Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

EU trying to boycott ties between Niger and Algeria

By Lucas Leiroz | November 12, 2026

European interventionism in Africa is increasingly being denounced by local authorities. Tired of foreign interference and the complicity of European states with terrorism across the African continent, local states are seeking alternative international partnerships, gradually breaking their ties with Western powers. In response, Europe has become even more aggressive in Africa, fueling coups d’état, the proliferation of terrorism, and civil wars.

One such recent instance of aggressive European interventionism in Africa has taken place in Niger. The country recently faced a serious crisis, in which criminal forces, backed by foreign actors, attempted to overthrow the legitimate government through an armed uprising. The coup attempt was promptly neutralized thanks to the joint efforts of local forces, alongside Algerian and Russian military personnel. Since then, allegations have emerged regarding the potential involvement of European powers in the attempted coup.

Furthermore, the Europeans have begun to interfere in the ties between Niger and Algeria. Currently, Algerian troops are being deployed to Nigerien territory, at the request of the local government, to assist in the country’s domestic stabilization and pacification. To the EU, it appears “dangerous” that two African nations engage in cooperation against crime and terrorism. Brussels has strongly condemned these Nigerien-Algerian ties, repeatedly questioning the local government about the true purpose of such cooperation.

In a recent statement on the matter, officials from Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the European attempt to interfere in the country’s ties with Algeria. On November 9, EU Chargé d’Affaires Olai Voionmaa attended a meeting with Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine after being summoned. During the meeting, government representatives presented the EU official with a statement emphasizing the country’s sovereignty and condemning any foreign attempts to intervene in Niger’s domestic affairs.

“Niger does not receive injunctions from any country or institution (…) [Our country] does not need permission from Brussels” to exercise its sovereignty,” the statement reads.

In fact, Algerian troops arrived in Niger in October. The local government requested this support, fearing that new threats of a coup could emerge. The measure was approved by both Nigerien and Algerian lawmakers, fulfilling all legal requirements for a joint military operation in accordance with the laws of both countries. This marked the first case of Algerian participation in a military operation abroad since the early 1970s. The Algerian government stated that the measure is vital for protecting energy infrastructure and other economic investments on Nigerien soil.

Economic ties between Niger and Algeria have strengthened substantially in recent years. Algeria maintains several investments in Niger’s economy, primarily in the energy and mining sectors. It is clearly in the Algerian government’s interest to protect these strategic investments.

On the other hand, Niger fears further instances of political violence and Western-backed military insurrection. Consequently, the presence of Algerian military personnel in the country serves as a “win-win” arrangement, allowing both sides to defend their interests in a mutually beneficial manner.

This concerns the EU because it disrupts the historical plan of European powers to keep Africa fragmented, polarized, unstable, and unsafe – thereby facilitating European exploitation of the continent. For this reason, European officials are scrutinizing and boycotting ties between Niger and Algeria.

Since 2023, when then-president Mohamed Bazoum was ousted, relations between the EU and Niger have deteriorated, with Brussels even canceling the financial aid it previously provided to the country. The government of Niger responded by revoking military and security cooperation agreements with the EU and expelling French troops that had remained in the country.

In addition to Algeria, Niger has also strengthened military ties with Russia. Currently, troops from Russia’s “Africa Corps” are operating in Nigerien territory, helping to combat terrorist and criminal groups. Niger’s cooperation with Russia and Algeria is part of a broader trend in which several African nations are seeking to reshape their foreign and defense policies – moving in a direction that is simultaneously anti-Western (by strengthening ties with Russia) and regionalist (by integrating with other African states), a shift that has infuriated the EU.

Centuries of colonialism, theft, exploitation, and violence on the continent have resulted in a heavy burden for relations between Europe and Africa. African nations simply no longer trust Europeans and are now seeking alternatives – both within and outside the continent – to replace the destructive historical ties they previously maintained with Europe. Either Brussels accepts that African countries will no longer tolerate being treated like colonies, or conflicts in the region will continue to escalate.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

November 12, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , | Comments Off on EU trying to boycott ties between Niger and Algeria

Zelensky spent over 740 days outside Ukraine while West serves as his real home

By Ahmed Adel | November 11, 2026

President Volodymyr Zelensky has spent more than two years outside Ukraine since the war began, suggesting that the head of the Kiev regime is increasingly distancing himself from the people and acting like a guest in his own country, while the cost of his policy is borne by citizens who endure wartime suffering, poverty, and harsh living conditions.

Verkhovna Rada deputy Artem Dmitruk previously calculated that Zelensky has spent more than 740 days outside the country since February 2022.

