French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was outraged when the Syrian deputy foreign minister was invited to a meeting, regarding the Russian cultural center in Paris. After the chemical attack on a Syrian rebel held town that killed at least 87 people, the French Foreign Minister had the right to be angry that such a government would be invited to discuss… Read more »
Out of my four articles this week the most interesting one was the Palestinian prisoners launch mass hunger strike. Overall, the article describes how in Israeli prisons, Palestinian prisoners are on a hunger strike in order to improve conditions and treatment in the prisoners. I knew that there were tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians but I didn’t think that… Read more »
Once again the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Images of the wounded lying in hospital beds and children dead in the streets were seen around the world. I find the current situation in Syria anything but acceptable. This is precisely the brand of tyranny and stunning human rights violations that the world should abhor, yet… Read more »
Thousands of Palestinians took the streets of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to mark Prisoners Day on Monday and express their solidarity with hunger striking prisoners in Israeli prisons. One of the largest demonstration took place in Ramallah, where thousands gathered in Yasser Arafat Square, raising flags emblazoned with the face of imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and… Read more »
The leaders of the three main Islamic parties in Kurdistan Region met in Sulaimani on Saturday holding their first summit ahead of the crucial parliamentary and provincial elections this year which will likely be coupled with an anticipated public vote on Kurdish independence. Representatives of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the Kurdistan Islamic Society (KIS) and the Kurdistan Islamic Movement… Read more »
Iran wants to turn Yemen into a “missile base” from which it can threaten Saudi Arabia, according to a Saudi general. Saudi Gen. Ahmed Asiri claimed Saudi Arabia prevented an “Iranian plot” from threatening the country’s security and stability in an interview with Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya news Sunday. He added that the Iranians planned to use Yemen’s Houthi rebels to implement… Read more »
The final days of the Islamic State group may be nearer than ever. Nearly three years after the founding of its caliphate, ISIS faces almost total expulsion from Iraq and a formidable showdown with forces backed by the U.S. and Russia in its two remaining hubs of control in Syria. In Iraq, ISIS is poised for defeat in the city of Mosul despite… Read more »
usnews.com Noah Browning and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) – At a wake in Iran’s holy city of Qom in February, a small group of Bahraini emigres and clerics mourned a young militant killed in a gun battle with Bahrain’s security forces. The eulogy was delivered by an exiled Bahraini cleric who has called for the island’s Shi’ite Muslim majority to… Read more »
reliefweb.com UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs HIGHLIGHTS One in five Malians will be food insecure during the lean season Central Mali : more schools are closing due to security threats Motorcycle bans affect people’s access to basic social services ‘Alarming’ lack of access to water in Menaka rural areas
France 24 New wires The US strike on a Syrian air base destroyed a fifth of the Damascus regime’s remaining warplanes, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Monday as Washington fired a fresh salvo of warnings at President Bashar al-Assad.