Contents: Drinking beer is back in Venezuela’s Socialist Paradise; Hezbollah building tunnels into Israel to prepare for next war; ‘Tiananmen Mothers’ commemorate China’s Tiananmen Square massacre
Contents: Report: Israel and Saudi Arabia are allying against Iran and Hezbollah; Iran and Hezbollah turn focus of hostility from Israel to Saudi Arabia; Shifting Israeli alliances in the Mideast
Contents: A disastrous year in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia; Iran bans Iranians from attending the Hajj in 2016; Far left anti-government riots spread across France
Russia has dismissed as “propaganda” claims that the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) destroyed four Russian helicopters and 20 supply trucks deployed to a military airbase in Syria which is loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has “destroyed” Russian military equipment kept at a strategic Bashar al-Assad airbase in central Syria, according to recently released satellite images.
Contents: Death of Afghan Taliban leader complicates America’s relationship with Pakistan; Massive explosions in Syria target Bashar al-Assad’s heartland
Bomb blasts killed scores of people in Jableh and Tartous on Syria’s Mediterranean coast on Monday and wounded many others in the government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases, monitors and state media said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the
Contents: Venezuela’s Maduro accuses US of planning an imminent invasion; Syria peace talks in Vienna collapse in farce – again
TEL AVIV – A former Syrian brigadier general who defected from the Syrian regime wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein saying that Israel should open a dialogue with the Syrian people and support the opposition in its fight against the regime, Ynet news reported.
An Egyptian actor and comedian has reportedly accused victims in Syria’s city of Aleppo of using makeup to “fake” the slaughter wrought by Bashar al-Assad regime airstrikes.
Contents: Azerbaijan celebrates the ‘Days of Culture of Dagestan’; Azerbaijan and Dagestan share Sunni Salafist insurgencies; Nagorno-Karabakh issue still simmers
At the annual Victory Day commemoration of Russia’s defeat of Nazi invaders during World War II, President Vladimir Putin made what observers are describing as a slam at the West for holding “double standards” and indulging “criminal behavior,” by which he meant supporting terrorism.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has reportedly described the fight against terrorism as a “holy war.”
Despite the much-touted “cessation of hostilities” agreement in Syria, which was supposed to halt attacks from all parties except ISIS and al-Qaeda, furious battles between rebels and Syrian government forces continue to inflict heavy casualties in the strategically vital city of Aleppo.
Authorities linked to the Bashar al-Assad regime have agreed to release 30 detainees from the Hama prison in Syria in exchange for ending the ongoing prison riot that has been raging since Monday, reports a monitor group.
Berlin (AFP) – US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syria’s Bashar al-Assad of “repercussions” if his regime flouts a new truce being negotiated, as talks to halt the violence shifted to Berlin Wednesday.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s top cleric has reportedly issued a religious decree, or fatwa, ordering the tyrant’s military to “show us their rage in exterminating” civilians in the besieged and divided city of Aleppo.
Sky News reports on the results of an “exclusive investigation into leaked secret Islamic State files,” which reveals that ISIS has been actively colluding with the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. According to Sky News, one major instance of
Substantial territorial losses have driven Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists to carry out an unprecedented number of attacks in the first three months of 2016, particularly in their Syrian and Iraqi strongholds, according to a news analysis by IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center (JTIC).
Reuters took a long look at the rocky relationship between Russia and Iran this week, noting that a stronger alliance between the two nations always seems to fall apart for one reason or another. For example, one Iranian diplomat described personality clashes between the Iranian and Russian leaders by saying, “Rouhani and Putin don’t get along that great.”
Contents: Syria’s air force deliberately targets hospital in Aleppo, killing dozens; Bank of Japan shocks investors with no stimulus, leading to global stock selloff
Airstrikes allegedly carried out by Bashar al-Assad warplanes targeted the rebel-held areas in the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing dozens of people, including 14 patients and staff at a Doctors Without Borders hospital.
A document allegedly leaked to Western media by a group of Alawite leaders claims Bashar al-Assad’s religious sect is “dissociating” itself from the Syrian dictator’s leadership.
Christian Assyrian forces launched a counterattack against the Kurdish police Asayish in northern Syria’s Qamishli.
Kurdish forces have been fighting pro-Bashar al-Assad militiamen in northeast Syria, killing 21, according to a Syrian Kurdish official.
Iranian troops in Syria are only volunteers operating under the supervision of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, claims the commander-in-chief the Islamic Republic’s military.
The United States said on Thursday it was concerned about reports that Russia is moving more military equipment into Syria to bolster President Bashar al-Assad, with a truce in tatters and peace talks in meltdown.
The family of murdered American journalist Steven Sotloff has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, alleging that Syria “provided financial, material, and military support to the Islamic State.”
Contents: Afghan Taliban launches ‘Spring Fighting Season’ with massive Kabul explosion; China tests its DF-41 long-range nuclear missile with multiple warheads; Turkey threatens to cancel migrant deal unless visa restrictions are lifted by June; Violence surges in Syria as ‘peace talks’ collapse becomes official
WASHINGTON — President Obama had “an intense conversation” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday in which he expressed concern on the eve of his visit to the Middle East and Europe about the fragile Syrian peace talks and increased violence in Ukraine, White House officials said.
Contents: Massive earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador are linked by the Ring of Fire; Syria chemical weapons accidentally kill Hezbollah militias; Latest Syrian ‘peace process’ appears near collapse; Saudi Arabia ends oil summit negotiations as Iran fails to show up
Shiite Iran’s Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani flew to Moscow, despite an international travel ban, to discuss Syria and the delivery of Russian missiles, Reuters has learned from various sources.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not been in full control of his country since the Syrian uprising began in 2011. The dictator has been having trouble securing territory from the Islamic State and the witches brew of moderate and extremist rebels that have set up strongholds throughout the country.
The fragile Syrian ceasefire is “tenuous,” and has been breached repeatedly by the Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad regime, said President Barack Obama.
President Barack Obama’s Central Intelligence Agency and its allies in the region have crafted a plan to provide more-powerful weapons to so-called moderate Syrian rebels combating the Russia-backed Bashar al-Assad regime in case the ongoing fragile ceasefire fails, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has learned.
Syria’s Prime Minister is discussing a joint operation with Russia against rebel forces in Aleppo, a region with no significant Islamic State presence.
Al-Qaeda linked jihadists reportedly shot down a warplane from Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s air force and captured its pilot alive near Syria’s Aleppo province.
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists attacked troops loyal to Syrian dicatator Bashar al-Assad with mustard gas at a military airport in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al-Zor that borders Iraq, state-owned media has alleged.
The Washington Post reports: The Syrian government has freed an American freelance photographer who was abducted after traveling to the country in 2012, according to two U.S. officials. Kevin Patrick Dawes, 33, from San Diego, was released following months of
The Russian military has allegedly removed over 1,500 mines planted in Palmyra, Syria during the Islamic State’s (ISIS) reign over the ancient city, believed to be intended to detonate simultaneously and level much of the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s priceless ruins.
