Iran
Security experts have identified a cyber espionage attack that appears to have chiefly targeted computers in Iran that they say differs from previously discovered malware believed to be part of a covert U.S. and Israeli effort to monitor and delay Tehran’s nuclear development program. – LA Times’ World Now
The United States and about 20 other nations will hold a major anti-mine operation near the Gulf in September, the Pentagon said July 17, after Iran threatened it could block oil shipments. – AFP
Iran once saw the Arab Spring uprisings as a prime opportunity, hoping it would open the door to spread its influence in countries where autocratic leaders long shunned Tehran’s ruling clerics. But it is finding the new order no more welcoming. – Associated Press
Iran said it would insure any foreign ships that enter its waters, in an effort to skirt a European Union ban on insuring ships carrying Iranian crude that has hampered the country’s oil exports. – Reuters
Syria
A suicide bomber attacked a building used by security chiefs in central Damascus on Wednesday, state media said, killing the defense minister, Daoud Rajha, the most senior official known to have died in 17 months of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. – New York Times
Tensions escalated in Damascus on Tuesday as clashes between the Syrian Army and rebels near the city center extended into a third day, with government forces throwing a security cordon around some embattled neighborhoods, firing from helicopters and reinforcing the number of tanks on the streets. – New York Times
Hopes for a diplomatic compromise between Russia and the West over any kind of an orderly transition from the regime of Bashar al-Assad petered out Tuesday – amid fulsome support for peace and civic accord in Syria from Russian President Vladimir Putin. – Christian Science Monitor
The Obama administration on Tuesday said it was concerned that Syrian President Bashar Assad would use his nation’s stockpiles of chemical weapons to put down the 17-month uprising against his government. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
U.S. officials have not commented on when—or if—they will deliver Syrian opposition leaders over $10 million in frozen funds, money rebel sources say would help their fight against Bashir al-Assad’s forces. – DOTMIL
Israel’s military intelligence chief said Damascus was slipping from President Bashar al-Assad’s grasp, as Syrian rebels battled government troops for a third day in an effort to shake the regime at the core of its power. – Financial Times
Syrian rebels said they shot down an army helicopter on Tuesday as they battled government forces backed by air power and artillery in the fiercest fighting to hit Damascus since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad erupted last year. – Reuters
Rebels will intensify attacks inside the Syrian capital and target sensitive security installations in what they call an operation to “liberate Damascus”, a rebel commander said on Tuesday, after three days of fierce fighting in the city. – Reuters
The United Nations should keep threatening Syrian authorities with sanctions to “breathe life” into a faltering plan to end the worsening 16-month conflict, Syria’s main opposition umbrella group said on Tuesday before a planned U.N. Security Council vote on the issue. – Reuters
Analysis: As fighting rages in Damascus, and the Assad family that has ruled Syria for four decades struggles for its life against a growing rebellion, a picture is emerging of a tight inner group determined to fight its way out of the crisis, even as support for the government falls away. – Reuters
North Africa
All over the country, Muslim men are demanding to wear beards — and Muslim women the hijab hair covering — in police stations, banks, airliners, television news programs and other places where they have long been banned by law or custom. – Washington Post
Supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood brawled with their opponents in court on Tuesday, delaying rulings that might help define the powers of new Islamist President Mohamed Mursi as he seeks more autonomy from the military. – Reuters
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki offered ousted leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on Tuesday guarantees of physical safety and promised him a fair trial if he returned to his homeland. – Reuters
Sudanese security forces broke up a protest in central Khartoum on Tuesday by dozens of people demanding the release of relatives jailed for taking part in four weeks of anti-government demonstrations, a witness said. – Reuters
Morocco indicted a cleric on Tuesday for calling for the murder on religious grounds of a local newspaper editor who urged greater sexual freedoms in the conservative Muslim country. – Reuters
United Arab Emirates
The U.S. Embassy in India expressed its condolences Tuesday after an American refueling ship in the Persian Gulf opened fire on a fishing boat, killing one Indian and wounding three others. India has called for an investigation by the United Arab Emirates, in whose waters the shooting took place. – Los Angeles Times
When Navy security personnel onboard USNS Rappahannock opened fire on a small boat near Dubai on Monday, killing one Indian fisherman and injuring three others, it was the final step in an effort to protect the ship without resorting to force. – CNN’s Security Clearance
An Indian fisherman aboard a boat shot at by the U.S. Navy off Dubai’s coast has told officials the crew received no warning before being fired upon, India’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday. – Associated Press
Three Emirati Islamists, including a prominent lawyer, were arrested in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, relatives and activists said, extending a crackdown on political dissidents in the Gulf oil producer. – Reuters
