The US ambassador to the UN has called for an international coalition to counter Iran’s influence in the Middle East, while accusing the country of “fanning the flames of conflict” in the region. Nikki Haley, standing in front of what she said were the remnants of Iranian-made weapons, said the US has found evidence that Iranian ballistic missiles were transferred… Read more »
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/10/middleeast/gaza-tunnels-israel-intl/index.html (CNN)An incomplete tunnel running for more than a kilometer from Gaza into southern Israel has been destroyed, Israel’s army announced on Sunday. Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the tunnel, which originated in the city of Khan Younis, had penetrated several hundred meters inside Israeli territory, finishing a kilometer away from the nearest village in Israel. Conricus described… Read more »
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/09/middleeast/iraq-isis-military-liberated/index.html (CNN)The Iraqi military has “fully liberated” all of Iraq’s territory of “ISIS terrorist gangs” and retaken full control of the Iraqi-Syrian border, it said Saturday in a statement. “Our heroic armed forces have now secured the entire length of the Iraq-Syria border,” Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on his Twitter account. “We defeated Daesh (ISIS) through our unity and… Read more »
On Friday, the major Syrian opposition groups agreed to peace talks brokered by the UN regarding the almost 7 year, ongoing civil war. This is incredibly significant due to the fact that all of the different opposition groups are finally going to come together to negotiate before President Bashar al-Assad’s regime later in the month. However, these talks have failed… Read more »
http://www.france24.com/en/20171127-saudi-arabia-first-summit-Islamic-Military-Counter-Terrorism-Coalition Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Sunday an attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers would galvanise an Islamic military coalition that aimed to counter “terrorism and extremism”. Top defence officials from 40 Muslim-majority nation’s met in Riyadh on Sunday. They are part of an alliance gathered together two years ago… Read more »
http://www.france24.com/en/20171124-syria-opposition-agree-united-delegation-peace-talks-geneva-assad Syria’s disparate opposition groups announced an agreement early Friday to send a united delegation to next week’s UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva, as international diplomatic efforts to end the six-year conflict intensify. The announcement came on the second day of a Saudi-sponsored meeting in Riyadh, where around 140 opposition figures are gathered to unify their ranks before direct talks… Read more »
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/20/europe/turkey-ankara-gay-rights/index.html (CNN)The governor of Turkey’s capital, Ankara, has banned all public events relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, citing fears they could “provoke hatred and hostility.” The ban covers events including film festivals, forums, interviews and exhibitions, according to the city’s governor. In a written statement Sunday, Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar said that LGBT events could interfere… Read more »
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/26/middleeast/syria-conflict-airstrikes/index.html (CNN)Airstrikes and shelling killed at least 57 people Sunday in two separate towns in Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR). The continued fighting on Sunday came two days before a fresh round of United Nations-facilitated peace talks were to start Tuesday in Geneva, to be followed by a second session in December. In the… Read more »
Last week, Lebanese Prime Minister resigned while traveling to Saudi Arabia. According to Saad Hariri, he did so because of Iran’s excessive meddling the affairs in the region, as seen in Syria and Iraq for the past couple of years. Not unusual to this type of situation, the resignation of the Hariri will leave a power vacuum in Lebanon, and… Read more »
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/04/middleeast/lebanese-prime-minister-saad-hariri-resigns/index.html CNN)Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri unexpectedly resigned Saturday during a trip to Saudi Arabia, saying his life was in danger, and creating a leadership vacuum in an already politically fractured country. In a televised address from Riyadh, Hariri said he feared an assassination plot and accused Iran of meddling in the region, causing “devastation and chaos.” “Iran controls the region and… Read more »