Middle East

France 24 | (Video News Report) | – – “Istanbul explosion: overview of this year’s surge in violence and terror attacks in Turkey. As no claim of responsibility has been issued for the blast in Istanbul, three main suspects have been unveiled: the Islamic state group, eager to take revenge on Turkey for its harder […]

Israel/ Palestine

UNRWA: Only 20% of Gaza Reconstruction Funds Received

contributors

By IMEMC | – – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that it received only 20 percent of the money needed for the reconstruction of the destroyed houses in the Gaza Strip, QudsNet reported yesterday. UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said, according to Al Ray, […]

Saudi Arabia

Prince of Araby: The reckless power behind the Saudi throne

contributors

By Susan de Muth | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – King Salman’s son Mohammad seems to be piloting Saudi Arabia into a series of ever more risky adventures. In the past year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has abandoned the cautious fence-sitting that long characterised its diplomatic style in favour of an unprecedented, hawkish antagonism. […]

Featured

Thwarted Territorially in Ramadi, Daesh reverts to Terrorism in Baghdad

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the problems Iraq and Syria will face as Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is gradually rolled back from its territorial acquisitions is that it will demobilize its conventional forces and return to being a terrorist organization. It may be in some ways more dangerous under the […]

Russia

Putin: Syria’s Al-Assad welcome to Refuge in Russia

contributors

Vladimir Putin | (Der Bild) | – – Excerpt from part II of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interview in the German publication, Der Bild, on Jan. 12, 2016, according to the Kremlin website. Highlight: Putin admits that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has made many errors, and says that if necessary he can have asylum in […]

Israel

Why Arson was suspected in Fire at Offices of Israeli Human Rights & Peace Group B’Tselem

contributors

Nir Hasson | Haaretz | (Video News Report) | – – Update: N.B. an investigation by the Jerusalem fire brigade appears to have concluded that an electrical wiring fault was responsible for the fire at the offices of B’Tselem. Initial reports by Haaretz and others, as below, suspected arson. The reason is that a school […]

Displaced and Refugees

Beset by Loneliness and Memories, Syrian Refugees Struggle even in Safe Spaces

contributors

By Silvia Boarini | (Inter Press Service) | – – ZARQa, Jordan (IPS) – Emelline Mahmoud Ilyas is an outgoing 35-year-old mother of three from Syria. Sitting in a community centre in Zarqa, Jordan, where she just held a meeting with Jordanian and Syrian parents on the subject of childcare, she remembers the ‘journey of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Majority of Jerusalem Palestinians detained in 2015 were minors

contributors

Ma’an News Agency | – – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained more than 1,900 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem in 2015, the majority of whom were minors, a prisoners’ rights group said on Sunday. A spokesman for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies, Riyad al-Ashqar, said in a statement that around two-thirds of those […]

Iran

The Saudi-Iranian crisis reveals a deep power struggle in Tehran

contributors

By Kamran Matin | (The Conversation) | – – Ever since Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shia dissident Nimr al-Nimr was met with violent protests at the Saudi embassy in Iran, the two already hostile countries have been at diplomatic loggerheads. But while Saudi Arabia’s actions suggest a unity of purpose at the highest level, the […]