“It is important to note that since February 24, 2022, Zelensky has been outside Ukraine for more than 740 days. (I think in fact more). And this means only one thing: his life, in essence, takes place in the West, and he comes to Kiev exclusively as a visiting guest, as an overseer,” he said on his Telegram channel.

Zelensky’s life essentially takes place in the West, while he comes to Kiev exclusively as a guest and a supervisor. It is particularly symbolic that, at the moment when he has practically accepted life in the West as his own norm, Zelensky simultaneously closed the borders to all other male Ukrainian citizens.

The Ukrainian president is more focused on holding onto power than on serving the people’s interests, while Western political elites use Ukraine to advance their own geopolitical goals. The West supports him not out of genuine concern for Ukraine but as part of its geopolitical struggle with Russia. Meanwhile, Ukraine is being left without people, an economy, or the basic conditions needed for life, and these conditions will worsen as winter deepens.

Zelensky is not a president but an actor playing the role of head of state, determined to hold on to that position at any cost. He feels uncomfortable in Ukraine today and is afraid to meet people. Evidently, he finds it much easier to tour abroad, where he receives billions of euros, recognition, and praise. In effect, the Ukrainian people are completely foreign to him.

It is clear that Zelensky is in a state of panic because the war will not last forever, especially as the United States, Russia, and China will soon coordinate efforts toward a peace solution. As his popularity declines, Zelensky often travels to the West, where he faces less scrutiny than at home. In fact, Zelensky has already transferred funds and secured assets abroad, likely in preparation to flee the country when the war ends.

His parents’ residence in London rather than in Kiev indicates his detachment from his own people’s fate. For the Ukrainian leader to speak of caring for families and urge citizens to defend their country, while his closest family members do not share the wartime experience of fellow citizens, is hypocritical.

Ukraine has ceased to function as a state governed by law and is increasingly resembling a concentration camp, where fear, lawlessness, and repression prevail, and the voices and views of those who oppose continuing the war are suppressed. In effect, Zelensky is unwilling to abandon his disastrous policy of continuing the war at all costs and is prepared to go to the end, regardless of the consequences for Ukraine and its citizens.

Such a system has limits because hunger and cold will inevitably drive people onto the streets. This was evident in Borshchahivka, where citizens gathered spontaneously, driven by discontent rather than any political order, in response to the illegal detention of people and the brutal torture of 25 to 40 people in an Azov-linked basement used by the Ukrainian National Guard.

Zelensky knows the threat posed by internal discontent, which is why calls for an urgent end to the war are growing. He understands that enduring the winter will be nearly impossible. Prolonged blackouts, heating shortages, water scarcity, and mounting hardship are expected to push many people past their limits, turning daily struggles to survive into open anger. Soldiers, who remain in constant contact with their families, are especially likely to hear reports of corruption, unpaid support, and worsening conditions at home. This could increase the risk that frustration at the front will turn into direct opposition to the Kiev regime.

Upcoming multilateral efforts to end the war are expected to intensify in the coming weeks as the US, Russia, and other actors seek a framework to freeze the fighting before winter conditions further destabilize Ukraine. For the Ukrainian leadership, refusing to engage could accelerate the loss of external support. For this reason, Zelensky’s frequent absences and concentrated decision-making make genuine compromise harder, yet mounting internal pressures leave the regime with fewer options to delay negotiations indefinitely. In the end, Zelensky’s propensity to leave Ukraine could become permanent in the near future.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

November 11, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | | Comments Off on Zelensky spent over 740 days outside Ukraine while West serves as his real home

Russia backs Tehran’s conditions in talks with US, Iran’s envoy says

Al Mayadeen | November 7, 2026

Moscow understands and supports Tehran’s firm position on negotiations with the United States, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said on Saturday, stressing that dialogue alone cannot advance diplomacy without the fulfillment of Iran’s strategic conditions.

Speaking about a three-hour meeting between Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jalali said the discussions addressed strategic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, as well as Iran’s position on Washington’s failure to honor its commitments.

Jalali explained that Rezaei conveyed to Putin that direct negotiations with Washington would serve no purpose without guarantees, adding that the fundamental condition for any diplomatic initiative is the full and unconditional acceptance of Iran’s seven conditions by the US.

According to Jalali, Rezaei stressed that “negotiations will not be the basis for ending the war, and experience has proven that Washington uses the dialogue process to commit aggression.”

Iran and Russia discuss strategic and military cooperation

Jalali also said Russia supports Tehran’s position that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treats Iran with “discriminatory and irregular conduct.”

