Iran
Iranian hackers renewed a campaign of cyberattacks against U.S. banks this week, targeting Capital One Financial Corp. and BB&T Corp. and openly defying U.S. warnings to halt, U.S. officials and others involved in the investigation into the attacks said. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A former used-car salesman accused of conspiring with Iranians in an audacious murder-for-hire plot pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping plan the assassination of a Saudi diplomat at a posh Georgetown restaurant. – Washington Post
Denouncing what they called a hypocritical Western suppression of free speech, Iranian media officials expressed outrage on Wednesday over a decision by Europe’s largest satellite providers to cease transmission of Iran’s 19 state-operated satellite television and radio channels that broadcast to Europe and parts of the Middle East. – New York Times
Economic sanctions on Iran have failed in their “principal objective” of preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, according to a nonpartisan study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). – Washington Free Beacon
Senate Democrats on Wednesday strongly urged their European Union counterparts to nix a planned trip to Iran, saying it would send “the wrong message at this particularly sensitive time.” – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Iran is believed to be further increasing its uranium enrichment capacity at its Fordow plant buried deep underground, Western diplomats say, in another sign of Tehran defying international demands to curb its disputed nuclear program. – Reuters
The U.N. nuclear chief dismissed Iran’s allegation his agency may have been infiltrated by saboteurs and voiced concern about “intensive activities” at the Parchin military installation that his inspectors want to examine. – Reuters
The United States and Dubai are negotiating an end to the desert emirate’s Iranian oil imports to head off the threat of U.S. President Obama sanctioning a trade that has riled Gulf Arab oil producers, industry sources and diplomats said. – Reuters
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta’s pointed warning that the United States will strike back against a cyberattack underscores the Obama administration’s rising concern that Iran could be the first country to unleash cyberterrorism on America. – Associated Press
Around 35,000 Iranian students are believed to be studying abroad this year, according to government figures, providing the economy with important skills and maintaining a link between the country and the rest of the world as it becomes increasingly isolated internationally. – Reuters
Iran has denied accusations that its revolutionary armed forces (IRGC) are planning an environmental disaster in the Strait of Hormuz and use it to have international sanctions against it lifted, local media reported on Wednesday. – Reuters
Syria
Rumblings of discontent within Syria’s Alawite minority are presenting a new challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts to retain power in the face of an expanding armed rebellion, calling into question the loyalties even of his own sect in the conflict ravaging the country. – Washington Post
As the civil war in Syria continues, evidence is accumulating that Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite party, is helping Syrian government forces on the ground across the border in their fight against the rebel Free Syrian Army. – New York Times
Some Syrian rebel factions have obtained advanced portable antiaircraft weapons, according to rebels and regional officials, a development that could alter the Syrian war’s trajectory and fan U.S. concerns that such weapons could end up in the hands of anti-Western Islamist militias. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Iran declared support on Wednesday for the new Syria peace envoy’s cease-fire proposal, joining Turkey in a rare moment of accord between two of the regional powers backing opposite sides in the 19-month conflict that has pitted the Syrian government against an array of armed opponents. – New York Times
War has come to Damascus. Not on the scale of Aleppo or Homs, at least not yet. But the difference from just a few months ago is unmistakable. With sandbagged checkpoints every half-mile and soldiers methodically searching vehicles for weapons, simple movement is becoming impossible. – New York Times
Syrian rebels are through waiting for substantial arms from western nations and Arab countries and are instead increasingly cutting their own deals to get weapons from extremists, including al Qaeda-like groups, a senior U.S. lawmaker told CNN. – CNN’s Security Clearance
The international mediator on Syria said on Wednesday its civil war risks spilling across borders to engulf the Middle East and appealed for a temporary truce he said could mark a small step towards defusing 19 months of conflict. – Reuters
Syrian rebels have acquired heavy weapons that have forced the government’s air force to bomb rebel-held zones indiscriminately from high altitude, France’s foreign minister said before meeting rebel groups on Wednesday. – Reuters
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) writes: It’s time for the United States to stand up firmly to prevent what is now on track to become an epic Syrian tragedy: If and when the tyrant goes, the country will lose itself to opportunistic extremists. – CNN
