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Cuba Is No Longer a Cold War Relic
Fidel Castro would have turned 100 on Thursday, and Cuba marked the anniversary with ceremonies in Havana attended by his 95-year-old brother Raúl, who made a rare public appearance. The commemoration unfolded amid one of the most severe economic and political crises in Cuba's modern history, with prolonged blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, and continued mass emigration. Reuters reported that some power cuts now exceed 20 hours a day. The contrast captures a deeper change. Cuba's government remains intact, but the revolutionary model Fidel built is steadily losing both its economic foundations and its hold over younger generations. At the same time, U.S. pressure and renewed Russian and Chinese engagement are making the island strategically relevant again. The Mechanism Behind the Collapse Cuba's problems cannot be reduced to U.S. sanctions. The military-controlled conglomerate Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) dominates important hard-currency sectors including tourism, retail and logistics, while…
U.S. Set to End Military Presence in Iraq
The United States is on track to withdraw its remaining military forces from Iraq by September 30, ending the coalition mission against ISIS and completing a security transition that will leave Iraqi forces fully responsible for counterterrorism operations. The departure concludes the latest phase of a U.S. military presence that began with the 2003 invasion, ended after the withdrawal of combat troops in 2011 and resumed in 2014 at Baghdad's request following the rise of the Islamic State group. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi reaffirmed the deadline after meeting U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper in Baghdad on Wednesday, calling it the fixed and final date for ending the coalition's military mission and completing the departure of its forces. A U.S. official separately confirmed that Washington expects the withdrawal to be completed on schedule, though the Pentagon has not disclosed how many American personnel remain in Iraq or where…
Bombing Kills Haftar Intelligence Chief in Benghazi
A bombing killed Fawzi al-Mansouri, the military intelligence chief of Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, when an explosive device detonated in his vehicle outside his home in Benghazi's Hawari district on August 10, Reuters reported, citing two security sources. Haftar's command described him as a "martyr" and vowed to punish those responsible. No group has claimed responsibility. Mansouri had led LNA military intelligence since 2024, after previously commanding forces in the southern Sebha region. His killing is a shock less for his rank than for its location. Benghazi is the administrative and security core of Haftar's eastern command, and a successful bombing there exposes vulnerabilities inside a security structure that has projected control for years. The timing is politically sensitive. Libya has spent months on renewed efforts to bridge its east-west divide, including UNSMIL-led security-unification talks in Benghazi and a previously unreported Pakistani mediation effort, Reuters reported in July, that…
Israel and Lebanon Resume Peace Talks in Rome
Israeli and Lebanese delegations began a seventh round of U.S.-mediated talks in Rome on Tuesday, with Beirut demanding Israel halt actions it says are obstructing withdrawal from southern Lebanon, The National reported. The three-day session implements a June framework tying phased Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament.The framework's first phase covers three "pilot zones," where the Lebanese army must verify disarmament before taking control from withdrawing Israeli forces. Lebanese officials say Israeli demolitions near the zones, registering up to 3.8 on the Richter scale, have complicated that handover. The Lebanese army also faces a U.S. Senate cap that limits American aid to $36 million, pending certification of progress on disarmament.Political friction shadowed the talks. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said direct negotiations would bring only "humiliation" for Lebanon, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, without naming Hezbollah, wrote on X that "the greatest service to Israel came from those who dragged…
Fighting Erupts in Western Tigray Ethiopia
Fighting broke out near Sheraro in western Tigray on August 1, in what analysts call the most serious breach yet of Ethiopia's 2022 Pretoria peace deal. Tigray's regional government said federal forces launched a dawn assault from the direction of the town, according to a statement from Mekelle reported by Al Jazeera.Ethiopian minister Abraham Belay confirmed the clashes but blamed forces loyal to Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, calling for dialogue. Tigrayan authorities countered that Addis Ababa had waged a sustained blockade and, they allege, a drone campaign against the region, framing the clash as an escalation into full-scale war.The eruption caps a slow collapse of Pretoria's core, unresolved provisions: disarmament of Tigrayan forces and restoration of the TPLF's legal status. Washington moved in June to impose visa restrictions on TPLF figures it called "hardliners," warning that rising tensions "threatened to reignite the conflict," according to a…
Israel Destroys Hezbollah Tunnel Network in Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said late Thursday that the IDF destroyed a Hezbollah tunnel system beneath Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon using 700 tons of explosives, according to Times of Israel. The two officials said the strike answered Hezbollah's "blatant" ceasefire violation a day earlier, when the group hit an unmanned IDF bulldozer with an explosive drone. Israel had held the demolition in reserve since before the June truce, postponing it under the ceasefire framework, and carried it out once the drone strike gave grounds to proceed.Netanyahu and Katz said the tunnel functioned as "a central part of the Hezbollah terror organization's invasion plan against the Galilee communities." The IDF said troops spent recent weeks securing the ridge and clearing the underground passages before detonation, and that most of the network there is now destroyed, following a partial demolition on July 13.Beaufort Ridge is…