He further confirmed that military cooperation between Iran and Russia remains ongoing, pointing to consultations at the highest levels on deepening military and defense ties between the two countries.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian political and security source told Al Mayadeen on Thursday that Tehran sees no point in taking any step to advance diplomacy before Iran’s seven conditions are fully and simultaneously implemented.

The source also dismissed reports claiming that Rezaei had presented a new political initiative to Putin, saying they are “pure fabrication.”

Rezaei also revealed that discussions with Putin covered a proposed pipeline project to transport Russian gas to Iran, which he said would meet Tehran’s domestic needs while allowing it to resell part of the supply.

He further said Putin condemned attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, said that the war on Iran is unjust, and pledged to help bring it to an end. “President Putin said that he would do everything possible to help end the war,” Rezaei stated.

An Iranian source told Al Mayadeen that Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its seven conditions were met, adding that the decision was not open to negotiation. The source said the talks between Rezaei and Putin focused on efforts to end the US war on Iran.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi highlighted the depth of bilateral ties, saying, “Never in the history of cooperation between Iran and Russia have we been this close.” He also praised his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Tehran, which covered various areas of cooperation between the two countries.

November 7, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | Comments Off on Russia backs Tehran’s conditions in talks with US, Iran’s envoy says

Hezbollah Categorically Denies Syrian Accusations: We Aim at Confronting Israeli Enemy, Not Undermining Syria’s Stability

Al-Manar | November 3, 2026

Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office issued a statement to comment on the claims made by the Syrian Internal Security Forces, reiterating that the Party has no presence or affiliations in Syria.

What follows is the full text of the statement:

Hezbollah’s Media Relations Office categorically and in detail denies the accusations contained in the statement issued by the Syrian Internal Security Forces concerning the alleged connection of a purported cell to the party. It reiterates that Hezbollah has no presence or affiliations whatsoever on Syrian territory and has no connection to any activity that undermines Syria’s security and stability.

The repeated accusations and the invocation of Hezbollah’s name in such cases do not alter the reality of its firm and clear position, which it has repeatedly declared. Hezbollah’s compass is confronting the “Israeli” enemy, which is intensifying its attacks on Lebanon and Syria and continues to occupy their territories. Accordingly, confronting this enemy and its expansionist schemes remains the highest priority around which efforts and positions should be unified, away from accusations that serve no one but its interests.

November 3, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , | Comments Off on Hezbollah Categorically Denies Syrian Accusations: We Aim at Confronting Israeli Enemy, Not Undermining Syria’s Stability

NATO’s top generals gather in Kiev

RT | October 7, 2026

The NATO Military Committee, the bloc’s highest military authority, has gathered in Kiev despite Ukraine not being a member.

The visit comes just a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukraine’s NATO membership “is not on the table as we speak,” noting that accession would require unanimous backing.

Kiev’s potential NATO membership has been one of the central issues of the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has long opposed the US-led military bloc’s eastward expansion and has made Ukrainian neutrality a key condition of any settlement, arguing that NATO’s presence there would pose a direct threat to Russian national security.

Ukraine made joining NATO a foreign policy priority following the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev in 2014 and later enshrined the objective in its constitution. In September 2022, Vladimir Zelensky demanded “accelerated accession.” As recently as July, he argued that Ukraine’s membership would be “entirely natural.”

NATO continues to officially describe Ukraine as being on an “irreversible path” toward entry. However, former Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny, who now serves as Kiev’s ambassador to the UK, said in August that he saw no realistic prospect of it happening.

In a video address on Wednesday, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, announced that he and military representatives from all 32 member states had arrived in Kiev. It is the committee’s first such visit to Ukraine in eight years.

“We are here in full strength with a clear message: the bond between NATO and Ukraine is stronger and stronger,” Dragone said.

According to the NATO official, the delegation discussed Ukraine’s military priorities with the country’s top brass, as well as lessons from the conflict that could be used to strengthen the bloc’s preparedness for “current and future threats.”

Despite being outside NATO, Ukraine has developed extensive military ties with the bloc, which has been pumping ever more sophisticated weaponry into the country since 2022. Moscow has accused the bloc, especially its European member states, of unnecessarily prolonging the bloodshed and waging a proxy against Russia to the “last Ukrainian.”

A number of influential member states, including the US and Germany, have repeatedly voiced opposition to NATO membership for Kiev. Speaking to the German newspaper Handelsblatt in early July, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte acknowledged that “there is no unanimous support now” for Ukraine’s admission to the bloc.

US President Donald Trump and other senior American officials have ruled out Ukraine joining NATO as part of a potential peace settlement with Russia. Speaking to reporters ahead of his February 2025 White House meeting with Zelensky, which infamously devolved into a shouting match, Trump reiterated: “NATO – you can forget about.”

