Middle Orient

The Syrian regime has imposed Islamic personal status laws on the Yazidi community, sparking outrage and fears for the ethnoreligious minority that faced genocide in neighboring Iraq. A Justice Ministry circular issued on Sunday ruled that the Yazidi minority were not exempt from Islamic personal status laws, essentially terming the …

The Air Force Intelligence Branch has issued a list of more than 100 wanted residents from the village of Kanaker in the western countryside of Damascus. The individuals are accused of causing the recent security tension in the village. Private sources said that the list includes the names of young …

Not a lot of time separates us from the next presidential elections in Syria, which are expected to take place next April. In the meantime, the Syrian regime has been trying to increase the number of measures it is taking to calm tensions in the southern regions of Syria, namely …

High-profile regime defector Manaf Tlass will head the Syrian Military Council, according to Zaitun Agency. The head of the Free Officers’ Association, Brig. Gen. Talal Farzat, emphasized in an exclusive statement with Zaitun Media Agency that the idea behind ​​the Military Council is both old and new, as it was …

A Russian soldier stands guard as troops accompany a convoy of displaced Syrian civilians leaving for their homes in the northern town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region. More than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes since Syria’s civil war broke …

SOHR sources say that Russian jets continue their airstrikes on various positions in the Syrian desert, executing at least 130 airstrikes, in the last 24 hours, targeting ISIS positions in the Aleppo-Hama-Raqqah triangle and the deserts of Deir ez-Zor and Homs. Where a squadron of Russian fighter jets consecutively pounded …

SOHR activists say have reported that Turkish forces detonated a tunnel used for smuggling in the area of Ain al-Bayda in western countryside of Idlib, near the border with the Iskenderun region. According to SOHR sources, the tunnel is used for smuggling operations between Syria and Turkey, whether goods or …

The Wall Street Journal reported on plans for ports and air bases in the kingdom’s western desert, which the US military would seek to develop as positions to be used if war were to break out with Iran. The US military is looking for fallback bases in Saudi Arabia to …

The intelligence apparatus, according to a Royal Court statement, is to “to focus all energies in its areas of specialty, which are vital to national security and professional intelligence operations, and to dedicate all capabilities to ensure that it remains an example of professionalism in countering terrorism and security threats.” …

Soapbox (described on Facebook as Russia state-controlled media) is circulating a video of veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy lecturing against the Zionist occupation of the West Bank. In the first few frames Levy says: “Palestine must be demilitarized.” Sorry, why should Palestine be demilitarized? Don’t they [Palestinians] have their right …