The ISIS attack on Medina, Islam's second holiest city, betrays the group's eschatological imperative and desire to bring about a final conflict that will purge the world of heresy.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly Istanbul airport attack, but this did not prevent President Erdogan from exploiting the terror for anti-Kurdish propaganda.
Russian and US warplanes are each backing rival sides as the Assad regime and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces race to take the ISIS "capital" of Raqqa.
Hundreds were killed in the first week of Ramadan in Syria, as the regime and its Russian allies keep up their relentless campaign of air-strikes on rebel-held towns.
An Egyptian court began the trial of journalists' union leader Yahya Qalash and two board members who were charged with spreading "false news" and harboring wanted reporters.
The US State Department rejected the Syrian Kurds' declaration of autonomy—ironically, just as the Pentagon is coordinating with Kurdish forces for a major offensive against ISIS.
Supposed antagonists Assad and Erdogan are both in the process of reducing cities to rubble: Aleppo and Cizre, both with the connivance of the Great Powers.
Egyptian officials announced the conviction and prison sentences of over one hundred demonstrators who were peacefully assembling without a permit.
Turkish police prevented members from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) from holding a party congress in direct opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Amnesty International notes claims that chemical weapons were used by Syrian rebels against the besieged Kurdish enclave of Sheikh Maqsood in the divided city of Aleppo.
As Assad regime and Russian air-strikes continue on the beseiged populace of Aleppo, media in the West increasingly echo regime propaganda of justified "counter-attacks."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan announced that he does not plan to change the country's anti-terrorism law, a requirement of the deal struck between Turkey and the EU.