October 7, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Comments Off on NATO’s top generals gather in Kiev

What changes with Lula or Flávio?

By Lucas Leiroz | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 6, 2026

Brazil’s presidential elections are approaching. And with them come controversies, debates, and different perspectives on what this event means for Brazil, for the BRICS, and for the future of the multipolar world.

In a recent article, respected Brazilian political analyst Valdir Bezerra argued that the 2026 elections represent a turning point in Brazilian history, potentially determining Brazil’s role in the world. According to Bezerra, the election pits, on the one hand, the “autonomist” tradition, represented by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, against, on the other hand, the “Westernist” one, represented by Flávio Bolsonaro.

With all due respect to Bezerra’s work, as one of the most highly regarded analysts in the Russian-Brazilian political debate, I would like to present a critical view of his position here. My intention is not to “refute” Bezerra’s argument, but merely to explain why I do not consider this opposition between autonomism and Westernism a valid premise for analyzing the current electoral dispute. Furthermore, I would also like to explain why I do not consider the 2026 election a decisive moment in determining Brazil’s international role.

Flávio is a Westernist, but Lula is not an autonomist

The umbrella terms used to define these two “traditions” of Brazilian foreign policy do not seem remotely applicable to the current reality. The terms through which many Brazilian thinkers once defined the opposition between those who support national sovereignty and development and those who advocate a subordinate position toward the Atlantic axis have long since become obsolete in the upper levels of Brazilian politics – where there is currently no figure worthy of the title of “autonomist.”

There is no need to comment here on the Westernist nature of Flávio Bolsonaro, who, like his father before him, advocates a foreign policy of total alignment with the United States and Israel, as well as an agenda hostile to the BRICS and multipolarist platforms. The central question, however, is to understand where Lula stands between Westernists and autonomists.

Brazil’s current president has governed the country on three occasions and played a leading role in some of the most significant events in international politics in the twenty-first century. He was a co-founder of the BRICS, built alliances with sovereigntist governments in the Americas – Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba – in the 2000s, maintained friendly ties with Iran, and, more recently, strengthened partnerships with Russia amid the Western-imposed sanctions regime, in addition to openly condemning the genocide in Gaza.

All of this is extremely admirable, but a fair analysis of Lula requires presenting the other side of his political profile: Lula has never been a “multipolarist,” but rather a skillful operator within the multilateralism of the Obama era in the 2000s. This is compounded by the fact that Lula was openly supported by the Democratic establishment in the 2022 elections. Indeed, Lula’s third government has been marked by controversies worthy of a classic “Westernist” leader: Lula did not recognize the Venezuelan elections, initiated tensions with Nicaragua, vetoed Venezuela’s accession to the BRICS, sidelined negotiations for a Mercosur-China agreement in order to prioritize a free-trade pact with Europe that is extremely detrimental to South American countries – an agreement that could even be described as neocolonial, turning Mercosur countries into commodity exporters and technology importers. This is without even mentioning the close, almost fully aligned relationship with the Macron regime in France.

Lula has certainly made several correct decisions, but if we go back a little in time, former President Jair Bolsonaro did as well: he refused to sanction Russia and to condemn the Special Military Operation – unlike Lula, who repeatedly condemned it -, strengthened partnerships with China, preserved the BRICS structure, and abandoned alignment with post-Trump U.S. foreign policy, becoming a target of Joe Biden.

In the end, weighing successes against successes and mistakes against mistakes, both sides appear very far from any “autonomist” ideal.

So, how should we define Lula and Flávio?

We can summarize this point in a single sentence: both Lula and Bolsonaro are, each in his own way, Westernists.

On several other occasions, I have commented in my column on how I view Brazil’s Sixth Republic – the current constitutional regime founded in 1988 – as a kind of “permanent color revolution.” On one side, an openly pro-U.S. and pro-Israel liberal right; on the other, an institutionalist liberal left, ideologically and financially connected to a major international lobby stretching from the U.S. Democrats to the European Union.

The current partial tensions between Lula and Trump are nothing new. Bolsonaro became an extremely troublesome figure in Brazil-U.S. relations as soon as Biden came to power. What many analysts fail to perceive is that Brazil-U.S. relations are defined by the dialectic between the left and right in Brazil and the Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Lula was Biden’s friend, just as Bolsonaro was Trump’s friend. If Lula wins the 2026 election, he will face many problems – at least until a possible Democratic return to power in the United States. If Flávio wins, Brazil and the United States will be in total alignment – but only as long as Trump remains in the White House.

