The Guardian:
France-brokered talks between Syria and Israel are unlikely to provide an avenue for peace – neither is offering anything newA glimmer of hope in the moribund Middle East peace process surfaced in Paris recently when Nicolas Sarkozy separately hosted both the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Syrian presid (Read More)
FOXNews.com:
An alleged plot to transport anti-aircraft missiles and guns to Syria was stopped after a key figure was arrested in Philadelphia, the FBI said. (Read More)
Fox News:
An alleged plot to transport anti-aircraft missiles and guns to Syria or Iran was stopped after a key figure was arrested in Philadelphia, the FBI said. (Read More)
Washington Post:
A Hezbollah political official and his son-in-law sought this year to smuggle 1,200 machine guns from the United States to the militant Islamist group via Syria, according to indictments made public Tuesday against 10 men in federal court in Philadelphia.
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USATODAY.com - On Deadline:
In another terrorism case today, the FBI says it has charged five Lebanese over an attempt to buy 100 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 10,000 machine gun destined for Syria or Iran.
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The Guardian:
By attacking the Houthi rebels of Yemen, Riyadh is ill-advisedly turning up the heat on the region's cold warA crucially important conflict, woefully under-reported in the west, has now come to a head in the Middle East. In response to an ongoing fight that could spill out beyond the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia has ente (Read More)
The Guardian:
An increasing number of female jihadis are being recruited and trained to blow themselves up in the name of Islam. Alissa J Rubin visits an Iraqi jail to find out what makes young women turn themselves into killing machinesIn Baquba, the Iraqi police detective flipped pointlessly through a file on his desk; the daylight wa (Read More)
Wall Street Journal:
After years of pursuing a free-trade pact with the EU, Syria is now balking at signing a deal as local businesses express worry about competition from European goods. (Read More)
BBC News Player | World:
Relations between Iraq and Syria have worsened sharply in recent weeks. Iraqi officials led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, blame Damascus for a recent series of huge bomb explosions in Baghdad, accusing it of harbouring hostile elements and allowing armed militants to cross the border. (Read More)
BBC:
Iraq's government claims those responsible for devastating suicide bombs in Iraq are crossing over the border with Syria, the BBC's Jim Muir reports. (Read More)
feeds.washingtonpost.com:
In the beginning . . . Discover, December issue Andrew Lawler, the magazine's archaeology beat writer, traveled to the plains of northeastern Syria to write about a 6,000-year-old settlement called Tell Brak. The discovery three years ago of more than 100 skeletons has helped archaeologists under...
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Wall Street Journal:
Syrian officials are expressing impatience at what they say is the slow pace of U.S. rapprochement, endangering the Obama administration's Mideast policy push. (Read More)
The Guardian:
Former government adviser fears full facts will not come outA former senior government adviser on Iraq today accuses ministers of ignoring a series of opportunities to avert war in the months leading up to the conflict.But Carne Ross, the UK's former Iraq expert on the UN security council, has said he fears the forthcoming (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Politics:
Britain's expert on the UN Security Council at the time of the Iraq invasion argues that John Chilcot's investigation into the build-up to war in Iraq in 2003 will be a futile exercise unless it asks the right questionsWhat is the purpose of the Chilcot inquiry? Its stated objective is to "learn lessons" from the planning a (Read More)