On our way to documenting Turkey’s arrest of two generals and a colonel who dared to stop a weapons-laden MIT truck in route to Syria, we said that “if there’s a silver lining to last Tuesday’s downing of a Russian Su-24 warplane by two Turkish F-16s it’s that the world is now starting to scrutinize President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia released budget numbers which showed that the kingdom ran a deficit in 2015 that amounted to some 15% of GDP.
To be sure, that was far better than feared, but it’s still a disaster and reflects just how much damage Riyadh’s two wars are inflicting on the monarchy’s finances.
Authorities in Belgium’s capital have decided to cancel the city’s annual New Year’s Eve festivities and fireworks because of the threat of terrorist attacks. The decision comes following the arrest of two people suspected of planning an attack over the holiday. RT reports: In a Wednesday meeting, Brussels’s mayor Yvan Mayeur and Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon took a joint decision to cancel Thursday evening’s festivities. “Together with the interior minister, we’ve decided to not have the celebrations on Thursday evening,” Mayeur told the state broadcaster RTBF Wednesday night.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur has decided to cancel the New Year's fireworks display, after receiving the advice of Belgium's coordinating unit for threat analysis, OCAM, of an imminent terror attack. As DPA reports,
"It is better not to take risks," Mayeur tells the broadcaster.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel expresses solidarity with the "delicate, difficult decision" taken, adding in an interview with RTBF that it was the "correct" choice.
So the terrorists win?
Iran has managed to gain influence over the Middle East through the help of its ally, the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who supported Iran during the 1980’s war with Iraq. His help is appreciated by Tehran but might not be necessary any longer. President Bashar al-Assad might have needed the Iranians during the Syrian conflict of the last few years, but now with the peace talks looming, it seems that the strategic aim of Hezbollah has been achieved, and there is no more requirements from al-Assad to further Iran’s influence in the Middle East.