David Ignatius writes: The right next step is to gather into one pot all the official contributions, lethal and nonlethal, from the United States and its Arab and European allies. Then let the Free Syrian Army commanders distribute the money and weapons to fighters, in ways that will build discipline. – Washington Post
Libya
Libyan authorities have singled out Ahmed Abu Khattala, a leader of the Benghazi-based Islamist group Ansar al-Shariah, as a commander in the attack that killed the American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, last month, Libyans involved in the investigation said Wednesday. – New York Times
Despite numerous public events including a speech at the United Nations and two presidential debates, President Obama still hasn’t publicly and plainly acknowledged to Americans that terrorists killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya on Sept. 11. – Washington Times
[Q]uestions about what happened in the attack, and disputes over who said what about it, have left many people confused. Here are some of the facts as they are now known – New York Times
Pentagon officials insisted this week there was no effort to accelerate training of an elite Libyan commando unit after a New York Times report suggested there was a push to speed up the program following last month’s deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. – CNN’s Security Clearance
The State Department’s decision to hire Blue Mountain Group to guard the ill-fated U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, entrusted security tasks to a little-known British company instead of the large firms it usually uses in overseas danger zones. – Reuters
Ten people were killed and dozens wounded as Libyan militias operating alongside the defense ministry shelled the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid and faced counter-attacks, a resident and medical source said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Bill Gertz reports: The presidential debate Tuesday between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney added new life to the fierce debate over the Obama administration’s mishandling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The Sept. 11 attack by more than two dozen heavily armed terrorists killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. – Washington Times’ Inside the Ring
Will Inboden writes: Al Qaeda and its fellow travelers may not be “on its heels” after all (as even the White House might now be acknowledging), and “leading from behind” coupled with anemic post-conflict stabilization efforts may not have led to a stable, peaceful Libya. At a minimum, those are legitimate topics for debate. – Shadow Government
Egypt
Expensive and inefficient, the butane subsidy exemplifies the worst of Egypt’s energy policy, which has for years been predicated on providing cheap fuel in exchange for social peace – Washington Post
Egypt’s new ambassador to Israel took up his post on Wednesday, assuring the Jewish state of Cairo’s continued commitment to a 1979 peace treaty. – Reuters
An Egyptian school teacher was fired on Wednesday for cutting the hair of two 12-year-old girl pupils because they were not wearing Islamic headscarves, an act condemned as an illegal violation of human rights by a leading woman’s organization. – Reuters
A business association founded by a financier for Egypt’s new Islamist rulers says it can democratize an economy long dominated by associates of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, but skeptics fear the emergence of just another clique. – Reuters
North Africa
Tunisian journalists went on strike on Wednesday, piling pressure on the Islamist government they accuse of restricting freedom of speech after a revolt toppled the country’s autocratic leader last year. – Reuters
An 8,000-year-old rock engraving depicting the Sun as a divinity has been destroyed in the south of Morocco, local residents said, blaming Salafists seeking to impose their fundamentalist view of Islam. – Reuters
Yemen
A shell fired near a Yemeni general’s military headquarters in the capital Sanaa hit a weapons depot and set off a series of explosions on Thursday, a Yemeni army source said. – Reuters
Yemenis who fled the fighting after al Qaeda militants occupied their home towns are now under pressure to go home, but many are hesitating for fear of the group’s lingering influence despite assurances that the area east of Aden is now safe – Reuters
Israel
The first of 1,000 United States troops have begun to arrive in Israel to take part in a joint missile-defense exercise, which the lead American planner described on Wednesday as the largest in the history of the two countries’ relationship and a testament to the strength of their military ties. – New York Times
The Israeli military meticulously calculated the number of calories Gaza’s residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order and that was made public Wednesday – Associated Press
A major Israeli attack on Gaza would not curb growing extremism in the Palestinian enclave, with the ruling Islamist group Hamas itself struggling to quell radicalism, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Palestinians in the West Bank go to the polls on Saturday in long-delayed municipal elections that have already highlighted deep divisions in the occupied territory and stoked complaints about a lack of leadership. – Reuters
South Asia
