BBC News- After a very scary and restless time in Syria, the light has begun to shine at the end of the tunnel. The rebel control has loosened in the Eastern Ghoutan area, and the government has begun to take their power back. The last town that was rebel-occupied, near the capital of Damascus, is expected to experience a change… Read more »
Wall Street Journal- BAGHDAD—Bone by bone, workers at the Baghdad morgue are piecing together the victims of Islamic State, a gruesome jigsaw puzzle that has overwhelmed Iraqi authorities and delayed a sense of closure for families of the missing. After decades of conflict, culminating in Islamic State’s brutal three-year reign over the country’s north, Iraq has one of the highest… Read more »
BBC News- US officials say President Trump has been persuaded not to pull the military out of Syria immediately, despite his declaration last week that the US would “be coming out of Syria very soon”. Advisers reportedly convinced him that it could risk a resurgence by the Islamic State (IS) group. The White House said on Wednesday the US military… Read more »
BBC News- Whatever may be happening behind the scenes, a complex system of public signalling is under way between Saudi Arabia and Israel. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s recent comments to US magazine The Atlantic should be seen very much in this light. Asked if he believes that the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in… Read more »
The Guardian- Egyptian police have raided the office of a news website and arrested its editor-in-chief as part of a wider crack down on media that reported allegations of vote buying during last month’s presidential election. The raid late on Tuesday came two days after the supreme council for media regulation, an official oversight body, told the Masr al-Arabia website… Read more »
With his hands blackened from work, wearing a baggy T-shirt stained with motor oil, 40-year-old Said Eid stands among the bits of scrap metal from which he scrapes together a living of 600 Egyptian pounds (£24) a month. In his open-air workshop, high on the eastern hills of a slum neighbourhood of Cairo, the father-of-four says with a sigh: “Life… Read more »
(CNN) Thirty-nine people, including military personnel, were killed when a Russian transport plane crashed Tuesday while trying to land at Hmeimin air base in northwest Syria, Russian state media reported. All 33 passengers and six crew members were killed in the crash, state-run RIA-Novosti reported, citing the Defense Ministry. Earlier, it had been reported that 32 people had died. Russian… Read more »
(CNN) — Saudi Arabia is opening to tourists. The conservative, often closed-off country has announced plans to roll out a new visitor visa from April 1, 2018. When it goes live, it’ll allow travelers (including women 25 and older) to enter the country once in 30 days. It’s part of a bold plan to boost visitor numbers — and revenue… Read more »
An Iranian woman who publicly removed her veil in protest against Iran’s compulsory headscarf law has been sentenced to two years in prison, the judiciary said on Wednesday. Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, who announced the sentence, did not give the woman’s identity but said she intended to appeal against the verdict, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news agency reported…. Read more »
The Guardian- In the midst of ongoing turmoil in Eastern Ghouta, the Syrian government has finally seized control of the Damascan suburb. The government has effectively split the area in half, resulting in a blockade of the enclave. This has some upsides and drawbacks to it. On the one hand, the rebels have now been contained to one area, preventing… Read more »