Prevot, Macron’s, Prevot, Macron, Jonathan Verbeken, Gonzalo Fuentes, Simon Schnetzer, “ Young, Lee Heinrichs, ” Heinrichs, Ursula von der Leyen, Maximilian Krah, ” Nigel Farage, Maja Smiejkowska, Nigel Farage –, Farage, Andrew Tate, emasculated, Tate –, Tate, shouldn’t, vociferously, Foa Organizations: CNN, Centre, Democracy, University of Cambridge, National, Confederation, Reuters, White House, German Green Party, Greens, Reform UK Locations: United States, United Kingdom, Brussels, Europe, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Berlin, Britain, Jordan, Paris, France, Paris ’, Marseille, Ukraine, Syria, Sylt, Deutschland, London, Romania
Marjayoun, Lebanon CNN —In the town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, around five miles north of the Israeli border, the main square seems almost abandoned. Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have risen sharply since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing military campaign by Israel in Gaza. Damaged property in the town of Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. Sunday mass at the Maronite Church in the town of Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. I decide not to interfere with annoying questions about Israel, Hezbollah, impending war, death, destruction and displacement.
Persons: Virgin Mary, Saint Charbel, Claude, , Aita Al, Muhammad Darwish, Israel, ” Edouard Achy, Amal, We’re, , Abu Nabil, Jordan, , it’s, It’s, Fatin, you’d Organizations: Lebanon CNN —, Journalists, Hezbollah, CNN, South Lebanese Army, Israel, Maronite Locations: Marjayoun, Lebanon, Lebanese, Israel, Gaza, The Iran, Hasbaya, Syria, France, , Jerusalem
An island in the Eastern Mediterranean located on a geopolitical fault line between the Middle East and southern Europe, Cyprus is geographically much closer to the conflicts in the Middle East than it is to European power centers. The island has previously been caught in the crossfire of regional conflicts, a reminder of its proximity to the volatile Middle East. It would mean that an EU country is, for the first time, directly involved in an expanded Gaza war. “It is normal for both Israel and Hezbollah to have military plans in place for handling a potential escalation. “The US also does not want to find itself in another Middle East quagmire, especially with presidential elections looming.”
Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, , Nikos Christodoulides, Israel, Constantinos Kombos, Eli Cohen, Stavros Ioannides, PIO, Christodoulides, , Yiannis Kourtoglou, ” Mohammad Ali Shabani, Amwaj.media, ” Lina Khatib, ” Khatib, Biden Organizations: CNN, Lebanese, Union, Israel, The, NATO, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Cypriot, Reuters, Spanish, European Union, North Africa, Chatham House Locations: Cyprus, Israel, “ Cyprus, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, East, Europe, European, Delaware, Republic of Cyprus, Turkish, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, The Republic of Cyprus, Nicosia, Tel Aviv, Larnaca, , EU, UAE, Russian, Syria, London, Haifa,
Remains of the oldest shipwreck ever discovered in deep water, and perhaps the oldest complete wreck in any water, have been located in the Mediterranean Sea about 56 miles off the coast of northern Israel. The Israel Antiquities Authority, which announced the find on Thursday, said that preliminary examination of two clay jars known as Canaanite amphorae indicated that the merchant vessel, an estimated 39 to 46 feet long, sank sometime between 1400 B.C. and 1300 B.C., an epoch when the Egyptian empire stretched from what is now northern Syria to Sudan, and the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun briefly sat on the throne. Whether the galley was the victim of a sudden storm, a wayward wind or attempted piracy is unclear. No spectacular new finds have surfaced since then.
Persons: Tutankhamun, Organizations: Israel Antiquities Authority, M University Locations: Israel, Syria, Sudan, Texas
Israel-Hamas war: Why Hezbollah is threatening Cyprus
  + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +9 min
While experts say war between Israel and Hezbollah remains unlikely, the very mention of Cyprus adds a new dimension to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Stavros Ioannides/PIO/ReutersWhat has Cyprus’ role been in the Gaza war? Cyprus has been keen to dispel any suggestions that it is implicated in the Gaza war, noting its humanitarian efforts that helped bring some aid into Gaza. It would mean that an EU country is, for the first time, directly involved in an expanded Gaza war. “The US also does not want to find itself in another Middle East quagmire, especially with presidential elections looming.”
Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, , Nikos Christodoulides, ” Peter Stano, Abdallah Bou Habib, Constantinos Kombos, Lebanon’s, Israel, , Eli Cohen, Stavros Ioannides, PIO, Christodoulides, Yiannis Kourtoglou, ” Mohammad Ali Shabani, Amwaj.media, ” Lina Khatib, ” Khatib, Biden Organizations: CNN, Lebanese, European Union, EU, United Nations, Lebanon’s, Cypriot, Israel, The, NATO, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Reuters, Spanish, North Africa, Chatham House Locations: Cyprus, Israel, “ Cyprus, Iran, Lebanon, EU, Greece, Gaza, East, Europe, European, Delaware, Republic of Cyprus, Turkish, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkey, The Republic of Cyprus, Nicosia, Tel Aviv, Larnaca, , UAE, Russian, Syria, London, Haifa,
CNN —US officials have serious concerns that in the event of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group could overwhelm Israel’s air defenses in the north — including the much-vaunted Iron Dome air defense system, three US officials told CNN. Israeli officials have told the US they are planning to shift resources from southern Gaza to northern Israel in preparation for a possible offensive against the group, US officials told CNN on Wednesday. “We assess that at least some” Iron Dome batteries “will be overwhelmed,” said a senior administration official. Earlier this month, Hezbollah released a video purporting to show a drone striking and damaging an Iron Dome battery on an army base in northern Israel. The Iron Dome is fundamental to Israel’s defense and the US government has spent over $2.9 billion on the program, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Persons: , , “ We’re, Amos Hochstein, Hochstein, Israel, Israel ‘, Antony Blinken’s, Yoav Gallant, Hassan Nasrallah, Nasrallah, Assad Organizations: CNN, Hezbollah, Congressional Research Service, Israel Defense Forces, Islamic, Biden, US, IDF, Hamas, Israeli, Command, Radwan Force, Rocket Locations: Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, Lebanese, Jerusalem, Beirut, Rafah, , Cyprus, Syria
CNN —A senior ISIS official was killed in a US airstrike on Sunday in Syria, the US military said Wednesday in a post on X. “On June 16, US Central Command conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing Usamah Jamal Muhammad Ibrahim al-Janabi, a senior ISIS official and facilitator,” the post from US Central Command said. Nearly three weeks ago, an airstrike in a remote area near Dhaardaar in Somalia was assessed to have killed three ISIS militants, according to US Africa Command. Between January and March 2024, CENTCOM and its partners killed seven ISIS operatives in Syria and detained 27 more. “We continue to focus our efforts on specifically targeting those members of ISIS who are seeking to conduct external operations outside of Iraq and Syria and those ISIS members attempting to break out ISIS members in detention in an attempt to reconstitute their forces.”
Persons: CNN —, , Usamah Jamal Muhammad Ibrahim al, ” CENTCOM, , Erik Kurilla Organizations: CNN, ISIS, US Central Command, US Africa Command Locations: Syria, Africa, Dhaardaar, Somalia, Iraq
Washington CNN —Former President Donald Trump made more than two dozen false claims at his Tuesday campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, including two significant attempts to rewrite Wisconsin history. “By the way, you know, Kenosha: I saved Kenosha, do you know that? Evers, not Trump, deployed the Wisconsin National Guard during the rioting in Kenosha — and Evers first deployed the Guard the day before Trump publicly demanded that Evers do so. Evers continued to deploy more Wisconsin National Guard troops in the coming days, and he also accepted National Guard troops from three other states; they were never federalized. Other Trump false claimsTrump made lots of other false claims during the Racine rally.
Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Tony Evers, ” Trump, “ Kenosha, wouldn’t, I’m, Evers “ wouldn’t, , Evers, Tim Walz, Walz, Jacob Blake, Evers wouldn’t, Racine, Here’s, Al Capone, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama —, Biden Organizations: Washington CNN, Wisconsin, Gov, Democrat, Kenosha, Wisconsin National Guard, Kenosha —, Guard, Democratic, National Guard, CNN, Trump, US Marshals Service, FBI, White, Republicans, Capitol Locations: Racine , Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Kenosha, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Washington, DC, China, Syria, Turkey, Ottoman Empire
London CNN —Nuclear-armed countries are strengthening their arsenals and several have made ready new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapons systems amid rising geopolitical tensions, a new report has found. “While the global total of nuclear warheads continues to fall as Cold War-era weapons are gradually dismantled, regrettably we continue to see year-on-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads,” the institute’s director Dan Smith said. “Accordingly, there is a growing concern that North Korea might intend to use these weapons very early in a conflict.”Protesters against nuclear weapons outside the US mission to the UN. Moscow has continued to make threats involving the use of nuclear weapons in light of Western aid for Ukraine, and in May 2024 carried out tactical nuclear weapons drills close to the Ukrainian border, SIPRI said. “We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War,” said Wilfred Wan, the director of SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program.
