Egypt’s relations with Hamas have begun to warm up in recent months after years of tension following the 2013 overthrow of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi. Egypt’s diplomatic efforts resulted in a cease-fire agreement May 21 between Hamas and Israel. The deal, coordinated with the United States, ended 11 days …

A spree of rattling allegations by a Turkish mobster has brought into focus the increase in cocaine trafficking in Turkey and its domestic and international ramifications. Long a major route of heroin smuggling from Afghanistan to Europe, Turkey in recent years has seen an increase in cocaine trafficking as well, …

The Syrian Democratic Forces closed the crossings connecting their areas in northeast Syria to government-held areas to prevent the participation of the areas’ inhabitants in the Syrian presidential elections. On May 24, the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in north and east Syria announced in a statement that it was shutting the …