Contents: Delhi in crisis as India sends thousands of troops to quash Jat riots; Jats demand entry into the ‘reservation system’ for jobs and education; Bomb explosions strike Assad strongholds in Syria as Kerry speaks of ‘provisional’ peace
Contents: Latest Syria peace plan officially fails; Shifting alliances across the Mideast
Contents: US warplanes strike suspected ISIS training base in Libya; US warplane attack on Libya raises question of ground troops; Europe plans to expand Operation Sophia into Libyan waters
Contents: Six Turkish soldiers killed in explosion a day after Ankara attack; New terrorist attacks cause further splits in US-Turkey relationship; Russia’s attacks on civilian hospitals in Aleppo follow the ‘Grozny model’
Contents: Car bomb attack on military in Ankara Turkey kills 28; Erdogan slams US, UN policy, renews demand by Syria ‘safe zone’
Contents: Turkey doubles down on shelling Kurds in Syria; Qatar says it will join Saudi Arabia, UAE sending troops to Syria; John Kerry suggests that al-Assad and the Russians are delusional
Contents: Turkey’s military strikes Kurdish positions in Syria, north of Aleppo; Saudi Arabia and Turkey plan joint ground troop incursion into Syria; The death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia
Contents: US and Russia agree to a farcical ‘cessation of hostilities’ in Syria; Russia launches massive military exercises, apparently targeting Turkey and Syria; The vitriolic hatred of Bashar al-Assad
Contents: Pentagon deploying hundreds of troops to Helmand in Afghanistan; Turkey’s Erdogan splits further with US, blaming it for a ‘sea of blood’
Contents: Plans continue for Western military deployment into Libya; UAE says it’s ready to supply ground troops to fight ISIS in Syria
Contents: Turkey will keep Syria border closed as Aleppo refugees mass; Europe sends mixed messages to Turkey about new flood of Syrian refugees; Syria, Iran and Russia ridicule Saudi Arabia’s army; Turkey confiscates parrots and parakeets on Syria border; North Korea launches long-range missile, violating Security Council resolution
Contents: Syrian regime encircles Aleppo, causing new flood of refugees; Saudi Arabia ready to send ground troops into Syria; Saudi Arabia sees itself in an existential crisis; Turkey denies Russian reports of Syria invasion
Contents: Dozens killed in ISIS attack on a Shia shrine in Damascus Syria; Damascus shrine attack deals another blow to the Syria ‘peace talks’ in Geneva
Contents: Russia builds military presence in Dagestan after ISIS attack; US, Britain, France, Italy continue plans for Libya invasion against ISIS
Contents: Previous attempts at Syria ‘peace talks’ ended in farce; Syria peace process ‘proximity talks’ to begin this week in Geneva
Contents: Reader comments on xenophobic ‘Soldiers of Odin’ in Finland; European Union said to be collapsing over migrant crisis; Mideast borders set by Sykes-Picot and Balfour declaration under fire; The 2016 market meltdown raises fears of financial crisis
Contents: Tajikistan splits with Iran over invitation to alleged terrorist; Tajikistan considers turning from Iran to Saudi Arabia
Contents: Mideast trends: Sunni-Shia countries align along predicted lines; Saudi Arabia faces increased social unrest with sudden austerity budget
Contents: Iran captures ten American sailors in Persian Gulf hours before Obama speech; Royal Bank of Scotland predicts sharp 2016 recession, says ‘Sell everything!’; Suicide bombing in Istanbul Turkey kills 10 tourists
Contents: ISIS assault in Libya giving militants control of oil fields; US, Britain, France preparing new Libya military offensive early in 2016
Contents: Saudi Arabians execute 47 prisoners for ‘terrorism’ including prominent Shia cleric; Execution of Shia cleric Nirm al-Nimr triggers mass protests in Mideast
Contents: Central Americans reach agreement on letting Cuban refugees reach the US; ISIS may be linked to massive suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan
Contents: Merry Christmas, happy Kwanza, belated happy Hanukkah, Ramadan, Winter Solstice!; Hezbollah promises revenge for deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria; Israel and Hezbollah may be close to war again; Russia is sharing information with the Taliban in Afghanistan to fight ISIS
Contents: Russia’s Syria airstrikes kill many innocent civilians, but otherwise appear futile; European Union renews its sanctions against Russia for Ukraine invasion; Russia retaliates against Ukraine by banning food imports; Azerbaijan’s currency devalues 32%, following Russia and Kazakhstan
Contents: Defense Sec’y Carter visits Afghanistan, warns of ISIS and resurgent Taliban; Taliban victories in Helmand put Obama’s Afghan withdrawal policy in doubt; Obama’s 30,000 troop Afghan ‘surge’ strategy now in seventh year
Contents: Taiwan may reverse South China Sea policy and oppose China; Burundi calls planned African Union peacekeeping force ‘an attack’
Contents: Number of foreign fighters joining ISIS in Syria doubles to 31,000; About 700 women from Tunisia are thought to have joined ISIS; Return of Russia’s foreign fighters from Syria threatens Russian security
Contents: Azerbaijan faces rising radical Shia Islamist insurgency; Fears that Azerbaijan’s Sunni Salafists who joined ISIS will return; Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh surges again
Contents: Russia and Turkey exchange vitriolic accusations about ISIS oil sales; Russia cancels Turkey gas pipeline, prepares for Bosporus closure; Turkey’s grievances against Russia, and the road to war; San Bernardino mass shootings
Contents: Germany may deploy 1200 soldiers to Syria to fight ISIS; In major new escalation, US special forces will conduct combat in Iraq and Syria
Contents: France demands that Russia target only ISIS in Syria; Putin’s Syria intervention hobbled by weak Russian economy
Contents: Russia accuses Turkey of ‘industrial scale’ oil purchases from ISIS; Russia escalates retaliation against Turkey for downing warplane; European Union to end visa restrictions on Turkey’s citizens
Contents: Russia and Turkey move closer to the brink of war; Turkish analysis of downing of Russian warplane; Quote without comment
Contents: Putin calls Turkey’s downing of Russian plane a ‘stab in the back’; Turkmen in Syria versus Russians in occupied Crimea; Russia – Turkey crisis evokes memories of centuries of Crimean wars
Contents: Terror groups compete for credit for Mali hotel attack; Mali hotel terror attack highlights al-Qaeda’s strength in Africa
Contents: Turkey soccer fans boo during moment of silence for Paris attack; Rwanda’s president Kagame becomes another leader refusing to leave office
Contents: Hong Kong ‘boos’ China with paper signs at soccer match; Netherlands – Germany football match cancelled after ‘concrete threat’; Brussels, Belgium, has become the center for European terror
Contents: American politics becomes infused with anti-Muslim xenophobia; Paris attack significantly worsens Europe refugee crisis
Contents: France launches ‘massive attack’ on ISIS – 20 bombs; Beirut wonders why their terror bombing is less important than Paris’s
Contents: World reacts to Paris attack
