Greater Middle East
Israeli air-strikes near Damascus
Israeli missiles struck a research center near Damascus, as massacres of Sunni families by pro-government militias are reported from Syria’s coastal Alawite stronghold.
Tag: Arab Revolution
Greater Middle East
Egypt: sweep of Black Bloc protesters
Egyptian “Black Bloc” protesters continue to clash with police as 22 of their comrades have been detained in a “terrorism” investigation.
Greater Middle East
Kurdish militia falls out with Free Syria Army
An alliance between the Free Syrian Army and the People’s Protection Committees (YPG), the country’s main Kurdish militia, broke down amid internecine clashes in Aleppo.
North Africa
France: next stop Libya?
France has vowed to punish those responsible for the car bomb blast at its embassy in Tripoli. Two were arrested following a lightning investigation by a French-led team.
Greater Middle East
Has Syria crossed chemical ‘red line’?
Israel's claim that Syria has used chemical weapons comes as rebel militias have assumed positions near the line of control in the Golan Heights.
Greater Middle East
US pledges $100 million in aid to Syrian rebels
As the Friends of Syria summit opened in Istanbul, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced $100 million in new “non-lethal” aid to the Syrian opposition.
Iraq
Syria: Nusra Front merge with Iraq Qaeda wing
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, “emir” of al-Qaeda in Iraq, announced a merger with Syria’s Nusra Front to form a new organization, the “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.”
North Africa
Whither the ‘Topless Jihad’?
Rival online campaigns are waged by the "Topless Jihad" and Muslim Women Against Femen. Is the Topless Jihad a defense of women's freedom, or imperialist propaganda?
Greater Middle East
Syria: Alawite dissidents break with regime
Opposition activists from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect publicly broke ranks with the regime at a meeting in Cairo, and urged their fellow Alawites in the army to rebel.
North Africa
World Social Forum meets Arab Spring
As thousands of activists from around the world converge on Tunisia for the World Social Forum, the country faces austerity measures as the condition of a $1.78 billion IMF loan.
Greater Middle East
Syria massacres: regime, rebels blame each other
In a new massacre near Homs—one of several in Syria over the past weeks—the regime blames the Nusra Front rebels, while the opposition blames the pro-regime Shabiha militia.
Iraq
Iraq 10 years later: ‘cycle of human rights abuses’
Ten years after the US invasion, Iraq is enmeshed in a cycle of human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians, torture and unfair trials, Amnesty International charges.