Tensions between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, and Turkish-backed Syrian factions are escalating once again. The Azm Operations Room, which brings together a number of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions, accuses HTS of planning to enter FSA-held areas in north Syria. Most recently, Sheikh Ahmed …

Fighting is intensifying around the Yemeni city of Marib since government forces captured neighboring Shabwa province last week. Reuters reported today that a pro-Yemeni government militia backed by the United Arab Emirates known as the Giants Brigade has joined the fight at Marib to push back Houthi rebel forces attempting …

The SDF has transferred another group of IS suspects with Iraqi nationality but arrested in Syria, alongside some of the thousands of Iraqis in al-Hol camp, to Iraq as the potential for jailbreaks remains high. Fifty Iraqi men suspected of belonging to the Islamic State (IS) and who had been …

High oil prices are a victory for Saudi Arabia, but a blow to the United States and China. Oil prices reached their highest point since 2014 today. The price of Brent crude opened above $87 a barrel. Brent crude is widely considered the benchmark for global oil prices. Oil prices …

In retaliation for a mysterious explosion along the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkey hit several Kurdish positions in the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani in an attack that the Kurds call a “war rehearsal” aiming to test the water. Turkey appears to be aiming to maintain high tensions in northeast Syria through …

On 26 August last year a former engineering student named Abdul Rahman al-Logari, wearing a vest containing 25lb of explosives, was about to be searched by American soldiers guarding Kabul airport. At the last moment, this Isis suicide bomber detonated his device, killing 13 American soldiers and between 170 and …

On January 11, 2022, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths appealed to the international community to help raise $4.4 billion for Afghanistan in humanitarian aid, calling this effort, “the largest ever appeal for a single country for humanitarian assistance.” This amount is required “in the hope of …

The militarization of American foreign policy has evolved over the past thirty years. Ironically, this took place in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which should have led to reassessing U.S. national security policy and defense spending. Democratic presidents have played a major role in this militarization …

At the heart of the current crisis between Washington and Moscow is this: Vladimir Putin has massed troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine and implied that he may invade unless he receives a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. The Biden administration rejects that demand out of hand. Powerful …

This is a big year for the BBC as it marks the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast. That fact alone might be thought enough to focus Corporation minds on the anachronistic way in which it is funded, much as in 1922. Despite developments in communication since then, there …