The international military coalition in Afghanistan has confirmed that three children were killed in a coalition artillery strike in Helmand Province, expressing regret over the deaths and calling them “tragic,” but also raising the possibility that the Taliban had been using the children to place roadside bombs for them. – New York Times
[I]n an exclusive interview with the E-Ring, the Afghan officers also indicated there are two things worrying them more about the future of security in their region. Their first concern is getting enough equipment, logistics and intelligence support to carry on the security mission as tens of thousands of international forces pull out. Their second worry: Pakistan. – The E-Ring
The Australian and Indian prime ministers held talks on Wednesday that could pave the way for Australia to sell uranium to energy-hungry India, after Canberra lifted a long-standing export ban that had strained bilateral relations. – Reuters
Pakistan
The Taliban leader who apparently ordered the assassination of a Pakistani schoolgirl last week may not be well-known outside the remote, picturesque Swat Valley. But there he is infamous for his long campaign against female education. – Washington Post
Top Pentagon and State Department officials have reached a deal with Pakistan to help stop deadly bomb-making materials from flowing across the border into Afghanistan, a top U.S. officer said Wednesday. – DEFCON Hill
The United States imposed sanctions on three men who allegedly facilitated Taliban operations and helped another group deemed a terrorist organization, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Pakistani politicians, media, and civil society are pushing for a robust offensive to finish off the Taliban in the aftermath of the militants’ shooting of a girl peace campaigner. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The alleged organizer of the Taliban shooting of a Pakistani schoolgirl was captured during a 2009 military offensive against the hardline Islamist group but released after three months, two senior officials told Reuters. – Reuters
The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it had frozen the assets of three Pakistani-based individuals suspected of backing the Taliban and other militant organizations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including one man linked to a failed attack in New York. – Reuters
China
The United States ambassador to China made a recent visit to a mountainous region of western China, where dozens of Tibetans disaffected with Chinese rule have set themselves on fire. The visit occurred in late September, and the ambassador confirmed it publicly on Wednesday. – New York Times
China’s economy slowed for the seventh consecutive quarter between July and September, with the country growing at just 7.4 percent year-on-year, the slowest rate since the onset of the global economic crisis in early 2009, according to official estimates released Thursday. – Washington Post
Both candidates on Wednesday repeated the arguments they had voiced on the campaign trail…The two arguments obscure a more nuanced reality: adjusted for inflation, China’s currency has strengthened considerably through much of Mr. Obama’s tenure. – New York Times
The views of Chinese people toward India are becoming more negative but they’re not much keener on Pakistan, according to the results of a new report. – WSJ’s India Real Time
China on Wednesday showed its annoyance with both President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney over statements made about its economic practices during Tuesday’s second presidential debate. – The Hill’s On the Money
A White House-ordered review of security risks posed by suppliers to US telecommunications companies found no clear evidence that Huawei Technologies had spied for China. – Reuters
Chinese government-controlled newspapers have openly criticised the detention of a village official who called for the end of Communist Party rule, an extraordinary move that some media experts see as a sign that Beijing is granting more leeway on free speech. – Reuters
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the city of Luzhou in southwestern China on Wednesday, after reports a truck driver was beaten to death by policemen, residents said. – Reuters
The eldest brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said on Wednesday he is suing the police and the local government that oversees his village in northeastern China for barging into his house unlawfully after his brother’s escape. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Former U.S. ambassador to China and Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman was set to give a speech in China last month, but the Chinese Communist Party government intervened and thwarted his visa application, he told Foreign Policy. – The Cable
Editorial: China has given the United States many legitimate causes of complaint, from its human rights violations to its incessant intellectual-property theft to its saber-rattling against democratic neighbors…But the U.S. and Chinese economies are far too deeply intertwined to risk a trade war over currency imbalances that are gradually adjusting through peaceful means. – Washington Post
Liao Yiwu writes: This inhuman empire with bloody hands, at the root of so much suffering in the world, this infinitely large pile of rubbish must break apart…This empire must break apart, for the sake of peace and the peace of mind of all humanity—and for the mothers of Tiananmen Square. – Wall Street Journal Asia (subscription required)
East Asia
