Iran
Iran is recruiting a hacker army to target the U.S. power grid, water systems and other vital infrastructure for cyberattack in a future confrontation with the United States, security specialists will warn Congress on Thursday. – Washington Times
Israel’s military chief said in an interview published Wednesday that he believes Iran will choose not to build a nuclear bomb, an assessment that contrasted with the gloomier statements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pointed to differences over the Iran issue at the top levels of Israeli leadership. – Washington Post
With its makers proudly claiming the movie to be “the most political film in Iran’s cinematic history,” Talebi’s slick-looking blockbuster seems to spare no expense in outlining the Tehran government’s take on the abortive Green Movement that gripped the country following the disputed presidential election in 2009. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Iran could end upgrades to its uranium enrichment capacity in exchange for the cancellation of new economic penalties under a potential deal floated last week by Russia, Tehran’s top envoy to Moscow told Bloomberg on Wednesday – Global Security Newswire
Iranian parliamentary candidates began campaigning on Thursday for the second round of elections set to weaken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he grapples with worsening economic problems. – Reuters
Syria
Heavy artillery and shells continued to fall on the Damascus suburb of Douma on Wednesday, despite the presence of U.N. observers charged with monitoring a cease-fire in Syria, residents said. – Washington Post
Lebanon, which is only decades past a brutal civil war, remains sharply divided over Syria as increasingly heated rhetoric about the regime in Damascus dominates political discourse. The assassination attempt against Mr. Geagea, a critic of Hezbollah and Syria, and another soon after on Mustafa Jeha, a lesser-known figure with similar views, served as a reminder of ever-lurking instability. – New York Times
Buck’s article, in the March 2011 issue of Vogue, drew widespread surprise and ridicule, especially among Washington’s foreign-policy community, which had long regarded Syria as a regional troublemaker and leading violator of human rights. It contained little hint of the Assad family’s history of repression, offering only that Syria is “a country full of shadow zones.” And then the story disappeared. – Washington Post
France wants to see 300 U.N. observers in Syria within two weeks and will push for a “Chapter 7″ resolution at the United Nations unless Damascus complies with the terms of a peace plan by early May, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russia and Iran are helping Syria import fuel which it needs for heavy vehicles including army tanks, allowing Damascus to avoid the full impact of tightening Western sanctions imposed over its violent suppression of dissent. – Reuters
Syria blamed “terrorist” bomb-makers on Thursday for an explosion that ripped through a building and killed 16 people in the restive city of Hama, where hostility to President Bashar al-Assad runs deep. – Reuters
A Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer was shot dead and three others were wounded in the town of Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. – Reuters
In the absence of international support, dissidents have found informal ways to smuggle food and medicine to injured and famished people around the country. – Reuters
Editorial: Is sending unarmed monitors to besieged cities and shrugging when the people they visit are murdered everything the United States can do? Even in an election year, the answer has to be no. – Washington Post
North Africa
The last prime minister to serve under deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been allowed to re-enter the race for the presidency, one day after electoral authorities disqualified him, the state news agency reported on Wednesday. – Reuters
The decision to halt Egyptian natural gas exports to Israel was not due simply to commercial differences, international shareholders in the consortium involved said on Wednesday, dismissing claims they were behind in payments. – Reuters
Libya, preparing for elections in June, has banned parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity, the government said on Wednesday, and a new Islamist party viewed as a leading contender signaled it would challenge the decision. – Reuters
It was a homecoming. After boycotting all national elections for more than a decade, Algeria’s oldest opposition party was back on the campaign trail in its heartland. – Reuters
Yemen
The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said. – Washington Post
Chewing on qat, or ‘takhzeen’ in Arabic, has been a national pastime in Yemen for centuries. But a few activists are determined to stamp out the practice, convinced that the chewing and production of qat, which is dominated by the country’s tribal leaders, military officers and politicians, is stifling Yemen’s potential while depleting the country of its few remaining natural resources. – Reuters
Gulf States
Kuwait’s National Assembly rejected a draft bill on the country’s 30 billion dinar ($108 billion) development plan on Wednesday as opposition deputies accused the government of failing to make progress on the major investments it provides for. – Reuters
Analysis: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia expects to finalize its atomic energy plans this year but the U.S. nuclear industry may miss out on multi-billion dollar contracts to turn it into a reality unless Washington and Riyadh sign a non-proliferation deal soon. – Reuters
Iraq
A rolling diplomatic spat between Turkey and Iraq’s government is heightening regional strains, as Baghdad and Ankara accuse one another of stoking sectarian strife. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
If the naming of an ambassador for the first time in twenty years is an indication that Saudi Arabia is prepared to open a new chapter in its relations with Iraq – and perhaps even to begin healing the Sunni-Shia divide more broadly – that is a welcome development. It should not be handicapped by a damaging myth about the events of twenty years ago. – Al Arabiya
Israel
