ARTICLE SUMMARY The US-Turkish deal on Manbij sparks a Damascus opening to Syrian Kurds; Iran scolds Turkey on PKK operations in Syria; the HDP faces violence and an “uneven” playing field in elections; Iran is caught in the middle between Russia and Saudi Arabia. GETTY/Omar Haj Kadour A tank belonging to Turkish soldiers and Ankara-backed…
Disagreement about how to handle migrants is causing deep strains between Europe’s capitals Migrants, part of a group intercepted aboard a dinghy off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea, stand on a rescue boat upon arrival at the port of Malaga, Spain last week. PHOTO: JON NAZCA/REUTERS BRUSSELS—European Union leaders on Sunday failed to bridge disagreements over…
Russia has carried out its first airstrikes in southwest Syria in support of an Assad regime offensive. The battlefield space is one of the most geopolitically complex and explosive in the seven-year war. Russian warplanes pounded opposition areas in southwest Syria early Sunday, monitors said, providing air support for the first time to an offensive…
The U.S. president thinks he’s denuclearized North Korea without dismantling a single bomb. Israel simply can’t risk a similar White House ‘success’ with Iran, but war can’t be its only option either. Israeli Air Force F-15 planes fly during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim air…
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, is visiting Arab capitals and Israel to describe elements of the administration’s vision and seek help in drawing Palestinian leadership to the table. (Jose Luis Magana/AP) The Trump administration is close to releasing a long-awaited Middle East peace proposal that officials said would present U.S. goals…
Diana Feldman received an unusual text message from the phone of her 14-year-old daughter, Susanna, late last month. Written in broken German, the message said she would be back home in a few weeks and that her mother should not try to find her. Yet the message was not from Susanna. She had already been raped and strangled,…
Syrian children ride a bicycle past destroyed buildings in a rebel-held area in the southern city of Daraa on June 3. Photo: Mohamad Abazeed/AFP ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The death toll in Syria’s complicated conflict, now in its eighth year, has reached nearly 511,000. Over 350,000 of the casualties have been confirmed while the remaining…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that the Syrian regime is no longer “immune” from retaliation. Speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank in London during a diplomatic tour of Europe, Netanyahu warned that Israel would destroy Syrian forces it deemed a threat to Israel. “He is no longer immune, his regime is no longer immune,”…
London, 4 Jun – The US has increased its military presence on the top of Mount Sinjar, on the border between Syria and Iraq, in order to better fight back against Iran backed militias, according to the Sinjar government. The Deputy Mayor of Sinjar, Halal Khalo, said: “15 military vehicles of US troops arrived on top…
Poster showing Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (ABNA News – Iran) In an astounding series of statements, Russia has made it clear that it expects all foreign forces to withdraw from Syria. Alexander Lavrentiev, President Putin’s envoy to Syria, specified on May 18,…