A senior adviser to the Taiwanese government on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood that a war will erupt in the festering dispute between Taiwan, China and Japan over a chain of tiny islands in the East China Sea. – Washington Times
U.S. and Japanese officials moved swiftly to limit potential damage to their bilateral defense relations Wednesday after two U.S. Navy sailors were arrested on suspicion of raping a local woman. – Wall Street Journal
President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday made a surprise visit to a South Korean border island that was attacked by North Korean artillery in 2010 and he vowed to defend his country’s disputed western sea border against the Communist North. – New York Times
China condemned a visit by two Japanese ministers to a controversial shrine for war dead on Thursday, further straining already tense relations between Asia’s two largest economies. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Mike Huckabee brought an unusual guest to his meeting with a former Japanese prime minister, the office of Shinzo Abe, now the country’s opposition leader, is claiming. In a 2008 visit to Japan, the former Arkansas governor showed up with a Yakuza money man known as the “Black Market King” who was later arrested for ties to the Japanese mob. – The Cable
Burma
Growing unrest in Myanmar’s once all-powerful ruling party has fuelled talk of an internal split between supporters of Thein Sein, the country’s president, and “old-style” conservatives who blame his reforms for a humiliating defeat in April by-elections and the rise of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. – Financial Times
The United States has concluded its first set of human rights talks with Myanmar and is confident it now has an “open channel” to discuss political prisoners and other sensitive subjects as ties improve, the State Department said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russia
Russian authorities on Wednesday arrested one of the country’s most prominent political opposition leaders, accused him of plotting to organize mass riots and said he could face terrorism charges. – New York Times
Sniping between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has claimed its first casualty after a minister resigned following a public dressing down by Mr Putin. – Financial Times
Russian President Vladimir Putin hit back at international criticism of his country’s arms exports on Wednesday, telling supporters that “no one” could tell Russia where, or to whom, it could sell weapons. – Financial Times
Bazhibina, who recorded her recollections in an essay for Russia’s Public Post website, says it may be far worse for Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who are soon to leave relatively comfortable detention cells in Moscow for dismal penal colonies hundreds of kilometers from home. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Europe
A heavyweight champion boxer has shown an unlikely surge in polls ahead of Oct. 28 parliamentary elections here, as Ukrainian voters look for new faces to challenge the political elite. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Everyone expected changes to Georgia’s media environment following the Georgian Dream coalition’s election victory on October 1. But few expected them to come so quickly. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
North America
Canada said it will more than double spending on defense against cyberattacks, amid heightened global worries over cyber warfare. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Josh Rogin reports: The Mitt Romney campaign announced Wednesday it has stood up a Military Advisory Council made up of more than 300 retired generals and admirals who are ready to do battle for the Republican nominee. – The Cable
Rogin also reports: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul thinks Mitt Romney’s ideas for the Middle East are dangerous and wrongheaded, and he worries that the Republican nominee’s defense-spending proposals will lead the United States down the dark path of fiscal ruin. But he’s stumping for him anyway. – The Cable
Colombia
For the first time in a decade, rebels and the government of Colombia came together for formal peace talks on Wednesday, with the goal of ending the longest-running war in the Western Hemisphere — nearly 50 years old and counting. – New York Times
West Africa
A prospective military campaign against al Qaeda and its allies in the vast desert of this West African country has hit an obstacle: Neither Mali nor its neighbors appear ready to send soldiers into a land war, against war-hardened militants, in the world’s largest desert. – Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration, France and neighboring African countries are all weighing what will be the most effective policies to halt the rapid success of Islamic extremists in Mali…Many, though, question how Mali’s weak military could take the lead on such an intervention. – Associated Press
Guinea’s government said on Wednesday it would release an arms shipment that belongs to neighboring Mali, months after Conakry seized it due to concerns over who in Mali’s divided military would receive it. – Reuters
East Africa
Rwanda appears likely to win one of five U.N. Security Council seats up for election on Thursday, despite accusations by a U.N. expert panel that the country’s defense minister is commanding a rebellion in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. – Reuters
