Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
China guzzling Iranian oil despite U.S. sanctions; lawmakers seek stronger enforcement
China is evading U.S. sanctions and buying Iranian oil at a staggering rate, according to a new analysis highlighting Tehran's transfer of billions in crude profits to its terrorist proxies, including the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Published November 1, 2023
Israel expands ground campaign in Gaza, as fears of widening regional war rise
Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip on Monday, closing in on the besieged Palestinian territory's main city as their retaliatory ground offensive against Hamas rumbled violently through a fourth consecutive day. Published October 30, 2023
What does Hamas actually want? Illegitimacy of the Israeli state among core tenets of militant group
Questions are swirling over what Hamas truly wants, as Israel ramps up its own response to the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 rampage. Published October 29, 2023
Israel’s defense minister says war against Hamas has ‘entered new phase’
Israeli warplanes pounded northern areas of the Gaza Strip while its ground forces expanded operations on the ground a day after rumbling into the territory in a much-anticipated invasion aimed at destroying the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Published October 28, 2023
India ‘deeply shocked’ by death sentence for 8 of its citizens in Qatar
India's government says it's appalled that Qatar sentenced eight Indian nationals to death following their reported detention in the Persian Gulf country last year on espionage charges. Published October 27, 2023
Independent women’s group says it’s facing persecution for Unification Church ties
An independent advocacy organization that runs international outreach programs for women and children from its headquarters in Japan says it is facing persecution for its ties to the Unification Church. Published October 26, 2023
Senate committee advances Biden’s pick for Israel ambassador after most Republicans reject nominee
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced Jacob Lew's nomination -- President Biden's pick for ambassador to Israel -- by a 12-9 vote, with most committee Republicans rejecting Mr. Lew over his support for the Obama-era nuclear deal that gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Published October 25, 2023
In killing Israelis, Hamas may have also targeted Saudi diplomatic deal
President Biden has said a goal of Hamas' terrorist assault against Israel was to derail a historic normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia that was in the works, an assessment that fits with analysis promoted by many regional experts in the wake of the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 rampage that killed over 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals. Published October 21, 2023
State Department official quits over U.S. weapons transfers to Israel
A top official within the State Department office overseeing U.S. arms transfers to foreign powers has resigned in protest over what he says is the Biden administration's "expanded and expedited" movement of weapons to Israel as it blockades and carries out air strikes on Gaza in its war with Hamas. Published October 19, 2023
Putin feted by Xi at summit in sign of growing strategic alignment
The China-Russia alliance deepened Wednesday, with Beijing rolling out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in a sign of deepening solidarity between the world's most prominent autocratic powers. Published October 18, 2023
Third Hamas leader killed in Gaza bombing in recent days
An Israeli airstrike killed a top Hamas commander in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the third high-level operative of the Palestinian terrorist group taken out by Israel's bombardment of the territory in recent days. Published October 17, 2023
Israel weighing possible ‘first strike’ against Hezbollah in north, former soldier says
The looming prospect of an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is drawing global attention, but Israel's war cabinet is also carefully considering carrying out a "first strike" targeting Lebanon-based Hezbollah and its weapons depots to the north, according to a prominent Israeli security analyst. Published October 16, 2023
Unification Church vows to fight ‘biased’ disbandment request
The Japan branch of the Unification Church is vowing to wage a concerted legal battle in response to what it calls a politically motivated attack by Japanese lawmakers, who filed a request last week to disband the church formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Published October 15, 2023
Hezbollah missile strikes in northern Israel spark fears of major escalation
The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched at least five anti-tank guided missiles into northern Israel on Sunday, a day after Iranian officials warned that the Lebanon-based group was poised to aid Hamas by opening a second front against Israel. Published October 15, 2023
Hamas clash throws U.S. regional diplomacy into question
The U.S.-led push to normalize relations between Israel and major Arab nations -- started by President Trump's Abraham Accords in 2020 and cautiously pursued by President Biden -- has been thrown into confusion by the surging clash between Israel and Hamas. Published October 12, 2023
Israel-Hamas clash sparks fears of ‘World War’-style escalation
The worst fighting in Israel in a quarter century has many worried that the clash with Hamas could spiral far beyond Gaza and trigger a war that draws in regional and even global powers, including the U.S., China and Russia. Published October 11, 2023
‘The Biden administration is not God’: Turkish Cypriot minister eyes progress on recognition
The coming year will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the world's oldest frozen conflicts, that between Turkey and Greece on the divided island of Cyprus. Published October 4, 2023
Rights advocate: Few signs of progress addressing North Korean abuses
Ten years after a special United Nations commission found that the North Korean regime's most egregious human rights violations amounted to "crimes against humanity," the U.N. Security Council has yet to make a referral of the case to the International Criminal Court. Published October 3, 2023
U.S. Army deserter Pvt. Travis King released from North Korea, now back in American custody
Travis King, the troubled U.S. Army private who shocked the world when he defected to North Korea in July, is back in U.S. hands after Pyongyang abruptly deported him. Published September 27, 2023
Seeking backup, Biden struggles to move the needle with ‘Global South’
A big question as the annual U.N. General Assembly concludes is whether the Biden administration managed to garner fresh support from the so-called "Global South" to align behind U.S. priorities on the world stage, particularly when it comes to backing Ukraine against Russia. Published September 24, 2023