Free Republic

Pentagon said Tuesday, after the breakaway region of Transnistria bordering Ukraine said explosions over the past two days hit a radio center and a security headquarters. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts. A Moldovan government body warned Monday of possible attempts to “create pretexts for straining the security situation in the Transnistrian region,” and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called the blasts a “planned provocation by the Russian special services.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia doesn’t know who was responsible for the attacks but suspects an attempt to “destabilize the situation.” His comments followed a statement...

Lebanon and Israel, formally still at war after decades of conflict, launch talks on Wednesday to address a long-running dispute over their maritime border running through potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters. The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel, under U.S.-brokered deals which realign some of Washington’s closest Middle East allies against Iran. Hezbollah, which fought a five-week...