The paradox that is Israel — wealthy, dynamic and safe, yet mistrusted, condemned and nervous — was on full display on Wednesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 64th Independence Day. – New York Times
Afghanistan
Acting at the behest of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, senior American officials told a California congressman last weekend that he was not welcome in Afghanistan because of concerns that his sharp criticism of Mr. Karzai would undermine Washington’s efforts to rebuild trust with the government and restart preliminary peace talks with the Taliban. – New York Times
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said Wednesday that she thought Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “should have stood up” to Afghan President Hamid Karzai when he denied the congressman entry to the country because of critical comments she made about the country’s government. – DEFCON Hill
The Obama administration will push in the coming weeks and months the message that the war in Afghanistan is ending. It’s a campaign pitch that will be trumpeted at next month’s NATO summit in Chicago, where international leaders are expected to sign off on an agreement with Afghanistan’s government that would establish a continued U.S. role in the country after security is handed over to local forces in 2014. – DEFCON Hill
U.S. leaders often say developing a strong Afghan army will be the key to stabilizing the region after Western forces leave. But one general who oversaw southwestern Afghanistan says stabilization lies in the hands of the Afghan police. – DOTMIL
A new report Wednesday by a Kabul-based think tank accuses international forces of misleading the public by calling military operations “Afghan-led” even in cases where NATO or U.S. forces are the only troops on the ground. – Associated Press
NATO remains “cautiously optimistic” about progress in the war in Afghanistan despite the tactical challenges it has faced in recent months, the alliance’s top military officer said Wednesday. – Associated Press
Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to stop clerics from inciting violence or preaching anti-government slogans in mosques, giving unruly mullahs three chances to change their ways or face dismissal and possibly jail. – Reuters
Pakistan
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt for defying its orders to reopen an old corruption case against the president, but the justices spared Gilani any prison time. – Washington Post
American officials arrive in Pakistan Wednesday for negotiations over parliamentary recommendations on how Islamabad wants to deal with Washington in the future, as the two countries seek to repair their frayed ties, senior U.S. officials told CNN. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Pakistan’s military, which has dominated the country for much of its turbulent history, has less sway over foreign policy, and a new power equation is emerging within America’s strategic ally, said the foreign minister. – Reuters
Pakistan has spelt out in no uncertain terms that U.S. drone aircraft strikes against militants inside its territory must stop, but Washington is not listening, the country’s foreign minister said. – Reuters
North Korea
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued a stern warning to North Korea not to proceed with a new round of nuclear weapons testing, saying such tests would accelerate the “dangerous cycle” of provocation set by Pyongyang. – DEFCON Hill
North Korea is armed with “powerful modern weapons” capable of defeating the United States, a top military chief in Pyongyang said Wednesday, a claim that matches the country’s regular rhetoric but is questioned by experts. – Associated Press
Far from being a real threat to assassinate South Korea’s president, as the North attempted in 1968 and 1974, the anti-Lee propaganda featuring crude effigies of him being crushed by a tank, is designed largely for domestic consumption to prop up the image of the North’s new leader, Kim Jong-un. – Reuters
Geoffrey Nice and William Schabas write: The situation in North Korea is a clarion call for the Security Council and other U.N. members to show courage in a case of political complexity. There can be few places in the world where the human rights situation is more egregious and yet more overlooked than North Korea. – International Herald Tribune
China
Until now, the downfall of Mr. Bo has been cast largely as a tale of a populist who pursued his own agenda too aggressively for some top leaders in Beijing and was brought down by accusations that his wife had arranged the murder of Neil Heywood, a British consultant, after a business dispute. But the hidden wiretapping, previously alluded to only in internal Communist Party accounts of the scandal, appears to have provided another compelling reason for party leaders to turn on Mr. Bo. – New York Times
The scandal surrounding fallen Chinese leader Bo Xilai spread to his wider family as his elder brother resigned as a deputy chairman of a Hong Kong-listed company, shortly after Mr. Bo’s son issued a statement to counter allegations he lived an extravagant lifestyle. – Wall Street Journal
On Tuesday Bo Guagua, whose parents are at the nexus of a seismic scandal roiling the party, issued a statement rejecting suggestions that he at one time had a close and personal relationship with the luxury Italian sports car in question. – New York Times
China extended what it may have intended as an olive branch to the U.S., Japan and Europe in their dispute over rare earths even as it defended its export controls. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee on Wednesday completed drafting its portion of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill that contains language calling for a U.S. military-targeting study of Chinese underground nuclear tunnels. – Washington Free Beacon
War between China and the United States would be “disastrous” for the entire world, says Australia’s top diplomat, who also suggests that a conflict between the global giants is unlikely. – DOTMIL
Tibet
A Tibetan youth named by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama but reviled by many Tibetans as a fake made his first trip outside mainland China on Thursday as he is groomed to become the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama dies. – Reuters
India