It is this dynamic that allows the United States to keep Brazilian politics under stable control. Washington does not need to stage a Maidan in Brazil. Indeed, the formula of “coup + dictatorship” does not tend to work in large and diverse continental countries such as Brazil – and the greatest proof of this is Brazil’s own experience during its military regime, which was initially backed by the United States but later became an autonomous, non-aligned regime following an internal self-coup among the military. It is no coincidence that the United States endorsed Brazil’s democratization, helping to create precisely the political regime that exists today.

On one side, a right supported by the Republicans, Israel, and the transnational neoconservative lobby; on the other, a left that obeys the Democrats and the Europeans. Lula was a major multilateralist at a time when Washington, under Obama, encouraged precisely this kind of veneer over U.S. unipolarity; Bolsonaro was an open U.S. puppet at a time when Washington, under Trump, demanded precisely that. The difference is very small – or nonexistent.

And what does the 2026 election really represent?

At the international level, nothing or very little.

If he wins, Lula will come under pressure while Trump remains in power. And over the past four years, Lula has already shown that he compensates for American hostility by becoming even more closely aligned with the Europeans. On the other hand, if Flávio wins, we will have at least a period of total alignment with the United States, which could change following a possible Democratic victory in the next presidential elections. It is a very clear choice between Republicans-Israel and Democrats-EU. “Autonomism” is not part of the equation.

At the domestic level, however, many factors are at stake.

It is on the domestic front that the debate over the election should be concentrated. After all, no Brazilian will vote for one candidate or the other because of Palestine or the BRICS – which, although legitimate causes, are distant realities for the average citizen. Domestically, we have a Lula who is becoming increasingly weakened by the side effects of years of alliance with the Judiciary Branch – which is now being scrutinized and exposed in the context of the Banco Master corruption scandal. On the other side, Flávio is recovering ground that was once considered lost, and the two now appear statistically tied in the polls.

The Judiciary accumulated extraordinary powers under Lula, to the point of imprisoning peaceful protesters and elderly people on charges of “terrorism” simply because they participated in pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations. The hostility between the Judiciary and Bolsonarism cannot be reversed except through a victory by Flávio that culminates in the appointment of Bolsonarist judges to the Supreme Court – thereby reshaping the course of the Republic itself.

We can summarize the situation by saying that Lula would give the Sixth Republic a new lease on life, while Flávio would accelerate its collapse. As long as the Sixth Republic exists, no genuinely “autonomist” alternative will emerge in Brazil because the Brazilian constitutional system itself prevents such an alternative. But this does not mean that the imminent collapse of this system would result in a “multipolar dawn” in Brazil, since there is no political movement in the country – apart from the extremely “Westernist” Bolsonarist movement itself – with sufficient strength to establish a new state project.

The conclusion may be frustrating for the more optimistic and hopeful, but what appears to be about to happen in Brazil in 2026 is absolute nullity. With Lula or Flávio, little is likely to change. Brazil will remain a declining middle power, politically subordinate to the United States, but with a certain degree of freedom to engage multilaterally with the Eurasian powers – while domestically, the institutions of the Sixth Republic continue to destroy themselves.

October 6, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Comments Off on What changes with Lula or Flávio?

RSF military group defects, joins Sudanese army: State media

MEMO | September 26, 2026

A military group affiliated with Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday defected and joined the Sudanese Armed Forces, state news agency SUNA reported.

The force was led by Al-Tayeb Mohammed Ahmed, also known as Al-Tayeb Al-Wahido.

Senior officials from the Sudanese army and the General Intelligence Service received the defecting force.

Al-Wahido said in a press statement he had broken away from the RSF and joined the Sudanese army after witnessing “tragedies” within the paramilitary group’s ranks.

He called on RSF members to join the army, “return to the homeland” and reconsider their positions, saying “there is no cause that justified the continuation of the fighting.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the announcement.

The latest defection follows a series of similar moves from the RSF in recent weeks. On Aug. 31, about 200 RSF fighters, including prominent field commanders, defected and joined the Sudanese army in Omdurman, bringing military equipment with them.

Earlier, on Aug. 19, the army said 318 RSF personnel, including four commanders, defected with as many as 50 combat vehicles.

On Aug. 13, Sudanese authorities announced that 21 commanders and 270 fighters had joined the army with 37 combat vehicles.

Sudan has been engulfed in war between the army and the RSF since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of others.

September 26, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | | Comments Off on RSF military group defects, joins Sudanese army: State media

Turkish parliament to review Saudi-Pakistan defense pact next month

Al Mayadeen | September 25, 2026

Turkey’s Parliament is expected to consider the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan next month, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus told reporters on Friday, as the three countries move to establish mechanisms for implementing the pact.

