More than 100 dead, hundreds wounded in Syria fighting:
More than 100 people were killed and hundreds wounded in fighting on multiple fronts in Syria over the weekend.
Four Peshmerga soldiers reportedly 'beheaded by Isis' :
The beheadings took place at an Isis prison that was attacked by US Special Forces and Peshmerga soldiers last week
Islamic State reaches into Turkey to behead 2 Raqqa activists:
A Syrian activist who helped produce a blog dedicated to exposing Islamic State crimes against the residents of Raqqa was found beheaded along with another young activist at their apartment in Sanliurfa in southern Turkey on Friday, friends said.
Islamic State seizes central Syrian town near key highway:
The capture of Mahin, and the push toward Sadad, marks a new advance of the Islamic State group in central Syria. The group's strongholds lie in northern and eastern Syria; but the group has, as recently as May, established a presence in Homs, seizing the ancient city of Palmyra and then another village to the west.
New U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance launches offensive against Islamic State:
A newly formed U.S.-backed Syrian rebel alliance on Saturday launched an offensive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the United States said it would send special forces to advise insurgents fighting the jihadists.
U.S. pledges nearly $100 million to support Syrian opposition as anti-ISIS offensive begins:
Fighting in Hasakah had begun after midnight, a spokesman for the alliance said. The campaign would "continue until all occupied areas in Hasakah are freed from Daesh," a spokesman for the alliance's general command said in the video, using an Arabic name for the Islamic State.
New U.S.-Backed Alliance to Counter ISIS in Syria Falters:
10 days of interviews and front-line visits across northern Syria with many of the forces in the alliance made clear that so far it exists in name only, and that the political and logistical challenges it faces are daunting.
Syrian MP: US decision to send troops is an aggression:
A Syrian member of parliament says the United States decision to send troops into to Syria is an aggression because it does not have the government's agreement. Sharif Shehadeh said that the troops will have no effect on the ground, but Washington wants to say that it is present in Syria.
White House official won't rule out raids with Syrian partners:
A senior White House official on Monday left the door open for U.S. troops deploying to Syria to conduct raids.
Lest we forget: 1 November 2001:
Blair gets a public lecture on the harsh realities of the Middle East:
President Bashar al-Assad gave Mr Blair a dressing down, condemning the bombing of Afghan civilians and praising Palestinian armed groups as freedom fighters. The prime minister had to stand and listen as the Israelis were described as state terrorists and the west was accused of double standards and an inability to distinguish terrorism from self-defence.
Official: Russian jet broke up at high altitude over Egypt:
The Russian jetliner that crashed shortly after takeoff from an Egyptian resort city broke up at high altitude, scattering fragments of wreckage over a wide area in the Sinai Peninsula, Russia's top aviation official said Sunday as search teams raced to recover the bodies of the 224 people who died.
Satellite detected heat flash at time Russian jetliner went down:
CBS News' national security correspondent David Martin reports a U.S. infrared satellite detected a heat flash over the Sinai at the time the Russian plane went down. The data is still being analyzed in an effort to determine what caused the flash.
Clapper doesn't rule out ISIS involvement in downing of Russian plane:
Two days after the fatal plane crash over Egypt, the director of U.S. national intelligence on Monday said he wouldn't rule out the possibility that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could shoot down an airliner.
Fact or fiction?
Erdogan: I can't condemn the Islamic State for shooting down the Russian airplane :
"The Russian airplanes are targeting Mujahidin in Syria and partisans fighting to topple Syrian dictator Assad. In Syria, Moscow seeks to tip the balance on the ground against our brethren. Consequently, there should be no surprise if Islamic State take revenge," Dubai TV cited the Turkish official as saying.
AKP returns to power in Turkey with outright majority:
Turkey's strongman president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tightened his grip on power decisively on Sunday as his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) swept back to single-party government with an unexpectedly convincing win in national elections.
UN Says over 700 People Killed in Iraq in October:
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement that 559 of those killed in October were civilians, including civilian police, while 155 were members of Iraqi security forces, including the Kurdish peshmerga, Interior Ministry SWAT forces and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi army.
33 ISIL Militants Killed in Iraqi Army Operations in Anbar Province:
On Sunday, Iraqi forces staged rapid advance towards the center of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, right after resuming military operations in the Northern parts of the city.
Ministers in Tony Blair's government 'told to burn legal advice warning Iraq War could be illegal':
Senior figures in government allegedly told to destroy 13-page document raising concerns about legal footing for Iraq War - but Blair spokesman calls claim 'nonsense'
Palestinians bury 5 murdered teens, baby in West Bank:
66 Palestinians, 9 Israelis, and a Palestinian citizen of Israel have been killed since the violence erupted in Jerusalem a month ago.
America's Role in Yemen's Civilian Carnage:
'All We Could Find Were Body Parts':
Robert Fisk on Saudi Prince busted with 40 suitcases of drugs at Beirut airport:
Earlier this week, Saudi Prince Abdul Mohsen bin Walid bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud was arrested in Lebanon. According to reports, the prince and four other Saudis were attempting to fly out of the Beirut airport in a private jet -- chock full of drugs.
Somalia: Al-Shabab attack kills 15 in Mogadishu hotel:
Gunmen used two car bombs to blast their way into the Sahafi hotel compound before storming the building, police said. Victims included at least one MP and the general who led the 2011 offensive that drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu.
Burundi Police Kill Eight Gunmen, Capture 18 Near Capital:
Burundi police clashed with gunmen near the capital, killing eight and capturing 18 others, a spokesman said, in the latest violence following President Pierre Nkurunziza's re-election.
Libya warns it could flood Europe with migrants if EU does not recognise new Islamist government:
Islamists who took power in Tripoli issue veiled threat in response to West's refusal to accept their legitimacy
Rocket hits mosque in eastern Afghanistan, 6 killed:
A rocket apparently fired by fighters from the radical Islamic State movement has hit a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing six worshippers and wounding four others, a local official said
U.S. Spent $43 Million on Afghanistan Gas Station: Watchdog Report:
Nearly $43 million of U.S. taxpayers' money was spent on building a gas station in Afghanistan - 140 times more than it should have cost, according to a government watchdog.
At least 59 Canadian soldiers died by suicide after Afghanistan war:
After long refusing to disclose how many soldiers have killed themselves after serving in the Afghanistan war, the Canadian military released new figures late Monday that raises the suicide count to at least 59.
Top army general calls Russia '#1 threat' to US:
Fresh back from Kiev, Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley called Russia "aggressive" and "adversarial to the interests of the United States," claiming that having nuclear weapons and the ability to use them makes Russia the foremost threat to the US.
6 Syrian refugees injured in several attacks across Germany:
Two of the attacks, in Wismar and Magdeburg, were committed by groups of more than 20 persons who harassed and beat asylum seekers with baseball bats on Saturday.
Porsche, more Audi models pulled into VW emissions scandal:
Volkswagen used devices to cheat air pollution tests in diesel luxury vehicles, U.S. environmental regulators said on Monday, in a new blow to the automaker already reeling from similar allegations regarding millions of smaller diesel engines.
Diet Coke heart risk: 2 a day raise danger 25%:
Experts found men who have two daily servings were 23 per cent more likely to suffer heart failure.
Charge it: Obama signs deal to double national debt from 2009 levels:
President Obama has signed a budget deal for the next two years that will raise the national debt ceiling from $18.5 trillion to $20 trillion, putting the US debt at almost twice the level it was when he first took office.
Professors in Poverty:
31% of adjuncts live near or below poverty levels and many are forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Astonishingly, some teachers make as little as $12,000 annually; meanwhile college presidents make an average salary of over $400,000.
