President Barack Obama has selected former Pentagon official Ashton Carter to serve as his next Secretary of Defense, according to reports. Carter, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense—the Pentagon’s second-highest position—from 2011-2013 and as Assistant Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, is perceived to be particularly strong on nuclear non-proliferation issues, which may have implications...

Two Israelis were stabbed in an apparent terror attack in a Rami Levy supermarket outside of Jerusalem today. The attacker was shot and wounded while two suspects are being questioned. The Times of Israel reports: The assault took place at a Rami Levy supermarket in the Mishor Adumim industrial zone, east...

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country would hold elections in the coming months, following prolonged friction between partners in the leader’s coalition: “[Lapid and Livni] tried to overthrow me,” Netanyahu said. “The government was under constant threats and ultimatums. The country cannot be run in...

Iran’s Arab minority has recently begun to intensify its protests against government discrimination, The Tower has learned from Iranian opposition media sites and organizations. The Ahwazi Arab minority living in Iran’s oil-rich southwest region is protesting pervasive unemployment, lack of basic urban services, severe shortage of appropriate infrastructure- including basic...

The American cyber security firm Cylance released a report detailing massive Iranian hacking attacks, according to Reuters today. Aerospace firms, airports and airlines, universities, energy firms, hospitals, and telecommunications operators based in the United States, Israel, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, France, England have been hit by the campaign, the research...

As concern grows in the United States about the danger of head injuries to American football players after a spate of recent high-school deaths, an Israeli team has developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostic approach that can more easily visualize and assess the consequences of even mild injuries...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated Tel Aviv as a member of its “Creative Cities” Network on Monday. The Jerusalem Post reports: “Tel Aviv’s entrance to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network reflects the world’s recognition of the city’s contribution to the present and the future –...

Foreign investors from more than half a dozen major automobile corporations flocked to Tehran this week to participate in the country’s auto show, driving concerns that the Iranian economy is steadily recovering amid a de-escalation in sanctions pressure on the Islamic republic. Experts have for more than a year warned...

The symbolic vote today in France’s National Assembly supporting Palestinian statehood is “a grave error” according to French-Jewish lawmaker Meyer Habib. Habib, who represents French citizen in eight Mediterranean countries including Israel, also said that the vote “will remove France from any position in which it can participate in any...

Dropping oil prices are taking a toll on Iran’s economy. Last week many Iranians rushed to sell their local currency holdings out of fear for their savings, the Al-Arab newspaper (Arabic link) reported on Tuesday. This prompted a loss of more than 10% of the rial’s value in one week....