Talks are stalled over how to deal with the impact of a $5 billion dam that could threaten Egypt’s lifeblood. BY KEITH JOHNSON Foreign Policy The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, currently under construction, on May 15, 2016. (DigitalGlobe via Getty Images) A diplomatic spat between Egypt and Sudan is spilling over into the long-running dispute over a…
By Bill Marczak, Geoffrey Alexander, Sarah McKune, John Scott-Railton, and Ron Deibert Key Findings This report describes how Ethiopian dissidents in the US, UK, and other countries were targeted with emails containing sophisticated commercial spyware posing as Adobe Flash updates and PDF plugins. Targets include a US-based Ethiopian diaspora media outlet, the Oromia Media Network (OMN), a PhD student, and…
By Jonathan Marcus Defence and diplomatic correspondent Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES To all intents and purposes, Saudi Arabia and Israel are de facto allies in the struggle against Iran’s rising influence in the region. It’s a developing but highly sensitive relationship, but every so often there is a hint of what may be going on beneath the…
By SHEIKH SHAKEDOWN Anti-corruption crackdown overseen by crown prince Mohammed bin Salam (Reuters/Faisal Al Nasser) WRITTEN BY Abdi Latif Dahir Quartz Africa The jitters surrounding the Saudi purge continue to reverberate both in Africa and across the world with companies and family holdings wondering how the shakedown would impact their businesses, assets, and long-term investments.…
Reuters Iran’s Rouhani declares end of Islamic State group BEIRUT, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared the end of Islamic State on Tuesday while a senior military commander thanked the “thousands of martyrs” killed in operations organized by Iran to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq. “Today with God’s guidance…
By Jeff Diamant Pew Research Key takeaways about Orthodox Christians BY JEFF DIAMANT A woman lights a prayer candle at an Orthodox church in Moscow. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Orthodoxy is the third-largest branch of Christianity, after Catholicism and Protestantism. Today, there are approximately 260 million Orthodox Christians in…
ProPublica A decade ago, the CIA secretly funded conferences to lure Iranian scientists to defect. If President Trump scuttles the Iranian nuclear agreement, the agency may seek more defectors — and orchestrate more such “conferences.” by Daniel Golden Lee Martin/Guardian Design This is an edited excerpt from “Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI, and Foreign Intelligence…
By Kebour Ghenna Today I want to write one or two words about the surprise devaluation of the Birr. But first… Last week a dear reader from the government information office wrote to tell me how wrong I was to argue, that the Ethiopian ethnic based federal system has failed. Let me just say again,…
Stratfor (Getty Images) Highlights Terrorist attacks are strategically most significant when they put pressure on fault lines and have a relatively narrow objective. A combination of tactical proficiency in terrorist skills and strategic vision is rare — and extremely dangerous when effective. The role of counterterrorism is not only to stem the damage to…
By Peter Schwartzstein BBC The world’s longest river is sick – and getting sicker Booming populations have dirtied and drained it, while climate change threatens to cut its flow. And some fear that competition over its dwindling waters could trigger a regional conflict. The rains The rot starts at the source. For as long as the…