Arab World

Daraa (Syria) (AFP) – More than a quarter of a million people have fled a Russian-backed government onslaught on southern Syria, the United Nations said Monday, in the latest civilian exodus in the seven-year war. For nearly two weeks, regime forces and their Russian allies have battered rebel-held parts of southern Syria with air strikes, […]

Syria

Regime reclaims more ground in south Syria: monitor

AFP

Daraa (Syria) (AFP) – A string of rebel-held locations in southern Syria passed into regime control Sunday as the government regained more ground under Russian-brokered deals, a war monitor said. Talks involving rebels, local officials and regime ally Russia saw agreements struck for four villages and a strategic town near the border with Jordan, extending […]

Israel

As Assad Advances on South, Israel Warns Syrian Army away from Occupied Golan

Middle East Monitor

Israel beefed up its tank and artillery deployment on the Golan Heights frontier with Syria on Sunday, reports Reuters, cautioning Damascus’ forces to keep a distance as they sweep rebel-held areas over the border. Backed by Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive last month to regain the southwestern Deraa region, driving thousands of […]

Featured

Report: Trump hopes for Deal with Putin over Iran in Syria, US Exit

Juan Cole

CNN’s sources say that when Trump met with Jordanian king Abdullah II, he revealed his game plan for Syria. Trump is said to plan to discuss this issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin at their proposed summer summit. The plan is apparently for the US to allow the government of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to […]

Syria

As 50,000 Flee Regime Assault on Daraa, Rebels Face Surrender or Death

Layal Abou Rahal

Beirut (AFP) – Facing Russian and regime bombardment and abandoned by international backers Jordan and the United States, rebels in southern Syria are left with few options — all of them unsavoury. – Where’s the outside support? – Syria’s south is a strategic zone bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan, and easily accessible from the […]

Syria

Defying US, Syrian Troops Launch Assault on Daraa City as Civilians Flee

Mohamad Abazeed

With Tony Gamal-Gabriel in Beirut Daraa (Syria) (AFP) – Syria’s army launched an assault on the flashpoint southern city of Daraa Tuesday, state media said, after a week of deadly bombardment on the nearby countryside caused mass displacement. Government forces have set their sights on retaking the south of the country, a strategic area that […]

Iraq

Iraq bombs meeting of Daesh leaders in Syria; kills high-value targets

Middle East Monitor

Iraq has launched an air attack on a gathering of Daesh leaders inside neighbouring Syria, killing 45 members of the hardline militant group, its military said on Saturday. F-16 fighter jets destroyed three houses on Friday which were connected by a trench in the town of Hajin, where the leaders were meeting. Those killed included […]

Climate Change

Is Fertile Crescent Drying up? Neighbors’ Dams, Global Heating, and Iraq’s Low Tigris

Niqash

Baghdad (Niqash.org) – In Baghdad, locals have been fretting about dramatic falls in the level of the Tigris river. The government has a plan. Only problem is, that plan requires billions in funding that Iraq does not have. The passengers in the small bus all peer out anxiously as the vehicle crosses the Sanak bridge […]

Iraq

In Post-ISIL Iraq, Cleric al-Sadr adds PM Haidar al-Abadi in Quest for Gov’t of National Unity

AFP

Najaf (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and nationalist cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday said they had formed an alliance in a bid to create a new government after May polls. Sadr’s joint list with communists won 54 seats in the legislative elections to become the biggest bloc in Iraq’s 329-seat parliament, while […]