Sadanand Dhume writes: So while the worst excesses of the country’s socialist past may be behind it, that’s not enough. Excessive faith in government and excessive mistrust of the market remain the norm. For real change, India needs fresh faces and fresh ideas. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
East Asia
Two Taiwanese nationals who were arrested on drug charges earlier this year allegedly also were trying to acquire and export to China U.S. military technology, including unmanned-drone and stealth technology, federal prosecutors in New Jersey said Wednesday. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A divisive power broker of Japan’s ruling party was acquitted Thursday of charges in a political financing scandal, freeing him to step up his opposition to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and a critical tax increase plan. – New York Times
Burma
The Obama administration will not rush to lift sanctions on Myanmar, a top State Department official said Wednesday. – Washington Times
Japanese companies are jostling to line up business in Myanmar, as the country begins a historic push to open its markets and economy to the outside world, after decades of isolation. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Thursday that her party’s refusal to take up newly won seats in parliament was a “technical matter” that could be resolved soon, responding to mounting criticism of her stance on the issue. – Reuters
Russia
Russia’s State Duma has passed by a narrow margin a Kremlin bill restoring popular gubernatorial elections. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russia on Tuesday renewed a threat to field short-range Iskander ballistic missiles in an exclave that borders NATO territory against a backdrop of continuing disagreements over a developing missile shield in Europe, RIA Novosti reported – Global Security Newswire
A cost dispute would probably prevent the Russian Defense Ministry from finalizing this month a deal for production of additional Borei-class ballistic missile submarines, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday – Global Security Newswire
Ukraine
Ukraine has requested that German doctors be sent to examine and treat Yulia Tymoshenko after the opposition leader and former prime minister launched a hunger strike to protest her treatment in jail. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
German President Joachim Gauck has cancelled a planned visit to Ukraine next month, a spokesman said, amid growing concerns over the health and treatment of jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. – Reuters
Interview: Martin Schulz, who became president of the European Parliament earlier this year, has described Ukraine’s treatment of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko a “disgrace” to the country. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
United States of America
Josh Rogin reports: The House Appropriations Committee proposed cutting the State Department and foreign operations budget by more than $5 billion next year, in its annual allocations released Tuesday. – The Cable
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said: For this century is a time of tremendous challenge. But it is also a time of tremendous promise. This is indeed the world America made. And it is freer and more prosperous than it has ever been. And it can be even better. As Americans we cannot make that happen by ourselves. But the world cannot make it happen without us. – Sen. Rubio’s Office
South America
During his latest stay in Cuba for cancer treatment, the leader has made Twitter his nearly exclusive means of public communication. It turns out Mr. Chávez on Twitter is much like Mr. Chávez in the flesh. – Wall Street Journal
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta pushed Brazil on Wednesday to buy $4 billion worth of Boeing-made Super Hornet fighter jets, saying the prospective sale reflected how important Brazil was to the United States. – New York Times
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta praised Brazil’s emergence as a global power Wednesday, urging the nation to become more involved in security efforts around the world by assisting in places like Africa. – Associated Press
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) writes: Over the three years that the Colombia and Panama free-trade agreements were blocked, our patient friends in Latin America were left to wonder whether the U.S. still cared about them. Now is the time to prove, through words and deeds, that we are committed to help shape the 21st century as one of unprecedented prosperity and security in the Western Hemisphere. – Los Angeles Times
West Africa
Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia and once a powerful warlord, appeared in a special court here Thursday to hear the verdict on charges of crimes against humanity and other counts in connection with atrocities committed against civilians in Sierra Leone during that country’s civil war during the 1990s, which he was accused of planning and supporting. – New York Times
Mali’s interim leaders named the country’s first post-coup government on Wednesday, faced with the challenge of restoring political stability and tackling a crisis in the rebel-held north. – Reuters
West African regional bloc ECOWAS plans to send more than 600 troops to Guinea-Bissau in coming days to protect institutions and political figures after a military coup there, a senior ECOWAS source and another informed official said on Wednesday. – Reuters
East Africa
The intensifying conflict between Sudan and South Sudan is threatening to drag in neighboring countries and undermine regional security and economic interests. – Washington Times
Sudan said Wednesday that South Sudan had expelled more than 100 of its nationals who were working for oil companies, as a dispute over the two nations’ poorly defined oil-rich border deepens. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Capturing and bringing to justice the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a group terrorizing a large portion of central Africa, will be a challenge, officials from the Obama administration told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. – CNN’s Security Clearance
South Sudan freed prisoners of war on Wednesday as clashes appeared to abate between north and south, after cross-border fighting that threatened to tip into all-out war. – Reuters
