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Today's top stories 06.10.20; 1) Palestinian Islamists launched a rocket toward Israel's southern communities, last night; the first such attack since September the 16th.2) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan singles out Israel, Cyprus and Syria as the root obstacles to global peace and tranquility.3) Armenia claims Israel pledged to suspend weapons sales to Azerbaijan; sophisticated weaponry which granted the latter a clear qualitative military edge in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Serbia and Kosovo agree to name disputed lake on their border 'Lake Trump' Very interesting headline. Multiple sources reported Just found this gem this morning. Not sure how I missed it but this will definitely come up again between now at 11/3/2020

Today's top stories 02.10.20; 1) Israel and Lebanon have formulated a framework agreement to launch direct-negotiations on "maritime and land boundary demarcation between the two countries."2) The European Union concluded a two-day summit, today -- the first day of which focused primarily on EU relations with Turkey and tensions surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean.3) The Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem expressed regret over Armenia's decision to recall its ambassador for consultations.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that the drastic limits placed on people’s freedoms to curb the coronavirus earlier this year had weighed heavily on her, bringing back memories of life in surveillance-riddled East Germany. Speaking on the eve of the 30th anniversary of German reunification, Merkel told the RND newspaper group she was acutely aware of the sacrifices she was asking of Germans when the country went into lockdown in March. “That I had to tell people they could only be out in the street in a single household or just two persons at a time, that no events could...

For decades, the Iranian government has avoided judicial accountability as the No. 1 nation-state sponsor of international terrorism. This will end on November 27, 2020 in Antwerp, when Belgium’s criminal court commences proceedings against senior Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi. In June 2018, as third secretary in the Iranian Embassy in Vienna, Assadi delivered over half a kilo of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) to Iranian sleeper agents in Luxembourg. TATP is a high explosive used in bombs, suicide attacks, and improvised explosive devices.The target was a major international gathering near Paris, in support of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)....

A Su-25 jet of the Armenian Air Force was shot down by a Turkish F-16 fighter in the airspace of the Republic of Armenia, Spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry Shushan Stepanyan informs. F-16 fighter jets belonging to the Air Force of the Republic of Turkey took off from Ganja Airport of the Republic of Azerbaijan at 10:30 am today and were assisting SU-25 fighters and Turkish-made Bayraktar UAVs in the missile strikes on Vardenis, Mets Masrik, Sotk regions of the Vardenis region of Armenia. During this period, the air defense units were performing fire support tasks for the air...

China’s growing military prowess and increasingly aggressive foreign policy have revived talk among U.S. and European officials of creating an “Asian NATO” of regional powers to contain communist Beijing’s expansionist ambitions. Past efforts for an East Asian security alliance, such as the post-World War II Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to guard against Cold War-era communism, failed to gain lasting traction. But that was before China’s emergence as a rising superpower — a reality NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said is “fundamentally shifting the global balance of power” in ways should motivate NATO itself to “become more global.”

<p>All opinion articles are the opinion of the author and not necessarily of American Military News.</p> <p>New reporting has surfaced about a stunning intelligence failure which is a direct result of disastrous intelligence community policies put in place by former CIA director John Brennan during President Obama’s administration.</p>

Arrests made during an outdoor worship service in Moscow....Idaho Wednesday evening. Coronavirus regulations cited regarding wearing of masks-muzzles and social distancing..... New York City authorities threatening a crackdown on Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods..... Coronavirus restrictions tightened and expanded in the north-west of England..... Two people stabbed in Paris today near the former offices of the "Charlie Hebdo" magazine. Those offices the site of a terrorist attack in 2015 when a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed was published...... The Proud Boys intend to go forward with their rally in Portland tomorrow......Late today Oregon Governor Kate Brown proclaiming a state of emergency.....Also Portland...

The forum includes Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Italy. Energy Ministers of seven countries, including Israel’s Yuval Steinitz, attended an event launching the new East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) in a virtual event hosted in Cairo on Tuesday morning. “The blessing of gas brings regional cooperation with Arab and European countries, the first of its kind in history, including contracts to export $30 billion of blue-and-white gas to Jordan and Egypt, and that’s only the beginning,” Steinitz said. The forum includes Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Italy, whose ambassadors, and Egyptian Energy...

