Reuters: Islamist Terrorism Main Concern Ahead Of Paris Games, City’s Police Chief Says

“Islamist terrorism is the main security worry ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics, the French capital's chief of police Laurent Nunez said on Friday. France is on its highest level of security alert as the Games approach, with the country additionally preparing for snap legislative elections at the end of June. French authorities also recently foiled an attack on a sports stadium in another French city. "Islamist terrorism remains our main concern," Nunez told a press conference seven weeks before the Olympics opening ceremony, which will be held on and along the River Seine on July 26. "There is no clear-cut threat yet against the Games and our country but I'd like to remind you that at the end of May, two individuals were arrested in Saint-Etienne and were plotting a project aimed directly at the Olympic Games. "The terrorist threat remains just as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the ultra left and the pro-Palestinian movement," Nunez said.”

The New York Times: Qaeda Commander At Guantánamo Bay Is Sentenced For War Crimes

“A former Qaeda battlefield commander who admitted that his insurgents killed 17 U.S. and allied forces in wartime Afghanistan in the early 2000s will spend eight more years in prison under a plea agreement disclosed on Thursday. The prisoner, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, 63, has been in U.S. custody since 2006 and struck the deal two years ago. The military judge, Col. Charles L. Pritchard Jr., officially disclosed the terms at Guantánamo Bay moments after a military jury ordered Mr. Hadi to serve 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence in his war crime case. The outcome was part of the arcane system called military commissions, which allows prisoners to reach plea deals with a senior official at the Pentagon who oversees the war court but requires the formality of a jury sentencing hearing anyway.”

Iraq

Iraqi News: Iraqi Air Force Destroys Hideouts Used By ISIS Terrorists In Kirkuk

“The Iraqi Air Force launched two air strikes on Thursday targeting hideouts, tunnels, and caves used by the ISIS terrorists in the northeastern Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk. The Iraqi Security Media Cell (ISMC) said in a statement that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out two air strikes at 6:30 a.m. after receiving information from the Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI), the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. Last November, the DGMI announced the elimination of ISIS members and the arrest of others in separate security operations in different Iraqi governorates. Additionally, the Iraqi Air Force destroyed a hideout belonging to ISIS and killed two terrorists in Salah Al-Din governorate, north of Baghdad. UN experts said in a report issued last August that the ISIS group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former strongholds in Syria and Iraq, according to the AP.”

The Guardian: Yazidi Survivors Of Sinjar Massacre Alarmed By Iraq’s Move To Close Camps

“The Iraqi government has been accused of making the survivors of the Sinjar massacre fear for their future once more, almost a decade after the murderous Islamic State campaign that forced tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes. In January, the Iraqi council of ministers set a deadline of 30 July to close 23 displacement camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. The camps are home to about 155,000 internally displaced people (IDP), mostly Yazidis, who were slaughtered, kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in their thousands at the height of the violence in northern Iraq in 2014. The ministry of migration and displacement (MoMD) is offering each family 4m Iraqi dinars (£2,400) towards resettlement costs and is launching a job-creation programme.”

Afghanistan

The Washington Post: Taliban’s Opium Ban Imperiled By Climate Change As Alternative Crops Struggle

“Two years after the Taliban banned opium, Afghan farmers turning to alternative crops are discovering that many no longer grow easily here because of the impact of climate change, imperiling poppy eradication efforts. For decades, farmers in southern Afghanistan relied on opium poppies to make a living in their parched desert landscape. Even as prolonged drought dried out rivers and turned fields so salty that they glowed white in the sun, the hardy poppies flourished. The Taliban ended that after seizing power in Afghanistan three years ago, banning opium on religious grounds. But farmers in the former poppy heartland say they can’t make a living with typical alternatives like wheat and cotton, which have tumbled in price as they’ve flooded the market since the opium ban took effect.”

Pakistan

Reuters: Pakistan Police Hunt Mob That Lynched Local Tourist Accused Of Blasphemy

“Pakistani authorities have begun an investigation to identify and arrest members of a mob that killed a local tourist accused of blasphemy, after they ransacked a police station holding him in protective custody, officials said on Friday. A mob beat the man to death on Thursday night after accusing him of burning pages of the Koran. They set the police station in the country's northwest ablaze and injured eight policemen, Malankand division's regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur told Reuters. "After initially rescuing the man from a crowd, the police took him to the station in Madyan, but announcements from mosque loud speakers asked locals to come out," Gandapur said, after which the mob stormed the station. Lynchings are common in Pakistan, an Islamic republic where blasphemy can legally carry the death penalty.”

