Sacred Geometry of Islamic Mosques
By Hwaa Irfan Friday, 22 November 2013 00:00 Cairo, Egypt The main precept of Islam is the unity and oneness of Allah and the importance of worshipping only Allah and […]
An Apolitical Virus: Strife Fuels Polio’s Return to Middle East
Polio is making a comeback in a decimated part of Syria, but the delicate politics of the war are making vaccination campaigns difficult. As an epidemic looms over the region, […]
A book helps us navigate the Syria mess
November 20, 2013 12:11 AM By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star SUMMARY Four simultaneous trends seem to define the war in Syria these days, which only becomes more complicated and difficult to resolve with every passing week. Every aspect of Syria today is frightening and tragic but also consequential […]
Refugees spiraling deeper into poverty: Oxfam
November 21, 2013 01:58 AM By Samya Kullab The Daily Star STORY SUMMARY Monthly incomes for refugees is around $250 but average monthly expenditure is around $520, including rent, $225, […]
Typhoon Assad and Western indifference
By Michael Young The Daily Star Story Summary You can sympathize with Syrians looking longingly at the extended coverage in Western media of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Philippines caused by Typhoon Haiyan. When it comes to Syria, no such concern is evident. There is an assumption that saving the […]
Putin holds first talks with Assad in two years — Kremlin
AFP | Nov 14, 2013 | 21:53 MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held his first telephone talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad in two years, applauding Damascus for its willingness to attend a peace conference and destroy its chemical weapons, the Kremlin said. Putin “positively assessed” the […]
Albanians oppose dismantling Syrian weapons
TIRANA, Albania: Thousands of Albanians demonstrated on Thursday against a reported plan for Syrian chemical weapons to be destroyed in their country. “No to chemical weapons!” the protesters chanted outside […]
Syria Kurds announce transitional autonomous authority
Story Summary Kurds in the Syria’s northeast announced the formation of a transitional autonomous administration Tuesday after making key territorial gains against jihadists in recent weeks. Washington and its European […]
Tension soars as Syria rebel chief shot dead by jihadists
Story Summary Simmering hostility between Syria’s mainstream rebels and jihadists has erupted into naked violence, with a Free Syrian Army commander in the coastal province of Latakia being shot dead by an Al-Qaeda front group. Kamal Hamami — better known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Bassir al-Jeblawi — was killed on […]
Kosovo Muslim leaders to youths: Don’t go to Syria
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s top Muslim leaders are calling on the country’s youths who have joined rebels in Syria to stop fighting and come back home. The Islamic Community of Kosovo said in a statement Wednesday that fighting in Syria “has nothing to do with religious principles” and it only […]
Mass migrations are nothing new in the Middle East, but the sheer numbers involved are having a devastating effect
Polio has broken out in Syria and 20 million children are to be vaccinated BY ROBERT FISK, THE INDEPENDENT The Syrian tragedy grows more ferocious by the week. I was shocked to learn this weekend that at least 2,000 Afghans, the poorest of the poor from the harshest country on […]
In pictures: Syrian refugees’ most important things
See the picture slide show here: SOURCE: BBC
Polio outbreak in Syria: Virus is of Pakistani origin, says UNICEF
The Express Tribune — Preliminary evidence indicates that the poliovirus that has reportedly affected ten children in Syria is of Pakistani origin, a joint press statement issued by Unicef and World Health Organisation (WHO) claims. The statement says this is the first polio outbreak in the restive country since 1999, […]
Northern Europe Beckons to Desperate Syrians Thousands of Middle-Class Syrians Are Trying to Get to Europe’s Northern Countries to Seek Asylum
It took Mohamad Simo eight months, $15,000 and five forged passports to get from war-torn Aleppo, Syria, to the sleepy town of Vetlanda in the Swedish countryside. Now the software […]
Is U.S. policy in Syria changing?
STORY SUMMARY by By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star I was struck a few days ago when I read U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement in Riyadh, after talks with the Saudi Arabian leadership, that the U.S. had neither “the legal authority nor desire” to intervene in Syria. […]
Washington keeping lying about Syria CW
The weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) issue has been the excuse of choice for the US administrations in order to threaten some countries, such as Syria or Iran, or invade others, such as Iraq. The common point of all these allegations is their falsehood. Nowadays, everybody knows that Iraq did […]
Why Won’t the West Defend Middle Eastern Christians?
by Diarmaid MacCulloch Oct 27, 2013 5:45 AM EDT Why has the suffering of the Middle Eastern Christian communities not ignited outrage and support from Western Christians? The answer has […]
CNN Exclusive: Inside Syrian town living under al Qaeda reign of fear
CNN: by Nick Paton Walsh, Raja Razek, Gul Tuysuz – Gaziantep, Turkey (CNN) — Raqqa was, a matter of months ago, one of Syria’s most liberal cities. Now locals call it Tora Bora. They say it’s as if the Taliban of Afghanistan have taken over. After months of bombardment by the […]
Syria Peace Talks In Geneva Postponed
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top Syria envoy says diplomats have failed to agree on a date for a new Syria peace conference this year. Lakhdar Brahimi said at a news conference in Geneva that diplomats “are still striving to see if we can have the conference before the end […]
Syrian regime says not going to Geneva talks to hand over power
Beirut (AFP) – The Syrian regime will not attend a proposed Geneva peace conference if the aim is for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power, the country’s information minister said Monday. “We will not go to Geneva to hand over power as desired by (Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud) […]