Greater Middle East
Russia to establish base in Syrian Kurdistan
The Kurdish YPG militia says it has agreed to establishment of a Russian military base in its territory, although Moscow calls it a "reconciliation center."
Tag: Russia
Greater Middle East
Pentagon behind Syria mosque massacre: reports
The US is denying reports that it bombed a mosque in northwestern Syria during evening prayers, killing at least 50—despite mounting evidence from survivors and witnesses.
Syria
Kurdish forces hand over villages to Assad regime?
Amid shifting alliances in the scramble for northern Syria, Kurdish-led forces are accused of handing over territory to the Assad regime, in a deal brokered by Russia.
North Africa
Libya: oil ports change hands yet again
The Benghazi Defense Brigades seized Libya's key oil ports from warlord Khalifa Haftar, and urged the Tripoli-based "official" government to take control of the country's "oil crescent."
North America
Trump travel ban bars Syrian activist from Oscars
Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib was barred by Homeland Security from traveling to the US for the Oscars, where a documentary he worked on was awarded.
Iraq
Multiple forces hit ISIS on all fronts
US, Iraqi, Kurdish, Turkish and Syrian rebel forces are closing the ring around ISIS—but in an uneasy alliance, with little plan for the future of seized territories.
Europe
Russian high court deals blow to anti-protest law
Russia's Supreme Court annulled the prison sentence of gay activist Ildar Dadin, the first person to be convicted under a sweeping new anti-protest law.
North America
Amnesty blasts global ‘politics of demonization’
Politicians wielding a dehumanizing rhetoric are creating a more divided and dangerous world, warns Amnesty International in its new annual report.
Europe
Trump-Putin breach portends global catastrophe
The Flynn resignation has been followed by a fast and dramatic escalation of US-Russia tensions, with Pentagon troops deployed to Romania and a near-skirmish in the Black Sea.
North America
Fall of Flynn: hope or peril?
Mike Flynn’s resignation as National Security Advisor could be the beginning of the collapse of the administration—or the start of a Trump-Putin breach, which holds dangers of its own.
Syria
Syria: Idlib between jihadis and imperial air-raids
Idlib governorate, where evacuees from Aleppo were forced to flee, is dominated by jihadist factions that both threaten secularists and draw air-strikes from the US and Russia alike.
Syria
Bashar Assad: Trump’s Syria policy is ‘promising’
Dictator Bashar Assad told reporters he found Trump’s stance on Syria to be “promising,” and broached inviting in US troops to fight ISIS in a “rapprochement” with Russia.