On Thursday, August 25, the new Tunisian Prime Minister, Youssed Chaded, presented the final line-up of his government and announced that he will seek the vote of confidence on Friday. An initial line-up was presented on Sunday and contained figures from all major political parties, independents and trade union representatives. Such a wide coalition resulted in tensions over ministerial posts and political programme, but after a series of talks with political leaders, Chaded managed to secure the support of a majority in the parliament.
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On Wednesday, August 24, Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Kiev to participate in anniversary celebration of Ukrainian independence. The ceremony celebrations of the 25th anniversary of independence were opened by a parade of about 4,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard and the police. The parade had special column for veterans of current fighting with pro-Russian separatists. More than 200 military vehicles, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers, howitzers and rocket launchers participated in the ceremony. The parade went down the main street of Kiev, Khreshchatyk.
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On Wednesday, August 24, citing sources in U.S. authorities CNN reported that the FBI suspects Russia of carrying out a series of hackingattempts on U.S. media outlets, including the computer network of The New York Times. FBI has identified severalhacker attacks in previous months with the Times Moscow office being targeted as recently as Tuesday, August 23.
Analysts stated that now the economy is forging ahead, despite that for month Spain been awash with warnings that the country’s long-lasting deadlock threatens to harm a fragile recovery.The state has been without a fully-functioning government for eight months with squabbling political parties unable to achieve any sort of pact following inconclusive polls in December, and again in June.Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose conservative Popular Party came first in both polls, though without an absolute majority, is negotiating to try to form a minority or coalition government.
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Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the operation was "over for now" and the planes had gone.Iran's Defence Minister Hossein Deghan had earlier criticised Russia for publicising the raids last week, saying it had exhibited a "show-off" attitude.Russia for its part has confirmed that all of its planes used from Iran for Syria strikes are now back in Russia. Russia like Iran is a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Last Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry announced that Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters had used the Shahid Nojeh airbase near the western city of Hamedan to carry out air strikes on "terrorists" in Syria.
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Following a series of talks between Egipt and Russia, the Russian Minister of Transport, Maxim Sokolov, announced that a series of test will be conducted at Egyptian airports in late August and early September in order to determine whether to resume flights. The flights between Egypt and Russia were suspended after a terrorist attack on Russian Metrojet passenger jet flying from Sharm el-Sheikh which claimed 224 dead. Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation, Sharif Fathy, announced that positive test results should make it possible to resume flights in October.
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The Turkish Armed Forces had begun its cross-border “Euphrates Shield” operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant early on August 24 with aerial strikes and ground forces backed by strikes from rocket launchers, howitzers, and tanks. Operation “Fırat Kalkanı” (Euphrates Shield) began at around 4 a.m., with Turkish artillery units launching a total of 294 fires on 81 targets followed by four separate air operations by Turkish and coalition warplanes bombing ISIL targets. It was the first time that Turkish F-16’s launched an air operation in northern Syria since the downing of a Russian jet for violating its airspace on 24 of November 2015.
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Only a few days after North Korea has been once again threating of a nuclear attack on the South, another potential risk rises in the region. Today North Korea has fired what is believed to be a KN-11 submarine launched ballistic missile, which flew 500 km towards Japan and entered the country’s air defense identification zone. It is not for the frst time that North Korea has threatend Japan in this way. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, has already condemned the new attack, saying that it is ‘unforgivable’ and poses a serious threat to the Japanese security.
Read More On Tuesday, 23 August, in Riga , the U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden met the Baltic leaders, Dalia Grybauskaitė, Raimonds Vējonis and Toomas Hendrik, for the 27th anniversary of the Baltic Way. During his speech, the Vice President reiterated the commitment of the USA to comply with NATO article 5, principle of collective defense, stating: "I want to make it absolutely clear to all the people in Baltic states: we have pledged our sacred honor, the United States of America(...) to the NATO treaty and Article Five". Furthermore, he agreed to boost defense ties, reaffirming the strategic alliance between the US and the Baltic states.
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