Category: Blogs

Top News: Congress to Review Arms Shipments to Saudi Arabia

By MENASource

The US Senate is using new oversight powers for the first time to track American weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. The move signals growing unease on Capitol Hill with the Saudi-led war effort against Houthi rebels in Yemen, a conflict the United Nations says has killed more than 5,700 and forced another 2.3 million from […]

Turkey Deepens Its Presence in Nineveh

By Aaron Stein

Turkey has deployed some 150 troops to train a militia under the control of Osama and Atheel Nujaifi, two close Turkish allies in Iraq. Nineveh’s former governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, authorized Ankara to deploy trainers near the town of Bashiqa in March, ostensibly to train a hold force to take control of Mosul once the city […]

EconSource: Syria Government Scrapes Barrel Amid Economic Woes

By EconSource

More than four years into a grinding civil war, the Syrian government is seeking to boost its revenues with everything from taxes on shawarma sandwiches to telephone lines.

Top News: Civil Society Organizations Document 625 Torture Cases From January to November

By EgyptSource

Fourteen Egyptian rights organizations, among them the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), the Association for the Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), and the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) issued a statement on the occasion of international human rights day condemning Egyptian security forces for committing grave, and often deadly, human rights […]

3,000 Miles from Paris Climate Talks, Drought Threatens to Overshadow Progress in Ethiopia

World leaders met this week for the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) with an ambitious agenda to tackle warming global temperatures and reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, Ethiopian officials revised their predictions of the number of people affected by the ongoing drought upward by nearly two million. They now estimate that more than 10 […]

Russia Could Block Access to Baltic Sea, US General Says

By Defense One, Defense News, and Army News Service

From Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One:  Russia has moved ballistic missiles to and conducted nuclear strike drills from its Kaliningrad exclave, prompting Pentagon fears that Moscow could block access to the Baltic Sea.

Top News: ISIS Retakes Key City in Homs Province From Syrian Forces

By MENASource

Syrian activists say the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) has retaken a strategically important town in the central province of Homs from government forces.

Top News: Egypt Frees Israeli Held For Spying in Prisoner Swap

By EgyptSource

Egypt has freed an Israeli-Arab held in its jails for 15 years on espionage charges in exchange for the release of two Egyptians held in Israel, Egyptian and Israeli officials said on Thursday.