Greater Middle East

Egypt: terror blast targets Coptic church

A bombing during Sunday Mass at a chapel attached to Cairo's main Coptic cathedral killed at least 25 on the Egyptian holiday marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammed.

Greater Middle East

General Assembly demands halt to Aleppo siege

With action in the Security Council blocked by Russia and China, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an immediate end to all attacks on civilians in Syria.

Iraq

Syria and Iraq in the Trump world order

Trump intends to divide Syria with Putin the way Hitler divided Poland with Stalin—but will the US will be able to control its sphere amid social collapse and sectarian maelstrom?

Africa

Nigeria: pogroms target Shi’ites

Shops and homes belonging to Shi'ite Muslims in Nigeria's Kaduna state were destroyed by rampaging Sunni mobs in a wave of attacks that spread across several towns.

Greater Middle East

Yemen and Syria: fearful symmetry

Russian counterinsurgency in Syria mirrors US-backed counterinsurgency in Yemen, betraying superpower rivalry and "cooperation" alike as inimical to the region's revolutions.

Greater Middle East

Growing internationalization of Yemen war

The US fired missiles at Houthi-controlled radar installations in Yemen after the rebels fired rockets at a US destroyer in retaliation for a deadly Saudi air-strike on a funeral.

Greater Middle East

Syria: nuclear flashpoint

The breakdown of US-Russia cooperation over Syria comes as Moscow moves missiles to the Polish border and withdraws from an agreement on plutonium disposal.

Iraq

More US troops to Iraq —on whose side?

The Pentagon will send 600 additional troops to Iraq to help in the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS—but it is unclear if they will be backing Shi'ite, Sunni or Kurdish forces.