Persons: Israel –, , Dan Smith, Jung Yeon, ” SIPRI, , Hans M, Kristensen, Matt Korda, Erik McGregor, SIPRI, Wilfred Wan Organizations: London CNN —, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, , Korean, Getty, , SIPRI’s, Ukraine, Hamas, Conference, Nuclear Weapons Locations: United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Stockholm, Seoul, South Korea, Swedish, Ukraine, saliency, , , “ China, Korea, Gaza, Moscow, Ukrainian, Iran, Iraq, Syria
ISIS killed an estimated 84 Syrian soldiers and 44 civilians in central Syria in March, making it the most violent month in the ISIS desert campaign since late 2017. Another four Syrian troops were killed in another desert attack in late April. "Over the past several years, ISIS has been able to make regular attacks in the desert," Landis told Business Insider. AdvertisementLandis noted that the Syrian military is picking up its efforts to attack ISIS in the Homs-Palmyra region. AdvertisementWhile the Syrian military does carry out combing operations in the Homs desert, ISIS remnants are far from Damascus's top priority.
Persons: , Joshua Landis, Landis, Bashar al, Aron Lund, Lund, Assad, what's, there's Organizations: Service, ISIS, Human Rights, Business, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Oklahoma, Century International, Syrian Democratic Forces Locations: United Kingdom, Homs, Syria, Iraq, Deir ez, Palmyra, Islamic State, Kurdish, Turkey, Syria's Hasakah, Damascus, State
It’s just purchasing property,” Bian, who is originally form Nanjing, China, said. Bian and other Florida residents told CNN that the rules have fostered uneasiness and confusion among ethnic Chinese people living in the state. Some say the law has damaged their businesses, while others say they are considering abandoning Florida altogether. Ever since Florida Senate Bill 264 went into effect on July 1, 2023, Chinese citizens without green cards face a felony charge and possible prison time if they purchase property in the state. For Chinese citizens without the permanent right to live in the US, specifically, the law goes a step further, barring the group from purchasing any property in the state.
Persons: CNN —, Jin Bian, Bian, , Ron DeSantis, isn’t, Bill 264, Sellers, , Echo King, ” DeSantis, Clay Zhu, ” Zhu, Susan Li, Li, TikTok, Glenn Youngkin, Teresa Jin, ” Jin Organizations: CNN, Echo, Florida Asian American Justice Alliance, United, Chinese Communist Party, CCP, American Civil Liberties Union, US, US Department of Agriculture, Virginia Republican Locations: Tampa , Florida, Nanjing, China, Florida, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, “ Florida, United States, People’s Republic of China, Orlando , Florida, Montana, Virginia, California
By the time intelligence collected on overseas ISIS targets connected the men to the terror group, they had already been vetted by immigration authorities and allowed into the country, officials said. The men remain in federal custody on immigration charges and will eventually be deported following the counterterror investigation into them. US officials and analysts who closely track Islamist terror groups do know that ISIS-K has dramatically ramped up its online propaganda machine. But that’s not necessarily a reliable gauge of the number of actual terrorists who may be trying to enter the United States, US officials argue. Or they could belong to a legacy terror group — like the FARC — that isn’t known for conducting attacks on US soil.
