Middle East

By Abbas Djavadi | ( RFE/RL ) | – – For years, former Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s policy of “zero problems with neighboring countries” was a flagship concept of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A few years ago when a wave of protests inside Turkey started […]

Reproductive Choice

Turkish President: Muslims who use Birth Control are Traitors

contributors

By Arzu Geybullayeva | (GlobalVoices.org) | – – In the past 72 hours, international media coverage of Turkey has been replete with headlines such as “Go forth and multiply: Turkey President Erdogan warns Muslims”; “Turkey’s Erdogan warms Muslims against birth control”; “Family planning not for Muslims, says Turkey’s President”; and “Turkey’s Erdogan: No Muslim family […]

Bashar al-Assad

Stymied by Syrian regime Sieges, UN planning Food Airdrops to 600K Civilians

contributors

By Lyndal Rowlands | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The UN has begun plans to deliver aid to besieged Syrian towns by air but says there are a number of obstacles in the way and that delivery by land remains its preferred choice. The UN had promised to plan the […]

BDS Occupied Territories

Israel-First McCarthyism: Cuomo’s vow to spy on, punish BDS Activists in long Tradition

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order directing the state to monitor and sanction activists in the Boycott, Sanctions and Divest Movement (BDS) against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, critics complained that the order is McCarthyism. They objected that […]

Featured

Syrian Gov’t Troops enter ISIL-held al-Raqqa Province, racing against US Allies

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Syrian troops, aided by a Homs-based pro-government militia the ‘Falcons of the Desert’ and under the cover of Russian air support, entered al-Raqqa Province from Hama for the first time in two years on Saturday. The southern half of al-Raqqa province is one of two major […]

Free Syrian Army

Not the Onion: US asks Russia not to Bomb al-Qaeda in Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Russian foreign minister said his Washington counterpart asked Moscow not to target the extremist groups out of fear of hitting moderate rebels. The United States has asked Russia not to target al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria the Nusra Front arguing that airstrikes by Moscow could also hit other rebel groups, Russian […]

Human Rights

UN Rebukes Saudi Arabia: Yemen’s Children Victims of Shocking Violations

contributors

By Kristine Beckerle, Finberg Fellow | ( Human Rights Watch) | – – Every year, the United Nations secretary-general releases a “list of shame” of government forces and armed groups that have committed grave violations against children during armed conflict. This year, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen was listed for the first time, identified […]

Iraq

How The US, Iraqi Army And Shiite Militias United – Then Split – In Fallujah

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Anti-extremist forces have been fighting in Fallujah for a week. But before they began, there were serious negotiations between the partners-in-battle. And the negotiations continue on the front lines. On May 23, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appeared near an Iraqi army camp near the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s future is terrifying: Moshe Yaalon and Harbingers of Extremism

contributors

By Ramzy Baroud | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – Israeli society is constantly swerving to the right and, by doing so, the country’s entire political paradigm is redefined regularly. That Israel is now ruled by “the most extreme right-wing government in its history” has grown from being an informed assessment to a dull clich […]