Nusra Front vows to eradicate ISIS in Qalamoun on Syria/Lebanon border; US escalates tensions with plans for patrols, aircraft in South China Sea; Vatican to recognize State of Palestine while canonizing Palestinian nuns
Iran forces Afghans to fight in Syrian regime’s collapsing army; Debate over the number of European jihadists in Syria; Greece makes debt payment as even leftists lose sympathy
Anti-government riots and violence increase in Burundi; Concerns over an all-out crisis civil war in Burundi are misplaced; Fears grow in Central Asia of an ISIS-Taliban alliance in Afghanistan
War in Syria turns more and more against al-Assad; Economy falters, surprising economists, while stock market bubble explodes; Financial firm analyst told to shut up about over-valued assets
Palestinian factions ‘unity’ talks in crisis, near collapse; ISIS and Yemen force yet another realignment of the Mideast
Saudi Arabia declares that it’s met its military objectives in Yemen; Patriotism and nationalism surge in Saudi Arabia, but not in Iran
ISIS claims responsibility of major terrorist attack in east Afghanistan; Afghanistan becomes more ungovernable as US-led coalition withdraws; Greece scrapes the bottom of the barrel as bankruptcy talk increases
Russia’s Chechnya becomes biggest contributor of jihadists to ISIS; Chechen youth from Georgia’s Pansiki Gorge joining ISIS in droves
Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp descends into the ‘deepest circle of Hell’; Palestinians flip-flop on Syrian action in Yarmouk refugee camp; Europe demands list of reforms from Greece after numerous delays; Iran’s demands on sanctions threaten to unravel nuclear deal
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) captured a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria, but some managed to escape. These survivors told media sources the horrific incidents that took place at the hands of the savages.
Bashar al-Assad’s Syria army showing signs of collapse; Why do Awakening era civil wars always fizzle?; US speeds up weapons deliveries to militias in Yemen
ISIS pushes closer to Damascus through Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp; Texts of Iran nuclear deal differ in English and Farsi versions; Kenya’s president: terrorists are ‘deeply embedded’ in Kenya
Al-Shabaab kills 147 mostly Christian students in Kenya school; Bill O’Reilly’s ‘Killing Jesus’ and 1960s-style activism
ISIS captures Yarmouk refugee camp, closes in on Damascus; Hezbollah trapped by a sense of collapse in al-Assad’s army; Turkmenistan fears jihadist invasion from Afghanistan; Palestinian Authority joins International Criminal Court
Syria’s al-Assad regime suffers major military setback in Idlib; Arab League positions harden against Houthis and Iran
Puerto Rico bankruptcy may be imminent, potentially a ‘seminal event’; Israel releases tax revenue collections to Palestinian Authority; Mideast nations line up for and against Saudi airstrikes in Yemen; Mideast countries opposed to Saudi intervention in Yemen
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged his full support to the Sunni Arab coalition currently fighting the Shiite Houthi rebels that have taken over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Stating that Iranian attempts to “dominate the region” have “begun annoying us,” Erdogan noted that Turkey is ready to further involve itself in the conflict “if there is a role to play.”
The Pentagon has released a copy of an anti-ISIS leaflet to the public that was dropped over Raqqa, Syria earlier in March. Raqqa is known as the de facto capital of the Islamic State’s operations in Syria.
Saudi Arabia, with US help, leads Arab nations to strike Houthis in Yemen; Iran threatens retaliation against Saudi Arabia for Yemen strikes; Shia militias sidelined for Iraq’s assault on Tikrit, with US help
US joins Iran and Iraq in fighting ISIS in Tikrit; Saudi Arabia begins airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen; Obama administration continues to hail Yemen as a model
Almost all mosques have been destroyed in Central African Republic; Russia finally begins to grasp the danger posed by ISIS
Chinese officials visited Baghdad this weekend to vow cooperation with the Iraqi government in eradicating the Islamic State and rebuilding the oil-rich Iraqi economy. Outlets differ on the sparse details, though the message of resolve to participate in the fight against ISIS appears throughout.
Computer geek activists demonstrate against robots at SXSW; Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Supreme Revolutionary Committee calls for ‘general mobilization’; US military forces evacuating Yemen, fearing AQAP attacks
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq during the 2007-2008 surge that turned the tide of the war, said that Iranian-backed militias pose the most significant threat to Iraq and the Middle East region.
Yemen suicide bombings bring sectarian civil war closer; Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘no Palestinian state’ scandal exposes political fantasies
Tunisia in shock after terror attack on museum in Tunis; Beneath the surface, Tunisia is a terrorist breeding ground
Fears grow of Shia revenge killings in Iraq; Russia plans military development, including nuclear weapons, in Crimea
Libya’s two rival governments in unity talks to fight ISIS; UAE may replace Saudis as Egypt’s most important Arab ally; Boko Haram kills 58 in multiple bombings in Maiduguri, Nigeria; Boko Haram declares allegiance to ISIS
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan seek ‘Sunni unity’ versus Iran; Turkey’s Erdogan shuts out Al-Sisi and Egypt from discussions; After a year, experts still guessing about Malaysia Airlines 370
21-year-old Adam Dandach of Orange County has been indicted on several charges after allegedly attempting to travel to Syria in 2014 with the stated intention of joining the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS, also known as ISIL or Daesh).
Why did ISIS release 19 Assyrian Christian hostages?; Iran aids Iraq’s army in attack to recapture Tikrit from ISIS
President Barack Obama has done little to stop the terrorist militias of the so-called Islamic State from abducting and murdering Christians in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. As a junior U.S. Senator from Illinois, however, Obama was outspoken on the fate of minorities in Iraq. Obama wrote two letters to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, demanding to know what the Bush administration was doing to secure Assyrian Christians and other minorities in Iraq.
Outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) both praised and chastised fellow Democrat and Secretary of State John Kerry during Tuesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. On Iran, Boxer said point-blank that Iran cannot be trusted “for one second.” She then went on to clarify her belief that while the people of Iran could be trusted, the government and regime cannot be.
ISIS kidnaps around 90 Assyrian Christians in Syria; John Kerry says that Russia has repeatedly lied to his face
Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists have kidnapped dozens of Christians in northern Syria. According to reports, some sources state that as many as 90 were abducted from their homes near Tal Tamr.
Sectarian violence surging all across Pakistan; Greece misses deadline for submitting reforms list.
Deadly MERS virus surging early in Saudi Arabia; India has worst H1N1 swine flu outbreak in years; Egypt’s al-Sisi calls for a joint Arab military force; Armenia’s president sends condolence letter to Egypt’s al-Sisi
Newly declassified U.S. military documents have revealed much more than was previously known about the history of the Islamic State (ISIS) “Caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, including the revelation that his former day job was as an administrative assistant, Business Insider reports.
Taliban claims responsibility for bombing in Lahore, Pakistan; Russians ignore Ukraine ‘ceasefire’ as 5,000 Ukrainian troops are trapped; New Zealand debating military help for Iraq against ISIS
Greece bailout talks collapse in acrimony; Egypt faces two-front war with airstrikes in Libya; Muslim versus Muslim wars in the Mideast continue to grow; Iraq army preparing to recapture Mosul from ISIS