Persons: , “ We’re, , Michael Morell, Christopher Wray, CNN Colin Clarke, ” Clarke, ” Republican Oklahoma Sen, James Lankford, noncitizens, that’s, Clarke, — it’s, ” Said, It’s Organizations: CNN, ISIS, FBI, ICE, Islamic, Crocus, US, Affairs, Foreign Affairs, ” Republican Oklahoma, Jordanian, US Marines Locations: Tajikistan, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Europe, Moscow, United States, al Qaeda, Syria, North America, Central, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Quantico
Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, was encircled and captured by Russian forces at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This included the establishment of ad hoc distribution points for food, water and other basic necessities. They were attacking food distribution points.”There were numerous opportunities for Russian forces to alleviate civilian suffering, he said, but they failed to do so. Ukrainian authorities and some international officials have previously accused Russia of robbing the country of grain and other commodities in areas it occupied. Accusations that Russia is using food as a weapon of war have been mounting ever since the first reports emerged in the spring of 2022 of grain being stolen by Russian troops.
Persons: , Nikolai Osychenko, , Osychenko, Mariupol, Alexei Alexandrov, , Yousuf Syed Khan, Cross, ” Khan, Pavel Klimov, Khan, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Mobile, Team, Global, International Criminal Court, ICC, EU Commission, Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Mariupol City, Global Rights, International Committee, United Nations, Reuters, Russian Locations: Russia, Mariupol, Ukrainian, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Azov, Russian, Ukraine, Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, Mariupol City, , Moscow, Syria, Aleppo City
The Paris-based IEA said Wednesday that it expects growth in global oil production — led by the United States and other countries in the Americas — to “inflate the world’s spare (oil) capacity cushion” to levels seen only once before, during the coronavirus pandemic when oil prices crashed. By 2030, global oil supply will outstrip demand by a “staggering” 8 million barrels per day, according to forecasts published by the agency in its medium-term oil market report. “(That’s) a major, major surplus and… might be one of the highest in the history,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, told reporters. The IEA also forecast growth in global oil demand to “slow progressively” over the rest of the decade, with demand peaking by 2029 before contracting slightly the year after. Despite the cuts, oil prices have trended downward in recent months.
Persons: London CNN —, upend, ” Fatih Birol Organizations: London CNN, Organization of, Petroleum, International Energy Agency, The, , OPEC, CNN, IEA, Brent, West Texas Locations: OPEC, The Paris, United States, Americas, Russia, Syria, China
Nearly 30 asylum seekers are stuck in the United Nations-controlled buffer zone between the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus and the internationally recognized south amid a crackdown by the Cypriot authorities on undocumented migration following a steep uptick in Syrians arriving from Lebanon. The groups — 13 people from Syria and 14 from elsewhere in the Middle East, plus Africa and Asia — are in different locations in the buffer zone, which extends about 112 miles across Cyprus, a Mediterranean nation that is a member of the European Union, and bisects the capital, Nicosia. They arrived in the area, known as the Green Line, on foot from the occupied north. If the migrants return to the north, an area that covers about a third of the island and is recognized only by Turkey, they face deportation, because the administration there has no legal infrastructure for providing asylum. Crossing into the buffer zone from the occupied north would also constitute a crime of trespassing under that administration and would be likely to lead to their deportation.
Organizations: United Nations, Cypriot, European Union Locations: Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Africa, Asia, Nicosia, Turkey
Northeastern Syria CNN —He had had visitors just once before, years ago when he first arrived in prison at 14. According to Amnesty, the estimated 30,000 children currently held in at least 27 detention facilities and two detention camps – Al-Hol and Al-Roj – in northeastern Syria represent the highest concentration of children arbitrarily detained and deprived of their freedom anywhere in the world. CNN was granted extremely rare access inside detention camps and facilities for suspected ISIS fighters and their family members, including Panorama prison. ‘A breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS’At Al-Hol, a sprawling detention camp of faded tents, rusted barbed wire and wind-swept earth, the scale of the problem reveals itself. Hoda Muthana holds hands with her 7-year-old son at the Al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria.