Call it a new 'Great Game' or war for hearts and minds, or just influence peddling, but Iran and Turkey are now engaged in greater efforts to expand their role in Africa. This comes as Russia and China are also extending networks on the continent. It is important to understand that this is in the context of the US generally reducing its global role and comes around 60 years after European colonialism was rolled back. The increasing footprint of Iran and Turkey have caused concern for other states that view their role as belligerent. That means that Gulf media is...

For decades, foreign policy experts—the blob—assumed much about the Middle East that has turned out to be completely wrong. It’s been remarkable to watch the mainstream press and official Washington try to downplay the significance of the peace deal the Trump administration brokered between Israel and two Arab states this week.The signing of the Abraham Accords on Tuesday between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain at the White House, which for the first time normalized relations between Israel and the two Persian Gulf states, is by any measure historic. It’s been 26 years since any Arab state recognized Israel,...

Six European Union countries and the bloc’s executive Commission have begun testing a virtual “gateway” to ensure national coronavirus tracing apps can work across borders. The trial starting Monday will allow national computer systems that run tracing apps in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Latvia to communicate with each other via a central hub. If the tests succeed, travelers from each of the six countries will be able to use their own apps while abroad in the other five to ensure they’re notified if they have been in close contact to another user who tests positive. Tracing...

ANKARA: A provocative live-fire drill by the Turkish navy off the coast of Cyprus was branded illegal on Saturday, as reports emerged that the US is drawing up plans to withdraw from the strategic Incirlik air force base. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to Incirlik,” Ron Johnson, the US senator who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee for Europe, told the Washington Examiner. “We hope for the best, but we have to plan for the worst.” US withdrawal would be a blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggesting that the US no longer trusts him. “I think,...

After a solid nine-month stretch that was blissfully devoid of major Brexit-related news as the global COVID-19 pandemic raged on, we declared last night that Brexit talks "suddenly matter again" as the drop in the pound was blamed - incorrectly, as Bloomberg later determined - for triggering yesterday's intraday declines in US markets. But on Friday morning, American traders awoke to some surprisingly positive trade news out of Great Britain. A trade deal with Japan had been agreed to in principle, which would - if finally ratified by both countries - allow 99% of the UK's exports to Japan...

Almost daily, Greek and Turkish aircraft and ships fight mock battles over disputed oil and gas rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Since the loss of much of the Christian Balkans to the Ottomans in the 15th century, Greece and what would later become modern Turkey have been rivals, outright enemies and often at war. Mutual NATO membership and shared Cold War fears of Soviet Russia did not stop the two from almost going to war after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Still, the current escalation seems weird. Most territorial claims and disputes over borders were settled almost a...

McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and Sasse, who sits on the panel, are calling for NATO's Article 4 to be invoked to speed up the allied nations' response. Article 4 allows for members to call a special session of NATO's North Atlantic Council. The letter was sent to Defense Secretary James Mattis, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and current CIA Director and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their EU membership hopes by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina scrambling to limit the political fallout. In an unexpected move last week, Trump said that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of U.S.-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo. It surprised the Europeans, who are leading complex talks between Serbia and its...

Thanks to the Kremlin, U.S. President Donald Trump may soon see one of his dearest wishes come true. Nord Stream 2, a nearly completed project that would pipe natural gas from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany, has thus far withstood major diplomatic assaults from the United States. But now, with the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, there is growing pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to kill the $11 billion scheme. Construction on Nord Stream 2 began in 2018, after Germany granted planning permission for its end point in the northeastern German town of Lubmin. It...

ROME — Italian tourism for 2020 has suffered far worse than originally estimated with projected losses in the neighborhood of 100 billion euros, a new report reveals. The joint report drafted by tourism confederation Confturismo Confcommercio and business group Assoturismo Confesercenti found that from June-August, the heart of Italy’s tourist season, the number of guests staying in official accommodation facilities in Italy was down 30 percent from 2019, with 65 million fewer tourists as restrictions remained in effect to curb the spread of the coronavirus.