Greater Middle East
Syria: will peace plan mean world war?
Russia announced that it is sending forces to police the "de-escalation zones" in Syria—which could provide a spark for massive escalation.
Tag: Syria
Greater Middle East
Syrian refugees return —to face genocide?
The UN reports a "notable trend of spontaneous returns" of displaced Syrians as regime gains bring a modicum of peace to some areas—but mass killings by regime forces continue.
Iraq
Syria: will fall of Raqqa widen war?
With the Syrian Kurds now facing open war from both Turkey and the Assad regime, the imminent taking of Raqqa portends a multi-sided scramble for former ISIS territory.
North America
Supreme Court to review Trump travel ban
The US Supreme Court agreed to review the Trump administration's travel ban, partially lifting the temporary injunction that had blocked the ban's enforcement.
Greater Middle East
Syria: popular uprising against al-Qaeda rule
Thousands of residents have repeatedly taken to the streets of Ma'arat al-Numan, a town in Syria's Idlib governorate, to oppose the rule of jihadist forces that have seized control there.
Greater Middle East
Syria slides closer to Arab-Kurdish ethnic war
Clashes broke out between Syrian rebel factions and Kurdish fighters in Aleppo province, as Arabs and Kurds are further pitted against each other by Great Power manipulation.
Iraq
US using white phosphorus in Raqqa: reports
Several civilians were killed when US air-strikes reportedly targeted ISIS-held Raqqa with white phosphorus—banned by the Geneva Convention as a weapon of war.
Greater Middle East
Qatar crisis places US regional policing in pickle
Qatar's diplomatic isolation by the other Gulf states, accused of supporting terrorism in the region, heightens contradictions for the Pentagon's use of the critical al-Udeid Air Base.
Planet Watch
Antarctica: …and still it melts
Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement comes just as an unprecedentedly huge piece of Antarctica's ice shelf is on the verge of breaking off from the continent.
Iran
Iran: Kurdish guerillas renew attacks
After Kurdish guerillas attacked an Iranian border patrol, Tehran blamed Turkey for failing to prevent "terrorist" infiltration—even as Turkey is building a security wall along the frontier.
Europe
Manchester, xenophobia and the left’s complicity
The yellow press and much of the "left" react identically to the Manchester terror: by blaming "regime change" in Libya and demonizing refugees from the Arab world.
Iraq
Syria: mounting civilian toll of US air-strikes
Over the past month, air-strikes carried out by the US and its coalition partners in Syria have killed the highest number of civilians on record since the bombing campaign began.