Bloomberg: UAE Court Convicts More Than 50 People On Terrorism Charges

“The United Arab Emirates convicted more than 50 people on terrorism charges, accusing them of operating and working with the Muslim Brotherhood, designated a terrorist organization in the Gulf country. It gave sentences ranging from life in prison to fines worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to state-run WAM news agency. A court in Abu Dhabi, the capital, said some of the people backed the group in “articles and tweets posted on social media platforms, with prior knowledge of its purpose to take action against the country.” Others were convicted of money laundering for the Muslim Brotherhood. Human Rights Watch and other groups condemned the “fundamentally unfair trial” of “human rights defenders and political dissidents.” Some of the accused were already serving sentences for similar charges. The Muslim Brotherhood is an organization of political Islamists with affiliates across the Middle East.”

Associated Press: Yemen Houthi Rebels Fired An Iranian Missile At Norwegian-Flagged Ship, Debris Analyzed By US Shows

“Yemen’s Houthi rebels likely fired an Iranian-made anti-ship cruise missile at a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea in December, an assault that now provides a public evidence-based link between the ongoing rebel campaign against shipping and Tehran, the U.S. military says. A report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency released Wednesday linked the attack on the Strinda, which set the vessel ablaze, to Tehran, the Houthi’s main backer in Yemen’s nearly decadelong war. The findings correspond with those of a Norway-based insurers group that also examined debris found on the Strinda. It comes as the Houthis continue their monthslong campaign of attacks over the Israel-Hamas war, targeting ships in the Red Sea corridor, disrupting the $1 trillion flow of goods passing through it annually while also sparking the most intense combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II.”

United States

CBS: CPD Won't Reopen "Deficient" Probe Into Officers With Alleged Ties To Oath Keepers

“The Chicago Police Department has refused to reopen an internal affairs investigation into several police officers with documented ties to extremist groups like Oath Keepers, despite a report from the city's top watchdog, which found the original probe was "materially deficient." Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that CPD reopen its investigation into eight officers with alleged ties to the right-wing extremist group after finding investigators only interviewed the officers themselves and did not take additional investigative steps or document whether their association with the Oath Keepers might have brought discredit upon the department. "While the group, which was founded in 2009, has become more widely known following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, its members have been involved in numerous armed confrontations with government actors throughout the country dating back to the group's inception," Witzburg's report on the probe states.”

Iraq

Voice Of America: Wife Of Late Islamic State Leader Sentenced To Death In Iraq

“One of the wives of deceased Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was sentenced to death Wednesday by an Iraqi court for allegedly helping the terrorist group detain Yazidi women. The sentence, issued by the Karkh Criminal Court in Iraq, said that women members of the religious minority were abducted by state gangs in Iraq’s Sinjar region and held in the woman’s house. It was part of a series of attacks that took place in August 2014. Thousands of Yazidi women were victims of human trafficking, along with other sex-based abuses. The United Nations deemed the attacks genocide. The woman has not been publicly named, but anonymous officials within the court told The Associated Press that she is Asma Mohammed. She is reported to have been detained in Turkey in 2018 but wasn’t handed over to Iraqi officials until 2023.”

The National: Iraq Denounces Turkish Military Move In Country's North As 'Violation'

“Iraq has reacted angrily to the latest Turkish military move in the north of the country to chase down a Kurdish separatist group operating on both sides of the border. The incursion was a “violation”, according to the government in Baghdad. For decades, Ankara has been launching military operations against the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has bases in the Iraqi Kurdish region, from where it launches operations against Turkey. Turkish operations in mountainous northern Iraq, which have been on and off for decades, have been expanded in recent years with soldiers on the ground backed by air strikes, drones and artillery. In recent weeks, residents in Dahuk province said that Turkish forces have been patrolling and setting up check points in new areas deep in the Iraqi territory.”

Afghanistan

DW: Afghanistan: Taliban 'Morality Police' Crack Down On Women

“The Taliban government in Afghanistan is carrying out stricter enforcement of religious law in Afghanistan through the deployment of "morality police," according to a UN report published Tuesday. The UN report said the Taliban has created a "climate of fear" since the Islamist militant group regained power in August 2021 and set up the so-called "Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice." In its report covering the ministry's activities, the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that the ministry is responsible for curtailing human rights and freedoms, particularly targeting women in a discriminatory and unfair way. Since taking power, the Taliban have also barred girls and young women from receiving an education, while keeping women out of public jobs. The report says the ministry enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law that cracks down on personal freedoms for women and girls, while eliminating a free press and civil society.”