Kurtulmus said the agreement has not yet been submitted to Parliament for ratification and is expected to be formally presented once lawmakers return from recess next month. He added that international agreements require parliamentary approval to enter into force in Turkey, while meetings currently being held under the agreement remain preparatory.

Turkey prepares to ratify Mecca defense agreement

Kurtulmus made the remarks to reporters in Ankara, confirming that the agreement has yet to reach Parliament despite ongoing coordination among Ankara, Riyadh, and Islamabad.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed on August 7 by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Mecca.

The agreement states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three, while providing for expanded defense cooperation and collective deterrence.

The pact is therefore moving from its initial political agreement toward institutional and legal implementation, with parliamentary approval constituting a key step for Turkey.

When asked about the claim that the Mecca agreement was against Iran, Kurtulmus denied the allegation and stated that the main source of the region’s problems was “Israel” and its aggressive policies.

He reminded parliamentarians that “Israel” launched multiple attacks on numerous nations without question as part of its hostile policies, and explained that the balance of power has completely changed following the US-Israeli war on Iran.

“We propose that the countries in the region increase their cooperation to establish and secure their own security,” he said. “We absolutely do not, and should never, view the Mecca Agreement as an agreement against Iran. The Mecca Agreement, and perhaps even its expansion to include Iran and other regional countries, should become an agreement that ensures the security of the regional countries and, more broadly, the Islamic world.”

Kurtulmus added that the agreement was not formed as a threat to any country as it’s an agreement for the promotion of unity, solidarity, and security of the region.

“It is still in its initial stages and is not yet fully formed,” he said. “We hope that with the participation of other regional countries, it will become a much stronger agreement.”

Saudi Arabia calls for military coordination

The development comes as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan prepare for an urgent meeting of their military chiefs, amid Saudi Arabia’s aggression on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday that the chiefs of staff of the three countries would meet to discuss ways to support the Kingdom under the terms of the Mecca agreement.

The announcement followed a meeting in New York between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The Saudi statement did not specify when the military chiefs would meet or what form potential support could take.

Pact moves toward institutionalization

The three countries have already begun establishing mechanisms to implement the agreement.

At a Strategic Political and Defense Committee meeting in Istanbul on August 31, the three sides agreed to establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia, initially headed by a Pakistani secretary-general for three years.

They also agreed to strengthen military capabilities through joint activities, defense-industry cooperation, technology development, and production.

September 26, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , | Comments Off on Turkish parliament to review Saudi-Pakistan defense pact next month

Hackers From US, France, Singapore Tried to Disrupt Russian Elections – Internet Provider

Sputnik – 25.09.2026

MOSCOW – Hackers from the United States, France and Singapore attempted to disrupt the remote electronic voting process during the recent State Duma elections, with malicious web traffic originating from IP addresses in over 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine, Russia’s largest digital services provider Rostelecom said on Friday.

“The most intense attacks originated from networks in unfriendly countries. Malicious traffic came from IP ranges in more than 30 countries, including the UK and Ukraine. Notably, the US, France and Singapore were identified among the primary sources of attacks on the electronic voting infrastructure,” the statement read.

Rostelecom maintained secure communication channels and infrastructure at polling stations during the three-day voting period last week. It set up video surveillance across 89 regions and ensured the cybersecurity and uninterrupted operation of the federal remote electronic voting platform.

Tech experts repelled more than 3,000 waves of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks reaching speeds of up to 1.7 Tbps, blocked over 170 million malicious attempts targeting web services, and prevented unauthorized access to the infrastructure. Efforts focused primarily on preventing voting results from being altered or disclosed prematurely.

The intensity and volume of the attacks exceeded those seen during the previous electoral process in 2024, Rostelecom said. The primary targets were e-government systems, including the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (ESIA) and the Gosuslugi state service portal, as well as Rostelecom’s infrastructure, the remote electronic voting (DEV) system, and the Central Election Commission (CEC).

September 25, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , | Comments Off on Hackers From US, France, Singapore Tried to Disrupt Russian Elections – Internet Provider

Trump meets Rodríguez near Maduro’s prison as Venezuela’s oil flows to US

Press TV – September 23, 2026

US President Donald Trump has met Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, face-to-face for the first time at the Lotte New York Palace hotel, less than 15 kilometers from the Brooklyn prison where Nicolas Maduro has been held since US forces abducted him nearly nine months ago.

The closed-door meeting, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, was the first between US and Venezuelan heads of state in more than 11 years.

Rodríguez called it a “historic meeting,” saying the two sides discussed strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation in energy, mining, and security.