Persons: Northeastern Syria CNN —, Stefan Uterloo, Uterloo, ” Uterloo, It’s, We’ve, , Roj, Mazloum Abdi, ” Mazloum, Erik Kurilla, Mike Pratt, Hol, , Ní Aoláin, , you’ve, it’s, Shamil Chakar, doesn’t, ” Shamil, , Brandy Salman, Hoda, She’s, Muthana, Trump, Hoda Muthana, Christina Jump, Scott McWhinnie, Oscar Featherstone, Augusta Anthony , Lou Robinson, Sarah Tilotta, Eliza Mackintosh, Laura Smith Organizations: Northeastern, Northeastern Syria CNN, American, CNN, ISIS, Syrian Democratic Forces, Panorama, Amnesty, United Nations, SDF, UN, US military’s, Command, US, Boys, Twitter, State Department Locations: Northeastern Syria, United States, Suriname, Dutch, South America, Syria, Kurdish, Iraq, Hol, Al, Panorama, Baghouz, Cologne, Germany, Minnesota, American, Alabama, US
They weren’t funding Hamas, and they weren’t funding anything. They weren’t funding Hezbollah,” Trump, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said in a May interview with right-wing host Dan Bongino. Trump’s own administration said in 2020 that Iran was continuing to fund terror groups including Hezbollah. Trump could have fairly said that his sanctions on Iran had made life more difficult for terror groups (though it’s unclear how much their operations were affected). “Iran has never ceased funding many of its core proxy groups” such as Hezbollah, said Phillip Smyth, who studies Iran’s proxies.
Persons: Donald Trump, ” Trump, Dan Bongino, Phil McGraw, Phil, Trump, Pompeo, Trump’s, Mike Pompeo, ” Pompeo, “ We’re, , , Ali Vaez, Hanin Ghaddar, Colin Clarke, Phillip Smyth, Brian Hook, ” Hook Organizations: Washington CNN, Hamas, CNN, Hezbollah, State, Trump, Crisis, The Washington Institute for Near, Washington Post, ” Reuters, The, The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qods Force Locations: Iran, Lebanon, Hamas, Palestinian, Israel, , Tehran, Syria, Iraq, The Stockholm, Bahrain, Yemen, Qaeda, Europe, Africa, Asia
Read previewRussia has tried to keep its very limited number of Su-57 fighter jets hidden from the war in Ukraine, fearing that a combat loss would be a blow to the aircraft's reputation, according to Western intelligence and aviation experts. AdvertisementThe aircraft first saw combat in Syria in 2018 and was delivered to the Russian military in 2020. Kremlin officials have claimed that the Su-57 has seen combat in Ukraine, although the evidence supporting the claims is extremely limited. A Russian Su-57 fighter jet makes a demonstration flight during the opening of the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky outside Moscow on July 20, 2021. He said that the strike demonstrates that Ukraine has a "relatively mature low-cost long-range harassment capability" that it can use to strike military bases deep inside Russia.
Persons: , HUR, milbloggers, Su, Sukhoi Su, Alexei Nikolsky, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Justin Bronk, Bronk Organizations: Service, Business, Ukrainian, Directorate of Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, Institute for, NATO, Aviation, Space, AP, Kremlin, Southern Command, Kyiv, Saturday, Space Salon, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Zhukovsky, Moscow, Sputnik, Syria, Russian, Alexander Zemlianichenko Russian, Kyiv
CNN —Ukraine’s military on Sunday said it had destroyed one of Russia’s newest and most advanced fighter jets in a drone strike on a military base deep inside Russia. Ukrainian forces said they successfully destroyed one of Russia's most advanced combat jets, SU-57, in a drone strike on a military base deep inside Russia. Flight Global’s “World Air Forces 2024” directory lists 14 Su-57s as active and another 62 as on order. TASS reported in 2022 that Russian forces will receive a total of 22 Su-57s by the end of this year. If the reports of the Ukrainian drone strike deep inside Russia prove true, it marks another success of Kyiv’s low-cost drones taking out high-value Russian assets.
Persons: CNN —, Sukhoi Su, , Oleg Nikishin, Sergey Shoigu, Su, ” Shoigu, GUR, Jill Dougherty, , ” Dougherty Organizations: CNN, NATO, Air, Russian, Ukrainian, Ukraine, TASS, Air Forces, Russian Aerospace Forces, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Institute for Locations: Russia, Astrakhan, Ukraine, Western, Zhukovskiy, Syria, Russian, Moscow
Why Israel-Hezbollah tensions risk boiling over now
  + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +9 min
In Lebanon, Hezbollah is officially considered a “resistance” group tasked with confronting Israel, which Beirut classifies as an enemy state. Since then, the two sides have traded fire sporadically, but tensions boiled over in 2006 when Israel went to war in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. More than 1,000 Lebanese were killed in that conflict, mostly civilians, as well as 49 Israeli civilians and 121 soldiers. The military capability of the Lebanese group has grown since 2006, when it relied largely on inaccurate Soviet-era Katyusha rockets. Hezbollah has fired 35 kilometers into Israel, while Israel has targeted areas of Lebanon more than 120 kilometers north.
