Middle East

TeleSur | – – A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia’s second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said. The attacker parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards his device detonated, killing him and lightly […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Turkey’s six foreign policy sins and the Istanbul Bombing

contributors

By Sibel Oktay | (Informed Comment) | – – You don’t have to be an avid follower of international news to have heard about the terror attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport – Turkey’s biggest and Europe’s third largest hub for air travel. Most likely carried out by ISIS, the attack killed 42 people and wounded […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel: Meretz Head says “Netanyahu’s Theory Of Running The Conflict Has Collapsed”

contributors

IMEMC | – – Meretz Party head, Israeli Member of Knesset (MK) Zehava Gal-On, stated Saturday that the theory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of running the conflict has failed, and added that the only solution is ending this conflict through a political solution. “Israel cannot just ignore the Quartet Committee report,” Gal-On said, “Israel […]

Featured

Putin’s Winning Hand in Syria, as Turkey Apologizes and Obama Deals

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Vladimir Putin was the skunk at the party in the West after his annexation (or repossession, depending on how you look at it) of Crimea. Europe declared that borders cannot be changed by fiat or troops. The US pressed for heavy sanctions. The Russian intervention in […]

Iraq

Iraq: al-Anbar’s Cities are ISIL-Free, But Can they be kept that Way?

contributors

Kamal al-Ayash | (Niqash.org) | – – Every time extremists are forced out of Anbar’s cities they take refuge in nearby desert and attack again. Now it seems like the same guerilla war is starting again. Plenty of effort has gone into pushing the extremist group known as the Islamic State out of major cities […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Istanbul Suicide Bombers Were Russian, Uzbek, Kyrgyz: Official

contributors

TeleSur | – – The attack at Ataturk Airport is suspected to be the work of [Daesh or] the Islamic State [IS] group. Three suspected IS suicide bombers who killed 44 people in a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul’s main airport this week were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, a Turkish government official said […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Land Theft: 440% Increase in 2016

contributors

IMEMC News | – – Israeli land confiscation policy has notably escalated in occupied Jerusalem and West Bank by 439% since the beginning of 2016, in comparison to last year, a Palestinian report revealed on Tuesday. Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) revealed that Israeli authorities confiscated, since the beginning of the year, 7,773 acres […]

Iran

Now Iran-Kurdish Tensions are Spiking; Why?

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) | – – Clashes erupted this month between Kurdish fighters and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), with each side claiming to have inflicted casualties on the other. The country’s heavily censored media have even reported the fighting and acknowledged fatalities on the government side. But why the sudden […]

Featured

Are ISIL’s attacks the desperation of a Cornered Rat? The Kerry-McCaul Debate

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday evening at the Aspen Ideas Festival that “It has been more than one year since Daesh has actually launched a full scale military offensive, and that’s because our coalition is moving relentlessly on every front . . . Now, […]