Iraq
Syria: US intervention —against ISIS?
In a Pentagon press conference, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that ISIS cannot be defeated unless the US or its partners take them on in Syria.
Iraq
Iraq: atrocities mount against Yazidis
ISIS released a video showing the forced mass "conversion" of hundreds of captive Yazidis. Some 90,000 displaced Yazidis now face horrific conditions, without even rudimentary shelter.
Palestine
Anti-Semitism and ‘cognitive infiltrators’
Common Dreams website claims to have conducted an investigation revealing that "more than a thousand" anti-Semitic comments posted to the site "were written with deceptive purpose."
Iraq
Iraq: ISIS sells Yazidi women; Iran intervenes?
Kurdish parliament leaders charged that ISIS is selling abducted Yazidi women in Mosul, and that an Iranian Quds force has intervened against ISIS—with US connivance.
Iraq
Control of water at issue in Iraq conflict
The taking of the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River from ISIS by Peshmerga forces backed by US air power highlights the strategic nature of water in the multi-sided Iraq conflict.
Iraq
ISIS massacres in Syria; Assad to aid Kurds?
ISIS fighters are accused of executing some 700 tribesmen who rose against them in eastern Syria, as Bashar Assad said he is ready to back Kurdish forces against the jihadis.
Iraq
Iraq: Yazidis stand and fight; Baghdad worries
A Yazidi militia group has entered the fight against ISIS, clashing with militants near Sinjar—while Baghdad's army command objected to foreign military aid to Kurdish forces.
Iraq
New massacres in Iraq; Hezbollah joins the fray
ISIS fighters carried out a massacre of Yazidis at an occupied village, while Hezbollah militiamen are accused in a massacre of Sunni Arab residents in central Iraq.
Palestine
War crimes charges for Israel?
Bibi Netanyahu appealed to US legislators to help Israel stave off a feared global push to bring Israeli leaders to trial on war crimes charges in the wake of the Gaza offensive.
Iraq
Iraq: US calls off rescue operation; PKK join fight
The US dropped plans for a rescue mission for besieged Yazidis—over the protests of Yazidi leaders—as the "terrorist" PKK joined US-backed Peshmerga in the fight against ISIS.
Palestine
Islamic Jihad foresees ‘long-term’ truce with Israel
Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders said a long-term ceasefire and lifting of the siege on Gaza would be announced soon, claiming "great progress" in negotiations.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: violence at Rabaa Square commemoration
Four were killed in clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Egyptian police on the anniversary of the Rabaa Square massacre, in which 1,000 lost their lives.