Persons: CNN —, Israel, Rina Castelnuovo, Hassan Nasrallah, Heiko Wimmen, , Ramot Naftali, Peter Lerner, ” Amal Saad, ” Saad, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Ronni, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amir Cohen, ” Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s, Al, ” Qassem, Jack Guez, Itamar Ben Gvir, Yair Lapid, ” Lapid, Matthew Miller, Biden, , ” Shaked, Iran – Organizations: CNN, Hezbollah, Lebanese, Crisis, Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces, Cardiff University, Truman Institute, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, Holocaust, Reuters, Crisis Group, Getty, Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, National, State Department Locations: CNN — Israel, Lebanese Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Beirut, Palestinian, Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Brussels, Israeli, Cross, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmona, Lebanese, Al Jazeera, AFP, United States, Iran
Israel attributed the blaze to rocket fire from southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah said it had launched a “swarm of drones” at Israeli military sites. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the northern city of Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanese border, saying that Israel is prepared for “very intense action” in the north. Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been trading fire since the start of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza in October. In April, the IDF said it is “preparing to move from defense to attack,” referring to operations on the northern border. Ten Israeli civilians and 18 soldiers have also been killed on the border, the Israeli military said.
Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, , Staff Herzi Halevi, ” Halevi, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s, Al, Kiryat Shmona, ” Amos Harel, of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Benny Gantz, Jack Guez, Gantz, that’s, ” Harel Organizations: Abu Dhabi CNN, Hezbollah, Israel Defense Forces, Staff, Lebanese, Gaza, GPO, IDF, Reuters, Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, CNN, Haaretz, of National Security, , , Getty, Israel Locations: Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Kiryat Shmona, Lebanese, , Gaza, Al Jazeera, Israeli, Alma, Golan, Syria, AFP, An Iran, East, United States
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center will step down next month, Biden administration officials said on Wednesday. The director, Christine S. Abizaid, has served three years as the country’s top counterterrorism official. In recent years, a resurgent China and Russia, as well as the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, have replaced counterterrorism as the country’s main national security priorities. The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS Khorasan, dramatically demonstrated its expanding reach earlier this year, conducting deadly attacks in Iran and Russia. In addition to supporting Hamas in Gaza, Iran backs extremist groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Persons: Christine S, Abizaid, Al Qaeda Organizations: National Counterterrorism Center, Biden, Islamic State, ISIS Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine, Gaza, Doha, Qatar, Israel, State, Iraq, Syria, Africa, Afghanistan, ISIS Khorasan, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen
Ukraine has deployed special forces to Syria to fight Russian mercenaries there, per the Kyiv Post. They are backing Syrian rebels in fighting the Assad regime in the southwest, per the outlet. Ukraine is also fighting Wagner mercenaries in Sudan, the outlet previously reported. AdvertisementUkraine has deployed special forces units to Syria to combat Russians there, according to the Kyiv Post. Ukrainian special forces are fighting side by side with Syrian rebels against Russian mercenaries and Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in the Middle Eastern country, the outlet reported.
Persons: Assad, Wagner, , Bashar Assad's Organizations: Kyiv Post, Service, Russian, Ukrainian, Directorate of Intelligence, Business Locations: Ukraine, Syria, Kyiv, Sudan, Ukrainian
Saeed Abiyar, an adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria, died in the attack, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Israel fired back, a US official told CNN, targeting a major Iranian military airbase near the city of Isfahan. Iran has deployed military advisers to Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since civil war broke out there in 2011. “The era of strategic patience is over,” said Mohammad Jamshidi, deputy chief of staff to the Iranian president. Israel contested this, claiming the target was an Iranian military headquarters.
Persons: Saeed Abiyar, SANA, Israel, Bashar al, Assad, , Mohammad Jamshidi, Monday’s, Trita, Ebrahim Raisi, Hossein Amir, , ” Parsi, Joe Biden, Parsi Organizations: CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Islamic, Washington DC, Quincy Institute, Foreign Locations: Syrian, Aleppo, Israel, Iran, Syria, Damascus, Lebanon, Isfahan, Gaza, Washington, Iranian, Tehran
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