Pakistan

Voice Of America: Pakistan Suspends Deportations Of Afghans On 'Humanitarian Grounds'

“Pakistan has halted the expulsion of undocumented migrants from Afghanistan after discussions with the chief of the United Nations refugee agency. Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, wrapped up his three-day visit Tuesday and called for "a bolstering of efforts towards longer-term solutions" for Afghans in Pakistan. A post-visit UNHCR statement said, "Grandi expressed appreciation that the 'Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan' had been suspended and sought assurances that it would remain on hold." A senior Pakistani official who was knowledgeable about Grandi's meetings with leaders in Islamabad confirmed to VOA that Pakistan had halted deportation of Afghans. However, the official did not specify the duration of the suspension. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly to the media.”

Yemen

Associated Press: A Suspected Attack By Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Targets A Ship Transiting The Bab El-Mandeb Strait

“A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, as authorities acknowledged the rebels launched their longest-range attack yet on a U.S.-flagged vessel near the Arabian Sea. The sudden burst of attacks by the Houthis come after an unexplained pause of a week and a half by the rebels. The rebels may be regrouping ahead of the arrival of a new U.S. aircraft carrier to the region after the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower began heading home. The attack Wednesday targeted a ship south of Mocha, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The captain reported explosions off the ship’s side. The “vessel and all crew are safe,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.” The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea corridor since November. The rebels did not immediately claim Wednesday’s attack, though they often don’t do so for hours or even days.”

Lebanon

Reuters: How Hezbollah Is Trying To Counter Israel's High-Tech Surveillance

“Coded messages. Landline phones. Pagers. Following the killing of senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, has been using some low-tech strategies to try to evade its foe's sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters. It has also been using its own tech – drones – to study and attack Israel's intelligence gathering capabilities in what Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has described as a strategy of "blinding" Israel. The sides have been trading fire since Hezbollah's Palestinian ally in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, went to war with Israel in October. While the fighting on Lebanon's southern border has remained relatively contained, stepped-up attacks in recent weeks have intensified concern it could spiral into a full-scale war. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border. Israeli strikes have killed more than 330 Hezbollah fighters and around 90 civilians in Lebanon, according to Reuters tallies. Israel says attacks from Lebanon have killed 21 soldiers and 10 civilians.”

Associated Press: An Israeli Strike In Syria Kills A Former Bodyguard Of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Leader, Official Says

“An Israeli strike in Syria on Tuesday killed a former bodyguard of the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an official with the group said. An Israeli man and woman were killed in a retaliatory Hezbollah strike on Israel. Hours earlier, an Israeli drone hit a car in Syria near the border with Lebanon, according to a war monitor and the Syrian pro-government radio Sham FM. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The Britain-based pro-opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two Hezbollah members in the car were killed in the strike, while a Syrian driver was critically wounded. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or from the Israeli military. Hezbollah later identified the militant as Yasser Nemr Qranbish, although it did not disclose the circumstances of his death as is standard practice for Hezbollah combatants who are not in leadership roles.”

Middle East

Associated Press: Israeli Military Orders The Evacuation Of Gaza City, An Early Target Of Its War With Hamas

“The Israeli military urged all Palestinians to leave Gaza City and head south Wednesday, pressing ahead with a fresh offensive across the north, south and center of the embattled territory that has killed dozens of people over the past 48 hours. The stepped-up military activity came as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli officials in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks seeking a long-elusive cease-fire deal with Gaza’s Hamas militant group in exchange for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages it is holding. Israel says it is pursuing Hamas fighters that are regrouping in various parts of Gaza nine months into the war. But heavy strikes in recent days along the length of the territory also could be aimed at putting more pressure on Hamas in the cease-fire talks. In a visit Wednesday to central Gaza, Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said forces were operating in different ways, in multiple parts of the territory “to carry out a very important mission: pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.””

Associated Press: Israeli Strikes In Central Gaza Kill 20 Palestinians As Mediators Make New Push On Cease-Fire Deal

“Israeli airstrikes early Wednesday killed 20 Palestinians in central Gaza, including six children and three women, some of them inside a purported “safe zone” declared by the Israeli military, hospital authorities said. This second straight night of deadly strikes in the central town of Deir al-Balah and nearby refugee camps came as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators as well as Israeli officials came together in the Qatari capital, Doha, for talks trying to push through a long-elusive deal for a cease-fire and hostage release. Israel and Hamas had appeared to narrow the gaps in recent days, but obstacles remain. Strikes early Wednesday hit three houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 12 people including five children, said authorities at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies. The camp, like others around Gaza, was originally erected to house Palestinians driven from their homes during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.”

