The United Nations’ human rights office on Friday updated the death toll from Syria’s civil war for the first time since August 2014. The United Nations has counted more than 350,000 deaths from Syria’s ruinous civil war, a figure the UN human rights chief acknowledged on Friday is a major …

The investment of SoftBank in Israel and the appointment of former Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen as its representative in the country might signal Saudi interests in Israeli technology. The entry of the Japanese SoftBank, considered one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, to direct activity in Israel …

Iran may return to the table in a few weeks, but expect it to continue waiting for the United States to make concessions. Anyone hoping for quick progress in talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal would find little reason for cheer in the posture adopted by Iranian Foreign Minister …

From September 17-19, 2021, Russia held its eighth elections for the State Duma, which is the lower house of Russian Parliament. In my July 28 MEMRI report, “On Russia’s Upcoming Elections,” I opined that the outcome of these elections would be both expected and controversial.[1] After most of the independent …

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey still intended to buy a second batch of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, a move that could deepen a rift with NATO ally Washington and trigger new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported. According to the report Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its …

Tajikistan is interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, Abdul Ghani Baradar, the acting deputy head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said on Sunday. “Tajikistan interferes in our affairs, for every action there is a reaction,” Baradar said in an interview with al Jazeera TV channel. A day …

A delegation of Palestinian clerics from Gaza, South Lebanon and Syria has been visiting Iraq in the recent days to attend the “Call of Al-Aqsa Procession”, organized by the Iraqi “Call of Al-Aqsa” (Nida Al-Aqsa) organization. The procession is held as part of the “Arba’een Pligrimage” march from Najaf to …

On September 24, 2021, some 300 Iraqi notables, both Sunnis and Shi’ites, held a conference in Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, calling for Iraq to join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties with Israel. They also called to abolish the law criminalizing contacts between Iraqi and Israeli citizens. The …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the military junta in Mali has turned to “private Russian companies” for help in its fight against Islamist insurgents in the Western African country. “This is activity which has been carried out on a legitimate basis,” Lavrov said during a press conference at the …

The party that narrowly beat outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc pushed Monday for a quick agreement on a coalition government, but Europe’s biggest economy could still be in for weeks of uncertainty after an election that failed to set a clear direction. Olaf Scholz, the candidate of the center-left …