A rights activist deported from the United Arab Emirates, whose case a U.N. official said raised “disturbing questions”, vowed on Tuesday to continue to fight for the rights of stateless people in the Gulf Arab state. – Reuters
Levant
The broadest unity coalition Israel has seen in many years broke apart Tuesday evening, rent by irreconcilable differences over how to integrate ultra-Orthodox men and Arab citizens into the military and civilian service, a fundamental question for the future of the Jewish democracy. – New York Times
The United Nations has promoted a former Israeli government attorney to a job as the Security Council’s top counterterrorism lawyer, making him the only Israeli national serving in a senior security position within the U.N. Secretariat, Israeli and U.N. officials said Tuesday. – Washington Post
It would have been unthinkable a year ago. A small time cleric and self-styled protector of Lebanon’s Sunni Muslims, one of the country’s largest minorities, standing up to the mighty Hizbollah, the Shia militant group backed by Syria and Iran. But for the past 20 days, Sheikh Hamad Assir has blocked the main highway from the capital, Beirut, to the south of Lebanon, a stronghold of Hizbollah. – Financial Times
The House late Tuesday afternoon approved legislation by voice vote that reaffirms U.S. strategic and military ties with Israel. – The Hill
South Asia
44 chose veteran diplomats on Tuesday to fill two of the most difficult overseas posts as he seeks to manage an evolving transition in war-torn Afghanistan while repairing relations with neighboring Pakistan after a period of deep friction. – New York Times
Dozens of women flock each day through the discreetly marked doors of Kabul’s Sahar Gul Cafe, Afghanistan’s first all-female Internet cafe. Equipped with more than a dozen laptops, a library, and stocked with comfortable cushions, the modest cafe has given Afghan women the opportunity to study and socialize free from the scrutiny of men. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
After a gap of 24 years, the Dalai Lama is visiting the Kashmir Valley – a region, as with the Tibetan spiritual leader’s homeland, where many yearn for independence. – Christian Science Monitor
Pakistan
Gunmen opened fire on a United Nations vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, seriously wounding a Ghanaian doctor who was part of an urgent campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan. – New York Times
The Obama administration is under increased pressure to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as terrorists after the House approved by voice vote a resolution urging the State Department to do so. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he had enough support to force a vote on his measure to end all aid to Pakistan if the government there fails to release a doctor who aided American forces in the tracking of Osama bin Laden. – The Hill
The United States and Pakistan are resuming high-level counterterrorism talks suspended over a deadly border incident last year, with Pakistan’s spy chief set to visit Washington late this month, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. – Associated Press
Central Asia
Russia and Tajikistan have agreed in principle to extend Moscow’s lease on a military base in the strategically located country for another 49 years, Russian and Tajik officials said on Tuesday, ending bitter recriminations over a delayed deal. – Reuters
China
The private gatherings are a telling indicator of how even some in the elite are worried about the course the Communist Party is charting for China’s future. And to advocates of political change, they offer hope that influential party members support the idea that tomorrow’s China should give citizens more power to choose their leaders and seek redress for grievances, two longtime complaints about the current system. – New York Times
Concerns over the level of China’s currency are fading and shouldn’t be the top priority of a new U.S. administration, Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Thousands of people threw water bottles and blocked traffic at a popular nature preserve in northeastern China on Sunday after word spread that the arrival of top Communist Party leaders was causing an hours-long wait to visit a scenic lake. It was one of a string of brash confrontations in recent months between the authorities and Chinese citizens. – New York Times
Bo Xilai, the former highflying Chinese politburo member who was purged in April, is getting support from an unlikely place: Ai Weiwei, the dissident Chinese artist. – Financial Times
The reform-minded Communist Party boss of one of China’s poorest provinces will likely be given a powerful Beijing post this year, three sources said, part of a reshuffle ahead of a national leadership change that should ensure China continues to open up. – Reuters
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, a blind dissident who left his country after seeking refuge in the U.S. Embassy, will publish a memoir next year, his publisher said on Tuesday. – Reuters
North Korea
North Korea on Wednesday named its young leader Kim Jong Eun as “marshal” of the military, a top military position that further solidifies his power over the authoritarian state. – Washington Post
Analysis: From Mickey Mouse and a mysterious female companion to the whiff of economic reform and the surprising ouster of his military mentor, evidence is mounting that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un will lead very differently than his secretive father did. – Associated Press
Burma
Myanmar’s parliament is expected to approve a foreign-investment law by the end of July, a senior government official said, as the resource-rich nation seeks more investment to pull its people out of poverty. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Russia
