Middle Orient

One rocket was fired from Lebanon yesterday and two rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip Friday night. The IDF fired dozens of artillery shells toward targets in southern Lebanon after a rocket was fired into northern Israel yesterday, near the border town of Shlomi. IDF spokesperson Brig. …

A court in Iran has sentenced two award-winning science students to 16-year prison terms for opposing the Islamic Republic and endangering national security. Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi , who study astronomy at Sharif University of Technology, were sentenced on Monday in the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on charges …

If Saudi Arabia were to break the tradition of pricing its oil in US dollars, as it is contemplating doing, others could well start to price oil in Chinese yuan or other currencies — negatively affecting the US dollar’s status and potentially the entire US economy. “China must brace for …

As part of these efforts, Iraqi airstrikes have killed at least 70 ISIS militants, a top official recently said. Iraqi F-16 fighter jets targeted a group of ISIS militants in the country’s eastern Diyala province on Sunday afternoon, the military announced. The jets conducted three airstrikes on the militants in …

Turkish intelligence apprehended two Daesh terrorists in Syria planning to carry out an attack against Turkish forces in Syria, reports said Monday. The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) carried out an operation to determine the whereabouts of Daesh terrorists Orhan Moran and Mustafa Kılıçlı and nabbed them in Syria. The terrorists …

On March 15, 2022, Turkish journalist Aytuğ Özçolak published an article titled “Russian Oligarchs In Turkey: Initiatives, Relations, And What They Own.”[1] Özçolak reviews the assets and investments in Turkey of Russian oligarchs including: Leonid Mikhelson, Vagit Alekperov, Vladimir Lisin, Vladimir Potanin, Alexy Mordashov, and Mikhail Fridman. While Western media …

Earlier this month, the lead U.N. representative for Yemen announced a two-month cease-fire, the first major breakthrough since 2015 in the conflict between the Houthi rebels and Iran on the one side and the Yemeni government and its Gulf backers on the other. The news was a ray of hope …

Dubai’s Expo 2020, the international fair hosted in the United Arab Emirates, closed last month to rave reviews. The mega event, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic but retained its official name for marketing and branding purposes, ran from October 2021 to March 2022. In that time, it …

Infighting continues among the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions in light of a power and influence struggle, conflict over crossings and smuggling corridors, and the lack of a unified military institution. Clashes and confrontations are taking place almost daily between the armed factions in the areas controlled by the Turkish-backed …

The tensions at Jerusalem’s holy sites is tearing apart what little is left of the Israeli coalition government. The compound that Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram al-Sharif, holy to both religions, is a perennial flashpoint, a powder keg that can always be counted on. In October …