Author: Pericles Dimitriallis

Tel Aviv/Gaza. 19 January -50. After haggling with the terror organization HAMAS over 30 plus hostages are to be freed in a three-phase exchange. Donald Trump warned HAMAS make a deal or face the consequences. Delegation from Egypt, Qatar, Israel, the United States, and Europe worked hard on the deal. Trials and tribulations aside, even in the last moments of the settlement the anxiety ran high. Then the days of Freedom arrived. After 471 days in captivity Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen were set free. In a caldron of screaming HAMAS fanatics under heavy guard by some green…

Russia has trained its troops for a potential attack on Japan and South Korea, according to a report by the Financial Times. Leaked military files show detailed plans for strikes on civilian infrastructure in event of war. The British outlet reviewed 29 Russian military documents and uncovered a strategy devised by Moscow to target the two Asian nations. The email, dated March 17, was sent by the agent, dubbed the Wind of Change, to Vladimir Osechkin, a Russian human-rights activist who runs the anti-corruption website Gulagu.net, and is now exiled in France. The FSB agent writes regular dispatches to Osechkin, revealing…

Suspects allegedly interfered with EU Sakharov Prize nominations to help foreign governments, leaked police files suggest. The EU’s highest honor for human rights work was targeted by an allegedly corrupt network operating on behalf of foreign governments at the heart of the European Parliament, according to a cache of leaked documents. The annual Sakharov Prize was among the aspects of parliamentary work mentioned in a file where one of the key suspects logged activities that were allegedly part of the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the EU’s Parliament. The award, which hands €50,000 to an individual or group that has…

The cybersecurity agencies of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand) issued a warning on Tuesday that hackers were increasingly exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities to access their targets’ networks. It marks a significant departure from similar advisories issued in 2022 and 2021, when the agencies warned that malicious cyber actors were exploiting older software vulnerabilities more frequently than recently disclosed ones. In a co-authored advisory, the agencies list the top 15 most routinely exploited vulnerabilities of 2023, with CVE-2023-3519 — an issue affecting Citrix’s networking product NetScalers — being the most widely used. Reports around the time…

Washington/Vienna/Berlin (10/8 – 45.45)After a tip-off by U.S. intelligence officials and only a few hours left Austrian police made swift arrests. The plot seems too bizarre not to be true. Abul Baraa, aka Ahmad Armih, the German based hate-preacher in Berlin radicalized via Tik-tok or Istagram a 19-year Beran A. to swear the oath of alliance to the Islamic State. After a tip-off by U.S. intelligence officials and only a few hours left Austrian police made swift arrests. The plot seems too bizarre not to be true. Abul Baraa, aka Ahmad Armih, the German based hate-preacher in Berlin radicalized via…

Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova, who officially was dismissed mid-June, fled to France ‘with hundreds of millions of dollars saved in cryptocurrency.’. Tsargrad and other Telegram channels report this with reference to several sources, although confirmation or refutation of this data has not yet been received. If she fled to France, it must be a deal with the French security service, as she is sanctioned in Europe. There is a version that Shevtsova allegedly cooperated with the investigation against the detained generals, trying to avoid her own charges. According to another version, the generals, to reduce their sentences,…

Paris, Brussels, Kiev (11 June – 75) This meeting followed Macron’s announcement that France would be supplying Mirage combat aircraft to Ukraine, bolstering the country’s defense against Russia’s aggression. Zelenskyy’s visit to France coincided with his quest for additional Western support, particularly as Ukrainian forces battled fiercely to repel a Russian offensive near the eastern city of Kharkiv. The conflict, escalating rapidly, has become the largest in Europe since World War II, underscoring the urgent need for international solidarity and assistance. Amidst these grave circumstances, the diplomatic exchange between France and Ukraine exemplifies the crucial alliance and shared commitment to…

Making the decision to live and work abroad is a huge undertaking, especially if you’re uprooting your family. And perhaps the biggest question of all is: “Where do we go?”Well, you could do worse than Vienna, Zurich or Auckland, which just bagged the top spots in global consulting firm Mercer’s 2023 Quality of Living survey for expatriates. The Austrian capital retained its place at the top of the list, which was last published in the pre-pandemic days of 2019. The survey’s compilers highlighted the city’s vibrant cultural scene, architecture and history. The Swiss city of Zurich, in second spot, was…

The serious injury of a police officer by a naval flare at a volleyball match in Athens on Thursday night is yet another incident in the bloody cycle of fan violence in Greece. Since 1983, at least 13 people have died as a result of hooliganism in and around sport. Below are some of the major incidents from the litany of shame for Greek sports. 1983: Kicked to death In September 1983, Aristidis Dimitriadis (18) became the first fatality from fan-related violence in Greece. While on a walk with friends, he joked about Aris Thessaloniki’s defeat in a match with Panathinaikos…

Palestinians in Greece, who blame Israel for the outbreak of war in Gaza, worry they are witnessing forced displacement at an unprecedented rate. Diaspora Palestinians who were uprooted during previous crises fear they may be witnessing the biggest forced displacement in their lifetimes. “They tell us to go to the south [of Gaza],” said Salma Shawa, referring to Israel’s order to 1.5 million Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip to move south last month. “So slowly, slowly we will go to the border and then to Sinai? Is this the solution? So Gaza will be gone also? And then…