The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Test of Our Common Humanity
Source: Huffington Post By Gaurav Krishnan; Senior at DexterSouthfield School, Boston MA The danger of being ruled by fear is one that is all too present in the modern age. […]
Isis fighters’ pay halved ‘because of low oil prices’
Source: Independent It’s not only massive oil companies Shell and BP that have been forced to cut jobs because of low oil prices. Now even Isis fighters are feeling the […]
Risking rift with US, Turkey confronts Syrian Kurds
By AFP – Feb 14,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Turkish forces’ armoured vehicles patrol at the southeastern town of Nusaybin, Turkey, near the border with Syria, where Turkish security forces are battling militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), on Sunday, a day after Turkish media reports said a […]
Aleppo’s frightening reminder of wider threats and older glories
Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI Aleppo today is frightening almost beyond description and comprehension. One of the world’s ancient centres of civilisation is bombed and sieged, its inhabitants tortured and starved to death, and hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees do not know if they will […]
Isis and the Taliban are brutally carving up modern ‘Mafiastan’
Voices I have long nursed the suspicion that Taliban units, Isis and government militias are not fighting about religion or government at all, more about mafia power Robert Fisk @indyvoices 5 comments An Afghan militia man stands guard in the Achin district of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015. AP […]
Russia Accuses West of ‘New Cold War’ over Syria, Ukraine
Source: NBC News MUNICH, Germany – Russia on Saturday accused world powers of fighting “a new Cold War” as Moscow came under pressure from the United States and NATO over its actions in Syria and Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev painted a grim picture of relations with the West, telling the […]
Here’s How Syria’s Regime Is Profiting From People Under Siege
In the besieged Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, regime officials line their pockets by charging exorbitant amounts for exit fees, tolls, and international aid while residents starve and suffer. posted on Feb. 11, 2016, at 3:34 p.m. Borzou Daragahi BuzzFeed News Middle East Correspondent Sarah Dadouch BuzzFeed Contributor Reporting FromIstanbul, […]
Ministers agree to ‘full cessation of hostilities’ in Syria within week: Kerry
Rafael Nash | Friday, February 12, 2016 Five years of conflict have killed more than a quarter-million people, created Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State to carve out its own territory across parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq. They will continue their […]
Russia raises spectre of permanent or ‘world war’ if Syria talks fail
By Reuters – Feb 11,2016 -JORDAN TIMES – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev holds a meeting on the situation in banking in the Gorki residence, outside Moscow, Russia, Monday (AP photo) MUNICH — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev raised the spectre of a permanent or a world war if […]
Aleppo’s frightening reminder of wider threats and older glories
Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – RAMI G. KHOURI Aleppo today is frightening almost beyond description and comprehension. One of the world’s ancient centres of civilisation is bombed and sieged, its inhabitants tortured and starved to death, and hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees do not know if they will […]
Bashar al-Assad vows to retake whole of Syria by force despite ceasefire attempts
The US has backed anti-government rebels and more than a dozen countries are involved in the civil war Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden 29 comments Bashar al-Assad has resisted international calls to step down EPA Bashar al-Assad has vowed to retake the whole of Syria by force, even as diplomats continue increasingly […]
Syria conflict: Russia submits ceasefire proposal
Source: BBC Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he has submitted a proposal for a ceasefire in Syria, as world powers meet in Munich. Mr Lavrov gave no further details […]
Absurdity of the war in Syria
ALI IBRAHIM Published — Thursday 11 February 2016 Fighters from Chechnya are on both sides of the conflict; on one side they guide Russian aircraft to their targets and on the other they fight Daesh extremists in Syria and Iraq to participate in their absurd war, which has damaged the […]
JORDAN: Gov’t sends messages of assurance over integrating Syrians into labour force
By Omar Obeidat – Feb 11,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour meets with journalists and chief editors of local dailies at the Prime Ministry on Wednesday (Petra photo) AMMAN – The government on Wednesday said that allowing Syrians to join the labour market would not “by any […]
Consequences of some ‘pipe dreams’
Feb 10,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – MICHAEL JANSEN Turkey is using the ongoing build-up of Syrians fleeing fighting around Aleppo, on the Syrian side of its border to achieve three objectives. The immediate objective is to maintain Ankara’s recently adopted policy of allowing Syrians to enter Turkey only if they […]
A plan must be made for ‘life after Isis’ in the Middle East
In the Second World War, Allied leaders planned for the post-war world – a ‘United Nations’ – years before the conflict ended. We must do the same for the Middle East. Robert Fisk @indyvoices Monday 8 February 2016 183 comments Government troops walk past Isis flag in recaptured Syrian town […]
Aleppo siege spells doom for West’s goals in Syria — analystsY
By AFP – Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES In this February 5, 2016 file photo, Syrians walk towards the Turkish border at the Bab Al SalamA border gate, Syria (AP photo) PARIS — The siege of Aleppo has taken the West even further from achieving its key goals […]
Unconscionable and deserving punishment
Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES EDITORIAL As if Syrian refugees’ plight were not already unbearable, a grim dimension is added to it: the estimation that no less than 10,000 Syrian children who entered Europe are still unaccounted for, their whereabouts unknown. According to the EU criminal intelligence agency Europol, these […]
Daesh and education
Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Mahmoud N. Zidan Many people might think that the words Daesh and education are intrinsically antithetical, and they would be right if they were referring to education in our region in an abstract way. But education in the region, it is sad to admit, is […]
The collapse of the Geneva talks
Feb 09,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Hasan Abu Nimah Not many observers were surprised by the quick collapse of the Syria peace talks last week. It would have been a bigger surprise if the Geneva talks, organised by UN special representative Staffan de Mistura, had lasted any longer, let alone accomplished […]