A tribunal in The Hague has convicted former Kosovo Liberation Army leader Hashim Thaci Hashim Thaci, the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), has been found responsible for war crimes committed by the militant group during its NATO-backed campaign to break away from Serbia in the 1990s. The ethnic Albanian, who served as the first president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, has been found guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and suspected Serbian collaborators, the verdict said. He was also convicted for the unlawful detention and torture of hundreds of people. The 58-year-old Thaci and three other former KLA leaders tried in The Hague are widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo. Thaci has denied the charges. His defense argued that senior figures in the KLA could not control rank-and-file separatist fighters and thus could not be held responsible for crimes committe...
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Damage to American bases has made Operation Epic Fury against Iran more costly and complicated, a government report has said The Pentagon has yet to determine the future posture of US forces in the Middle East, including how regional bases damaged in the conflict with Iran will be rebuilt, according to a new government report examining Operation Epic Fury. The US military operation against Iran lasted from February 28 through June 30, although the confrontation remains unresolved, with Washington relying on a naval blockade and sanctions to pressure Tehran. Iran responded to the US-Israeli attack by striking military and infrastructure targets across the region and restricting traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The report, prepared by three inspector general offices and released on Monday, highlighted difficulties in determining the full cost of Operation Epic Fury. The Pentagon estimated th...
The British-Polish solicitor has lived in Britain since her teens and speaks nine languages, including Russian A senior Spanish naval officer stationed with NATO in the UK became the subject of a counterintelligence investigation over his relationship with a British woman who was born in Soviet Russia, The Telegraph has reported. The unnamed officer eventually had his security clearance revoked and was ostracized by fellow military personnel. The couple, who have since separated, both believe they were betrayed by their respective countries over what the woman described as a “rumor” started by partners of other officers at the British base. Janina White, 49, was born in Soviet Russia, moved to Poland as a child and emigrated to the UK as a teenager, the British newspaper reported on Monday. She holds dual British-Polish citizenship and works as a solicitor in London. According to her public pr...
Oil prices spiked to $109 per barrel following the attack on the key infrastructure by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq A key Saudi Arabian oil pipeline hit in a drone strike by Iraqi militias will take up to five weeks to repair, AP has reported, citing informed officials. The East-West Pipeline, which runs 1,200 km across the country towards the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, will remain mostly out of service during the three- to five-week repair period, the agency said in an article on Tuesday. One official suggested that parts of the infrastructure could function while segments of the pipeline and a major pumping station are being fixed, but couldn’t say how much oil might get through, according to AP. Oil prices spiked by more than 3% on Monday, with benchmark Brent crude reaching $109 per barrel, following the decision by the Saudi authorities to shut down the pipeline after it was struck by dro...
The mistaken drone sighting caused the closure of Vilnius airport, the Lithuanian authorities have said A NATO fighter jet took flight after a flock of birds was confused with drones, the Lithuanian authorities have reported. There have been a number of incidents of Ukrainian UAVs crossing the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia or crashing in those countries as Kiev has intensified its long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia in recent months. On Sunday, a perceived drone sighting caused the closure of Vilnius International Airport, the country’s National Crisis Management Center said in a statement later that day. It was reopened within 40 minutes after a NATO jet, which had taken off from Siauliai airbase in the north of the country, found that the cause of the air alert was not a UAV, but a flock of birds, it said. “On initial radar read...
The New Delhi summit showed the group is becoming more practical: from trade and payment systems to transport and strategic autonomy The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi took place at a moment when the group is clearly outgrowing its original format as a club of several major emerging economies and gradually becoming a platform capable of shaping debates over global trade, international finance and the political architecture of the world order. The countries gathered around the same table have very different relations with the West, compete with one another in a number of areas and yet increasingly share an interest in expanding their strategic autonomy. For Russia, this is especially important, because BRICS gives Moscow an opportunity to deepen economic ties with the largest non-Western powers, develop settlement mechanisms less vulnerable to sanctions and demonstrate that attempts to politically isolate t...