For critics of Venezuela’s interim government, the image of Rodríguez standing beside the man who ordered Maduro’s abduction amounted to a betrayal — the moment Caracas legitimized a kidnapping and opened the country’s resources to a foreign power.

The Lotte New York Palace sits in the heart of Manhattan. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maduro is being held on what many Venezuelans call fabricated “narcoterrorism” charges, is a short drive away.

Rodríguez posted images of the meeting on Telegram and X, calling it a “historic meeting” and saying: “Venezuela and the United States have historical relations which, at this stage, we are called upon to guide through dialogue.”

She thanked Trump for US support after June earthquakes and for backing the country’s “return” to international forums.

Trump, in his UN address the same day, again called Maduro a “dictator” and a “criminal,” and framed the US military aggression that removed him as a financial victory. “The spoils belong to the victor,” Trump said.

The oil deal behind the handshake

The meeting followed an oil agreement announced in late August that handed Washington control over a vast share of Venezuela’s reserves.

Under the deal, North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) — a company founded in 2024 by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt — received 100-year concessions covering 17 Venezuelan oil fields with roughly 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The US government secured a 35% stake in NABEP’s parent company, preferential access to 20% of production at cost, and veto power over board appointments, with the board’s majority required to be US citizens. The agreement is governed by US law.

Trump has claimed the US and Venezuela together now hold “more than 60% of the world’s oil.” Observers describe the deal as treating Venezuela not as a sovereign nation but as a vassal state whose resources exist for Washington’s benefit.

Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency after Maduro’s abduction, installed with Washington’s acquiescence.

Since then, she has replaced legal firms representing Venezuela and PDVSA in US lawsuits, moved to regain control of Citgo from opposition-appointed boards, signed a petroleum law reform opening the sector to foreign private investment, and refused to set an election date.

For these services, she received what Maduro never could: international legitimacy, a UN platform, and a photograph with the US president. The price was Venezuela’s resource sovereignty.

Her visit drew protests from Venezuelans in New York and Doral, Florida, who called on world leaders not to normalize relations with what they described as an illegitimate government installed by force.

Critics asked how Washington could sit at a table with Caracas while expanding deportation programs targeting Venezuelan migrants in Florida.

Maduro remains in a US prison, his trial scheduled for June 1, 2027. He has consistently denied the charges and described his detention as a kidnapping. “I am innocent,” he said at his arraignment. “I was kidnapped.”

For Venezuela, its president is in a US cell, its oil is under US control, and its interim leader has shaken the hand of the man who took both.

September 23, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Comments Off on Trump meets Rodríguez near Maduro’s prison as Venezuela’s oil flows to US

Why the Israelis are so afraid of a liberated Yemen

By Robert Inlakesh | Al Mayadeen | September 12, 2026

The liberation of Yemen by a staunchly pro-Palestinian movement is a nightmare scenario for the Zionist Project in the region, it ensures that the cause of occupied al-Quds will remain alive and that a new power will emerge to champion it. To the Israelis, what they are looking at is like the birth of a new Iran in the Arab World.

For long the Ansar Allah-led government of Yemen had been underestimated and treated as little more than a nuisance, one that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were handed the task of dealing with. In 2022, this dynamic began to shift, as the Yemeni Armed Forces demonstrated advanced missile and drone capabilities that shook vital targets in Saudi Arabia, even reaching as far as the United Arab Emirates.

The stalemate of the Marib offensive of 2021 may have also worked to deceive the US-Israeli alliance in the region, who clearly failed to take the armed forces of the Ansar Allah-led government in Sanaa seriously. However, Riyadh did end up taking them seriously in early 2022, as did Abu Dhabi, hence their decision to agree to a United Nations mediated temporary ceasefire.

Since then, Yemen’s leadership has become the only government on earth to directly order its military to open fire on the Zionist entity in order to support the people of Gaza. From the very beginning of the Genocide, the Yemeni Armed Forces began firing missiles at the Israelis, before imposing a blockade on them in the Red Sea.

These measures would have been notable had they come from any nation, let alone one that had suffered 400,000 deaths in brutal conflict and suffered through an illegal and inhumane siege themselves. There was nothing material that the Ansar Allah-led government sought to gain from its tangible and unapologetic support of the Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip, which is what made it all the more unpredictable in the eyes of the US-Israeli alliance.

Because Sanaa had been so underestimated, the Israelis and the US were essentially left blind inside of Yemen, not having anywhere near the required intelligence to deal a serious blow to Ansar Allah. Instead, the Zionist regime did the predictable thing: it bombed civilian targets and then called in its US allies to launch three separate military operations in an attempt to break the blockade established in support of Gaza.