For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, a bipartisan coalition in Congress has agreed to normalize trade relations with Russia, the onetime adversary in the long struggle between capitalism and communism. But at a time of renewed tension with Moscow, lawmakers have decided to grant the status with one large caveat — that Russian officials be held responsible for human rights abuses. – New York Times
The visit of a multimillionaire Russian senator to the United States last week was difficult, upbeat and contradictory — the very image of the reset-retrench relationship between the two countries. – Washington Post
Russia has detained 36 Chinese fishermen and seized two ships for entering an exclusive economic zone in its far eastern Primorsky region, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday. – Reuters
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and John Kerry (D-MA) write: The global economic imperative couldn’t be clearer: Countries ready to compete get the oyster, as Carnegie said. Those that cannot compete — or worse, choose not to — will be stuck with the shell. That’s the stark choice before us. Our economic interests and foreign policy imperatives are the engines driving a powerfully persuasive case for Congress to act now. – Politico
Europe
The newspaper with arguably the best connections in the UK security world reports that a Parliamentary committee calls for cyber attacks on those who attack British interests. – AOL Defense
Michael Totten writes: Senator John McCain may have overstated things a bit when, shortly after the war started, he said, “We are all Georgians now.” But apparently even rank-and-file Russian soldiers view the Georgians and Americans as one. Likewise, these simple Georgian country women seemed to understand who their friends are. – National Review Online
United States of America
The Washington Post’s controversial editorial partnership with the Chinese government is drawing renewed scrutiny from a prominent Chinese dissident and from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who recently petitioned the Department of Justice to crack down on the paper’s unregulated promotion of authoritarian propaganda. – Washington Free Beacon
CNN Intelligence Correspondent Suzanne Kelly interviewed CNN contributor Fran Townsend, a former adviser to President George W. for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, on how terror threats are relayed and managed at the highest levels of the White House. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Surrogates for presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama agreed Tuesday that foreign aid is vital for U.S. security and economic growth but disagreed on who’d make the better use of it. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Will Inboden writes: If Smith’s article represents the strongest line of attack that the Obama campaign has against Gov. Romney on foreign policy, it is the flimsiest of rubber swords. – Shadow Government
Doyle McManus writes: But with U.S. citizens engaged in seven or more conflicts around the world, don’t both candidates owe us some plain talk about their plans? How many troops would they keep in Afghanistan after 2014, and how long would they keep them there? How would they deal with Pakistan, our most troublesome “frenemy”? If sanctions don’t cause Iran to abandon its work on building a nuclear weapon, would they support military action there? And what about Syria? – Los Angeles Times
Latin America
Indigenous tribes in Colombia’s war-ravaged southwest, weary from being stuck in the middle of the country’s long-running guerrilla conflict, clashed with government troops Tuesday, demanding the army pack up its military bases and weapons and leave the region for good. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The Venezuelan government under President Hugo Chavez has steadily concentrated its power, enabling it to “intimidate, censor, and prosecute” critics and perceived enemies, a new report says. – LA Times’ World Now
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate’s western hemisphere panel on Tuesday urged the Obama administration to cut U.S. aid to El Salvador if the ruling leftist party goes through with its plans to replace judges on the country’s Supreme Court. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Foreign direct investment into Colombia soared 26 per cent in the first half of the year as companies poured billions of dollars into the Andean country’s oil and mining sectors despite a recent uptick in violence. – Financial Times
Mali
The vast desert expanse of northern Mali has become a magnet for Islamic extremists who have tightened their grip on Timbuktu and other far-flung towns, imposing a strict form of justice that is prompting tens of thousands of people to flee what some are likening to an African Afghanistan. – New York Times
Any efforts to tackle the crisis in Mali must focus on rebuilding a central state authority before trying to recapture northern desert zones now mainly in the hands of al Qaeda-linked Islamists, the International Crisis Group said. – Reuters
Mali’s private press, radio and television carried out a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest at attacks on journalists critical of soldiers behind a coup in March and who still hold sway in the capital of the West African state. – Reuters
Somalia
Somalia’s president has shielded a top pirate leader from arrest by issuing him a diplomatic passport, according to a United Nations investigation which criticizes the “climate of impunity” enjoyed by pirate kingpins in Somalia and abroad. – Reuters
Zimbabwe
The United States might consider lifting financial and travel sanctions on Zimbabwe if the South African nation makes political reforms and allows foreigners to monitor next year’s presidential elections, President Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to Harare told Congress. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