Reuters: Two Israelis Killed In Hezbollah Retaliatory Attack On Golan, Police Say

“Two people were killed when Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Golan Heights on Tuesday, Israeli police said, as the Lebanese militant group retaliated after a former bodyguard of its leader was killed in an Israeli strike. One rocket hit a car in the Golan that instantly killed a man and woman, police said. Israel's ambulance service had initially said in a statement that paramedics had reported two casualties "in critical condition" after red-alert sirens went off in the Israeli-occupied Golan. Police said firefighters continued to battle several fires that broke out as a result of rockets that fell to the ground. Israel's military said its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Qabrikha from which the projectiles were launched toward the area of the Golan Heights. It added it also struck Hezbollah military structures in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon.”

Somalia

                             

Garowe Online: Somalia: Govt Forces Advance Towards Al-Shabaab Strongholds In Jubaland

“Somali troops have made substantial progress in their operations in Jubaland. On Wednesday, federal and regional Somali forces successfully captured a crucial junction in the village of Harbole in the Lower Jubba region. The military units involved in this operation reportedly launched their assault from the towns of Afmadow and Jana Cabdalla. The operation is said to have two main objectives: to clear the road between Kismayo and Afmadow, and to disrupt Al-Shabaab's movements between Middle Jubba and Baddamadow. In addition to the capture of Harbole, the Somali forces also secured the village of Welmaro, located northeast of Afmadow. These strategic victories are expected to significantly impact Al-Shabaab's ability to operate in the region, as they disrupt the extremist group's supply lines and communication networks. The Somali government and its international partners have been intensifying their efforts to combat Al-Shabaab in recent months.”

Mali

Reuters: Mali Junta Lifts Suspension On Political Party Activities

“Mali's military junta has lifted a suspension on political party activities meant to safeguard public order, the council of ministers said late on Wednesday. The suspension was announced in April, days before the start of a national dialogue for peace in the Sahelian nation that has been battling a jihadist insurgency for over a decade and has been under military rule since August 2020. "By taking this deterrent measure, the government was able to contain all the threats of public disorder that hung over this major event," the council said in a statement. Given the focus was now on implementing the recommendations of the April 13-May 10 peace dialogue, the government will allow political parties to resume their activities, it said.”

“Mali's junta, which seized power in a second coup in 2021, reneged on a promise to hold elections in February, postponing the vote indefinitely for technical reasons. Political parties and civil society groups at the time reacted with anger to the junta's decision not to hold the vote and called for a return to constitutional order.”

Europe

Politico: Spanish Court Shelves Puigdemont Terrorism Probe

“Spain’s Supreme Court dropped a terrorism investigation into former Catalan President and separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday. Puigdemont had been the subject of a probe since February over his alleged ties to a Catalan pro-independence civil disobedience group, Democratic Tsunami, which led a series of demonstrations in 2019. Supreme Court magistrate Susana Polo shelved the case on Tuesday after Spain’s National Court determined that investigating judge Manuel García-Castellón had improperly extended his investigation into the group in June 2021. That procedural error invalidated all inquiries carried out since that date, as well as the designation of Puigdemont as a target of the investigation earlier this year. The end of the terrorism probe does not, however, affect a 2017 arrest warrant for embezzlement that was issued against Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium following a failed Catalan independence referendum that same year.”

Russia

The Washington Examiner: NATO Allies Accuse Russia Of Sponsoring Terrorist Attacks In Their Countries

“Russian President Vladimir Putin is orchestrating “terrorist attacks” against NATO countries, according to a pair of allied foreign ministers, citing a spate of arson incidents and other violence. “It’s quite clear[ly] a terrorist attack sponsored by a hostile neighboring country against one of the NATO, NATO countries,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO leaders summit in Washington, D.C. “The problem is, at this stage, that when you’re saying this, you immediately have to say what you’re going to do about it. … I’d like to remind that the only time that Article 5 was invoked was because of a terrorist attack.” Landsbergis offered that assessment in reference to a series of recent arson incidents in Poland and Lithuania, two NATO members that share a border long regarded as one of the most vulnerable places in the alliance.”

Voice Of America: Russia Orders Arrest In Absentia Of Alexey Navalny's Widow

“A Russian court Tuesday ordered the arrest in absentia of Yulia Navalnaya on charges that she has participated in the activities of an "extremist" group. Navalnaya is the widow of Alexey Navalny, who was the main opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny died in an Arctic prison in February while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges. Navalnaya has promised to continue her late husband's work. The court order means that Navalnaya, who lives in exile, would be arrested if she were to enter Russia. "When you write about this, please don't forget to write the main thing: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "His place is in prison, and not somewhere in The Hague, in a cozy cell with a TV, but in Russia — in the same [penal] colony and the same 2 by 3 meter cell in which he killed Alexey." Russia has denied any involvement in Navalny's death.”