CAIRO (REUTERS) – The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Saturday (Oct 12), it said in a statement, following a call by Egypt for the body to meet over Turkey’s offensive into Syria. Egypt’s foreign ministry, in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 9), “condemned in the strongest terms the Turkish aggression on Syrian […]

As United States forces withdraw from their positions in northern Syria, and Turkish forces move in, the fate of thousands of Islamic State group prisoners remains unclear. The detainees and their families – held by Kurdish-led forces – include foreigners from various parts of the world. The US has called on foreign states to repatriate […]

ISTANBUL (REUTERS) – Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria on Wednesday (Oct 8). Here are some reactions to the operation: UNITED NATIONS UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any military operation must fully respect the UN Charter and international humanitarian law. Spokesman Farhan Haq said: “Civilians and civilian infrastructure should be […]

ANKARA (REUTERS) – Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies have launched their military operation into north-eastern Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday (Oct 9), adding that the offensive aimed to eliminate a “terror corridor” along the southern Turkish border. Erdogan said the offensive, dubbed “Operation Peace Spring”, would aim to eliminate threats from the […]

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli denounces Egypt’s demonstrations as part of ‘brutal war’ designed to create ‘confusion’. Egypt’s prime minister warned his government would not allow protesters to spread “chaos” after small rallies recently erupted against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The rare protests broke out in defiance of a ban on demonstrations after Mohamed Ali, an […]

TEHERAN (AFP) – Thousands of Iranian women fans are to attend a football match freely on Thursday (Oct 10) for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the country over its controversial male-only policy. The Islamic republic has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years, with clerics […]

There was an element of the bizarre in the swearing-in ceremony of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) last week. Only five months had passed since the last time newly elected members took the oath and, given continued political paralysis after another round of inconclusive elections, they may have to do it all over again soon. Added to […]

BEIRUT (NYTIMES) – The commander of the US-backed militia in Syria said on Tuesday (Oct 8) that it would attack Turkish forces if they enter north-eastern Syria, while Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicated that such an operation was imminent. “We will resist,” Mazlum Kobani, commander of the Kurdish-led militia, said in an interview with […]

Turkey’s military struck the Syrian-Iraqi border to prevent Kurdish forces using the route to reinforce northeast Syria, as Ankara prepared to attack there following a surprise U.S. troop pullback, Turkish officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Turkey says it is ready to advance into northeast Syria now that the United States has begun withdrawing troops from […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Before dawn on Monday, at a military base in northeastern Syria, an American general delivered the bad news to his Syrian counterpart. The United States was going to allow Turkish forces to move into the area, leaving the Kurdish-led Syrian militia vulnerable. “You are leaving us alone,” the Syrian commander, Mazlum Kobani, […]