Blog Posts

Iraq’s Cabinet issued a new reform plan early Sunday following a night of clashes in which security forces opened fire on protesters killing at least 19 people.

"About 10,000 people including Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko gathered in central Kiev on Sunday to protest a plan for broader autonomy for separatist territories ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin."

"Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that his country will soon launch an 'air and ground military operation' east of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, prompting the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to promise 'all-out war' if they face an unprovoked attack."

A top United Nations official condemned violence related to protests in Iraq, saying that “this must stop” after the reported five-day death toll surged to near 100 people.

Continue on for the latest Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report.

Thousands of residents of Pakistan-held Kashmir rallied Saturday on board vehicles and motorbikes to press for their demand that India lift a two-month old controversial clampdown in its controlled portion of the disputed region.

North Korea angrily walked away from working-level nuclear talks with the United States on Saturday, with Pyongyang’s top negotiator saying he was “greatly disappointed” with Washington’s inflexible approach.

"Subway remains closed, along with many storefronts and shopping malls, day after government invoked emergency measure."

"Turkey is preparing to invade Northeastern Syria despite U.S. efforts to de-escalate tensions through a joint security mechanism along the border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on October 5 that 'We have made our preparations, completed our operation plans' and that air and ground operations will begin within days."

"As the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan enters its 19th year, several significant developments have unfolded in recent weeks that will shape the country's security and governance dynamics."

"The Taliban met with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Pakistan capital for the first time since President Donald Trump declared a seemingly imminent peace deal to end Afghanistan's 18-year war 'dead' a month ago, a Taliban official said early Saturday."

"Iraq faced the prospect of a deepening political crisis Saturday, after four days of unrest left at least 64 people dead, and authorities lifted a round-the-clock curfew in the capital meant to quell the anti-government demonstrations."

"Most of Hong Kong's metro system remains shut after a day which saw stations and businesses attacked in violent anti-government protests."

"After years of growing hostility and competition for influence, Saudi Arabia and Iran have taken steps toward indirect talks to try to reduce the tensions that have brought the Middle East to the brink of war, according to officials from several countries involved in the efforts."

A top U.S. military commander says embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is slowly but surely losing his grip on power, forced to rely on countries like Cuba and Russia, and even on drug cartels, to stay in office.

"ISIS has mounted low-level efforts to replenish its ranks from members held in detention facilities and displacement camps across Syria and Iraq since late 2018. Some ISIS members have paid bribes to guards in order to buy their freedom."

"On the anniversary of the Oct. 4, 2017 ambush that killed four American soldiers near the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, family members of three of the fallen expressed continued frustration with how U.S. Africa Command handled the investigation."

"The U.S. is offering a $5 million reward for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of the militants who committed or aided in the deadly Oct. 4, 2017, attack on a joint U.S.-Nigerien military patrol that left four U.S. soldiers dead."

"In April 2017, U.S. forces dropped one of the largest non-nuclear bombs on an ISIS cave complex in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Dubbed the ‘mother of all bombs’ it killed dozens of fighters."

"Just days before U.S.-Taliban talks were put on freeze earlier in September, I was in Istanbul for a negotiations workshop with 25 Afghan women leaders. These women were expected to play an integral role in intra-Afghan talks that would follow a U.S.-Taliban deal."

Efforts to resolve the nearly five-year conflict in Yemen are increasing following drone and missile attacks on Saudi oil facilities last month.

Six people were killed during anti-government protests in Iraq Thursday, raising the death toll to at least 27, authorities said. Police and medical officials said the protestors were shot to death in Nasiriyah, a city south of the capital of Baghdad. Since Tuesday, the demonstrations have spread in Baghdad and in areas south of the capital.

"The turmoil in Iraq, a country central to America’s Middle East policy, comes at a critical moment in the region amid soaring tensions between Iran and the United States - both allies of the Iraqi government."

"Iraq faces a threat of Iranian subversion that is, to a large extent, a function of a deepening geopolitical rift in which Iran stands on one side and the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia are on the other. To protect its own interests and avoid falling prey to Iran’s apparent desire to become the regional hegemon and assimilate Middle Eastern capitals into its sphere of influence, Iraqi leaders would be wise to chart these waters carefully."

The United States and other countries hoping to deal the Islamic State terror group an enduring defeat risk failure by ignoring the tens of thousands of fighters, women and children stuck in prisons or camps across northeastern Syria, key U.S. officials warn.