Yemen is a nation that, if fully liberated from the proxy forces of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, would undoubtedly dedicate its foreign policy to opposing the Zionist entity and supporting the Palestinian Resistance. This alone is a major threat to the Israeli regime.

Yet, it will also mean something else. It will be the only Arab country that has an independent government which is not allied with the United States. In other words, it will serve as an example to the entire region and will represent the spirit of Arabism. For Riyadh, Damascus, Amman, Cairo and beyond, this is a major problem, because once the example is set, their own populations could begin getting ideas about what their future should look like.

Yemen’s liberation will represent the only truly successful revolution of the Arab Spring. In the case of every other example, the nation has ended up under US domination, with the latest example being the case of Syria.

A Yemen that can gain access to its own resources, live free of blockade and have influence over the Bab al-Mandab Strait could become a major powerhouse, especially while allied with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a major gain for the regional resistance to US imperialism and an enormous strategic loss to the Zionist regime, along with a blow to the Washington-backed Arab dictatorships.

The only means of combating the gains made on the ground by the Yemeni Armed Forces, is to try and spread as much sectarianism throughout the region as possible. This, the Gulf Arab regimes and US-Israeli alliance, may believe to be an effective means of combating the revolutionary fervor of the Arab public who have been greatly agitated by the Gaza Genocide.

Part of the reason why the majority of the Arabic-language media, along with the entirety of the Western corporate media refer to the Ansar Allah-led government as the “Houthi rebels” is for this very reason. They hope to paint the movement as a band of Shia rebel fighters that are “proxies of Iran”. It works to both delegitimize the Yemeni Armed Forces and government based in the Capital City of the country, while also selling a false sectarian narrative.

To the great misfortune of the US-Israeli-Arab aligned bloc, their attempts to pull the wool over the eyes of the public is wearing thin. The Gaza Genocide exposed where everyone stands, and now the truth is clear for everyone to see.

September 12, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why the Israelis are so afraid of a liberated Yemen

Anthropic bans Israeli account over Iran, Gulf social media citizen profiling

The Cradle | September 11, 2026

An operation run by or on behalf of the Israeli-Singaporean commercial intelligence vendor S2T Unlocking Cyberspace used Claude models to map, classify, and profile social media users across Iran and the Persian Gulf, according to a threat intelligence report published by Anthropic on 11 September.

The platform recorded the locations of users, sorted them as supporters or opponents of their governments, and grouped populations into six demographic categories covering urban, clerical, military, youth, diaspora, and rural.

Its output was written in formal Arabic and styled as official government communications, with sentiment scores broken down by Gulf nationality alongside recommended counternarratives.

The actor fed the model batches of roughly 25 social media posts at a time and directed it to return each poster’s demographic group, location, and political leaning, with confidence ratings attached to every finding.

Anthropic identified a second workstream of more than 255 fabricated social media accounts, which the company said indicated the actor was assembling a stock of fake profiles for later deployment.

In a separate task, the actor directed the model to generate posts for online personas in Persian, Arabic, English, and German, intended to pass as members of both pro- and anti-government Iranian populations.

The company said its findings independently corroborate a February 2023 investigation by the journalism network Forbidden Stories, which documented an S2T surveillance product described in a company brochure recovered from leaked Colombian military files.

Anthropic said the capabilities in that brochure map closely onto the behavior it observed.

Anthropic added that it identified the activity at its pilot stage and found no evidence that later stages of the surveillance chain described by Forbidden Stories were used against real targets before the account was banned.

Israel has invested heavily in cyber capabilities, signals intelligence, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced surveillance – a technological expansion that shifted the balance of its intelligence collection away from recruited human agents.

Mossad chief Roman Gofman dismissed two of the agency’s most senior officials in August over the failed plot to topple the Iranian government earlier this year.

One had run the intelligence directorate since December while the other headed the Mossad’s Iran division, and both were among the architects of a plan to bring down the Iranian government by igniting nationwide protests and supplying military and communication equipment to opposition groups and insurgents.

Channel 12 said the plan was drawn up in coordination with Washington and was meant to unfold under joint Israeli-US airstrikes.

The New York Times reported on 22 March that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had embraced the Mossad’s promise of a popular revolt when he urged US President Donald Trump into the war, and had grown frustrated when no uprising came.

Before the war on Iran, then-Mossad chief David Barnea had told Netanyahu and Trump that once Iran’s leaders were killed, his agency could galvanize the Iranian opposition into renewed mass unrest, swiftly producing regime change.

September 11, 2026 Posted by | Aletho News | , , , , , , | Comments Off on Anthropic bans Israeli account over Iran, Gulf social media citizen profiling

« Previous Entries