July, 2020

• 20 July

  Ex-paratrooper who fought Isil claims Turkey put pressure on Britain to charge him with terror offences

  Daniel Burke was accused of terrorism offences after volunteering to help the Kurdish YPG fight against Isil in Syria.

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• 20 July

  Tensions continue to rise between US and Hezbollah

  The fallout from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s warning that Washington will do all it can to prevent Iran selling oil to Hezbollah in Lebanon continued this week.

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• 20 July

  Reports: Lebanese Hezbollah Opening Unofficial Border Crossing With Syria

  The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is intensifying efforts to open a new border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, local sources and Arab media reported this week.

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• 20 July

  Fears as 29 terrorists to be freed onto UK streets ‘deeply worrying’

  TWENTY-nine terrorists are due to be released from prison within the next three years, with 11 of them back on the streets before April and three released by September.

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• 14 July

  U.S. Sanctions on Syria: What Comes Next?

  Sanctions on Syria aim to protect Syrian civilians from the regime but may end up hurting them instead. Washington should further clarify humanitarian exemptions, specify benchmarks related to civilian protection and offer temporary easing of sanctions as long as these are met.

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• 14 July

  President Erdogan declares Hagia Sophia a mosque after Turkish court ruling

  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia a mosque on Friday hours after a top court ruled the ancient building’s conversion to a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.

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• 14 July

  Mosques, Museums and Politics: The Fate of Hagia Sophia

  When the caustic Evelyn Waugh visited the majestic sixth century creation of Emperor Justinian, one subsequently enlarged, enriched and encrusted by various rulers, he felt underwhelmed. “‘Agia’ will always win the day for one,” he wrote of Istanbul’s holiest of holies, Hagia Sophia, in 1930. “A more recondite snobbism is …

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• 14 July

  Russia removes Syria forces from major oil field in Deir Ez-Zor

  Russian forces on Saturday took control of a major oil field in the Deir Ez-Zor governorate, in eastern Syria, after removing regime forces from it.

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• 14 July

  France abandons Haftar, attacks Wagner

  After having been one of the European countries to provide the greatest diplomatic and logistic support, and remaining silent regarding the thousands of deaths and massacres committed by its troops, France has finally abandoned General Khalifa Haftar. But isn’t it too late? And why now? French President Emmanuel Macron, who …

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• 14 July

  Bin Salman orders former Crown Prince to repay ‘stolen’ money

  The former Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Bin Nayef, has been ordered to repay $15 billion by an anti-corruption committee set up by his rival successor and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Bin Salman. The current Crown Prince, who took over when his father King Salman deposed …

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