Yemen

Bloomberg: Fending Off Houthis Requires Double The Fleet, EU Force Says

“A naval force deployed by the European Union to protect vessels in the Red Sea needs to more than double in size because of escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the head of the operation said. Four EU vessels have been patrolling the waters off the coast of Yemen since February. In that time, they’ve provided “close assistance” to 164 ships, shot down more than a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles and destroyed four anti-ship ballistics missiles, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview on Wednesday. The Yemen-based Houthis began attacking vessels last year to pressure Israel and its allies over the war in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign has roiled global shipping, forcing many vessels to sail thousands of miles around southern Africa instead — despite the EU operation and US and UK bombing that began in January.”

Middle East

Reuters: Why Pick On Us? Cyprus Perplexed By Hezbollah Threats

“Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon's Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war. The EU member state closest to the Middle East, Cyprus was caught off guard by comments from Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday that the island could be a target if it permitted Israel to use its military  facilities in the event of an attack on Lebanon. "The Republic of Cyprus is in no way involved in war conflict," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides responded, describing Nasrallah's comments as "not pleasant". The EU also weighed in. "Any threats against our member state are threats against the EU," a spokesperson said. Lebanon's government appeared to try to contain any possible fallout from Nasrallah's comments.”

ABC: Netanyahu And White House Continue Public Disagreement Over Claim US Withholding Weapons Amid Israel's War With Hamas

“The public war of words between Israel and the U.S. continued Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responding pointedly to the White House after the Biden administration again denied his claim the U.S. is withholding weapons from Israel amid its fight in Gaza with Hamas. His response came shortly after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in a call with reporters on Thursday, called Netanyahu's claim "perplexing to say the least" and two days after the White House bluntly said it "genuinely didn't know what he's talking about." In a video he released earlier this week, Netanyahu claimed "the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions" Israel needed to fight Hamas. On Thursday, he said, "I am ready to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives from the U.S. the ammunition it needs in the war for its existence."”

Associated Press: The Latest | Armenia Recognizes A Palestinian State, And Israel Summons Its Ambassador

“Armenia said it would recognize a Palestinian state on Friday, prompting Israel to summon its ambassador for what the Foreign Ministry described as a “severe reprimand.” Dozens of countries have recognized a Palestinian state, though none of the major Western powers has done so. Palestinians believe the recognitions confer international legitimacy on their struggle, especially amid international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last month, Spain, Ireland and Norway said they had decided to recognize a Palestinian state, and since then Slovenia and the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda have followed suit. On Thursday, a U.S.-built pier in Gaza began unloading humanitarian aid again after being removed for a second time last week because of rough seas, the U.S. military said.”

Somalia

Reuters: Exclusive: Somalia Asks Peacekeepers To Slow Withdrawal, Fears Islamist Resurgence

“Somalia's government is seeking to slow the withdrawal of African peacekeepers and warning of a potential security vacuum, documents seen by Reuters show, with neighbouring countries fretting that resurgent al Shabaab militants could seize power. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a peacekeeping force, is committed to withdrawing by Dec. 31, when a smaller new force is expected to replace it. However, in a letter last month to the acting chair of the African Union Peace and Security Council the government asked to delay until September the withdrawal of half the 4,000 troops due to leave by the end of June. The letter has not been reported before.  The government had previously recommended, in a joint assessment with the AU in March, reviewed by Reuters, that the overall withdrawal timeline be adjusted "based on the actual readiness and capabilities" of Somali forces.”

France

Reuters: France: Won't Negotiate On Qaeda Hostage Terms

“France will not negotiate on a demand by al Qaeda's north African wing for 90 million euros to release four French nationals held hostage since September, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Monday. Kidnappers are demanding 90 million euros ($127 million) for the return of the hostages captured in Niger and held hostage by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, sources close to mediation efforts told Reuters. "We do not negotiate on these terms," said Juppe, who was attending a regular meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels. The kidnappers made the demand within the past few days, a Nigerien military intelligence source said. A source close to the French nuclear group Areva confirmed the ransom demand. French government sources declined to confirm whether the government had received a ransom demand. One source said any such demand would be "ridiculosly extravagant."”

Southeast Asia

The Economic Times: Countering ISIS Threat To Top SCO Summit Agenda

“Countering threats from ISIS which is taking roots in Afghanistan and spreading its network in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Iran, and threatening to target India will top the agenda of the SCO Summit on July 3-4 in Astana. Recent arrests of terrorists in Kyrgyzstan and earlier in Tajikistan have established ISIS links emanating from Afghanistan, according to persons tracking the terrorist network in the Af-Pak region. The Indian establishment is closely monitoring the spread of ISIS in Eurasia and its impact across the border in India, ET has learnt. What has come to their notice is recent literature of ISIS that aims to target India, ET has further learnt. The SCO summit will give the Indian leadership an opportunity to engage with the leaders of Central Asia besides Russia and make a strong pitch against the need to counter terrorism and rising extremism. SCO is the only organisation that has a dedicated centre.”