Bashar al-Assad - Page 13

Contents: Syrian regime and Russia launch brutal attack on rebel-held areas in East Ghouta; Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin hug and declare the end of war in Syria

Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida revealed on Sunday that an Israeli source disclosed a promise from Jerusalem to destroy all Iranian facilities within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Israel’s Golan Heights.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, back in Beirut after a mysterious odyssey that saw him announce his resignation in Saudi Arabia, told cheering supporters on Wednesday that he was staying.

TEL AVIV – Dramatic footage broadcast over the weekend shows Syrian women and their children crossing the border into Israel to receive medical treatment.

Contents: More on the evacuation of ISIS militants from Raqqa, Syria; Zimbabwe coup splits ruling Zanu-pf party along generational lines; Zimbabwe Commander Chiwenga gives a totally delusional explanation for the coup

Egypt faces high expectations from Saudi Arabia and its other Gulf Arab benefactors that it will have their back as tensions rise with their rival Iran, including throwing the weight of its military — the largest standing Arab army — into the crisis if needed.

Addressing an inter-Arab forum on Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar Assad denounced the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings as a triumph for “extremism” over “Arab identity,” described the Muslim Brotherhood as an English plot to undermine pan-Arab nationalism, and said there should be no conflict between Arabism and Islam.

State-sponsor of terrorism Iran is reportedly establishing a permanent military presence inside Syria that will allow the Shiite Islamic Republic to operate close to Israel, according to a Western official.

Roundly rejecting Russian aspersions against the task force, Israel on Sunday endorsed a UN watchdog report on Syria’s use of chemical weapons, saying it “unequivocally” proves Assad used poison gas and must therefore be punished by the international community.

Contents: Deadly violence increases in English-speaking regions of Cameroon; Cameroon’s 84-year-old president Paul Biya exhibits same violence as other African leaders

Contents: All Saudis ordered to leave Lebanon, as Hariri’s fate is unknown; Saudi Arabia blockades Yemen, threatening millions to die in famine

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian troops and their allies on Wednesday encircled the Islamic State group in Albu Kamal, state media said, edging closer to ousting the jihadists from their last urban stronghold in the country.

Contents: Saad Hariri shocks Lebanon by resigning as PM while in Saudi Arabia; Lebanon enters the Sunni/Shia front line between Iran and Saudi Arabia

A Lebanese newspaper reported this week, and Reuters confirmed with an unnamed “regional official,” that the U.S. government sent an envoy to Damascus, Syria, to talk to high-ranking members of the Bashar al-Assad team.

The Russian government is putting together a meeting on November 18 between the Syrian government and opposition groups to talk about resolving the Syrian civil war. Opposition leaders quoted by the Associated Press denounced the Russian initiative as an effort to undermine United Nations talks scheduled for just ten days later in Geneva.

TEHRAN – Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for an official visit, with talks expected to focus on Syria, the Iranian nuclear agreement and bilateral ties.

A leading Syrian opposition figure has warned of an Iranian takeover of the Middle East, facilitated by the inability of Western policymakers to understand the shifting dynamics in the region, especially with regard to their potential impact upon the State of Israel.

Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis offered a rosy outlook for his national economy on Tuesday that seems difficult to square with the reality of a nation devastated by six years of civil war.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the Syrian government’s siege of suburban Damascus an “outrage” on Friday, and demanded access for aid workers so they could head off a “humanitarian emergency.”

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday that the Trump administration expects Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to exit politics at some point during the nation’s civil war, telling a reporter the Assad problem “will take care of itself.”

A Hezbollah-aligned Al-Mahdi Muslim center in Germany heard its leader urge supporters to wage “resistance” against the “enemy” state of Israel on Saturday.

Contents: Zimbabwe’s people fear further starvation after food imports are banned; Zimbabwe’s people fear hyperinflation again after last month’s ‘bond note’ crash

BEIRUT — Over several nights in September, some 10,000 men, women and children fled areas under Islamic State control, hurrying through fields in northern Syria and risking fire from government troops to reach a province held by an al-Qaeda-linked group.

Contents: Mattis and Tillerson work to prevent Iraq vs Kurd military confrontation in Kirkuk; ISIS fighters permitted to leave Raqqa, Syria, with human shields; Syria demands ‘immediately’ pullout of Turkey’s forces from Idlib province

Contents: Iraqi troops and tanks seen massing near Kirkuk, poised to attack Kurds; Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas announce unity agreement; Turkey’s tanks and troops cross border into Syria’s Idlib in apparent truce with HTS

The United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for “fundamental reform” in the agency. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

Contents: Turkey announces major military operation in Syria’s Idlib province; Turkey’s success in Idlib is far from certain

American intelligence reports suggesting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime was cremating the bodies of hundreds of prisoners in a facility near Damascus prompted Israel to examine the possibility of bombing the area, but the plan was eventually shelved over the defense establishment’s concerns that the move would lead to a rapid security escalation on the northern border.

Contents: International Red Cross: Fighting in Syria worst since Aleppo; Analyst gives a chilling analysis of where the Syrian war is going

A man living in Sweden has been found guilty of a war crime, becoming the first member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to be convicted since the war began in 2011.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been “victorious” in Syria’s civil war and was now being courted by former enemies.

Contents: Uganda lawmakers throw fists and chairs at each other over Museveni’s power grab; Uganda follows a familiar pattern of violence for many African countries; Thailand’s Yingluck Shinawatra sentenced in absentia to five years in jail

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia alliance led by the Syrian Kurds, claims Russian warplanes bombed their positions in the Deir al-Zor province on Monday. Russia has denied the allegations, while U.S. commanders said they could not verify the source of the attack on the SDF.

Contents: Russia’s ‘telephone terror’ forces evacuation of over 200,000 people; Kenya’s government in chaos as it faces a new election delay

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed that Donald Trump had made a decision about the Iran nuclear deal, but admitted that Iran was still technically in compliance with the agreement.

A major study produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in late August has caused a swirl of debate and controversy among museum supporters, academics, Syrian analysts, Jewish leaders, and even U.S. lawmakers.