International
Dagustan, a powder gag in the North Caucasus
The terrorist attacks that this Sunday claimed about twenty deaths in Dagestan, the most explosive republic in the Russian North Caucasus, once again put Russia’s security forces in strain, embraced in a exhausting military campaign in Ukraine.
And the recent history of Dagestan, a Muslim republic bathed by the Caspian and bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan, is dotted with terrorist actions, some of great magnitude such as the incursion led by the Chechen Shamil Basayev, which broke out the second war in Chechnya (1999-2009).
More than 96 percent of the inhabitants of Dagestan, a name that means “land of mountains”, are Muslims.
With just over 50,000 square kilometers and 3.2 million inhabitants, it is the most populous republic in the North Caucasus and its population is made up of a multitude of ethnic groups, as evidenced by its 15 official languages, including Russian.
The neighborhood with Chechnya, which in 1991 proclaimed its independence from Russia, granted Dagestan a key role in the two wars fought in the neighboring region.
Precisely in the Daguestani city of Jasaviurt, bordering Chechnya, Russia signed in 1996 the ceasefire agreement with the Chechen independence fighters, which the following year materialized in a peace treaty.
Dagestan was also the territory chosen by Basayev in 1999 to launch an armed incursion and proclaim, with the support of the Islamic State, the creation of a caliphate in the Caucasus.
Although in Chechnia, where Russia after almost ten years of war managed to impose its order, Islamist attacks were considerably reduced, the same has not happened in Dagestan.
On May 3, 2012, thirteen people died and more than 120 were injured in a double car bomb attack on a police post in Majachkalá, the Republican capital.
Sunday’s attacks against two Orthodox churches and two synagogues were not the first perpetrated against temples in Dagestan: on February 18, 2018, a man armed with a knife and a hunting shotgun killed five women in an Orthodox church in the city of Kiszliar, an attack claimed by the Islamic State.
In addition, in October 2023, a mob broke into the airport of the Dagestan capital and surrounded a hotel in search of Israeli citizens in protest against the bombing of the Gaza Strip
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
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