In The News

NATO Tested on Turkey’s Syria Operation: Al Jazeera

Samuel Stolton October 14, 2019
Kurdish fighters, in alliance with US forces, were key to reducing the Islamic State throughout Syria. US troop withdrawal from the area prompted Turkey’s military operation against these same Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. The operation divides NATO and risks destabilizing the region, reports Samuel Stolton for Al Jazeera. “After meetings on Friday with Turkish officials in Istanbul,...

Tens of Thousands Flee Homes in Syria: BBC

October 11, 2019
The United States began withdrawing troops from the region. Turkey wasted no time, launching an invasion of the border area with Syria – home to Kurdish people, many of whom stepped up at US urging to battle Islamic State terrorists. The invasion causes thousands of people to flee. “Turkish troops have encircled the border towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad and aid agencies fear the exodus could...

Turkey Seeks World Support on Syria Moves: Hürriyet

October 9, 2019
Kurdish forces were key to defeating Islamic State extremists in northern Syria. The ethnic group is a sizable minority in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. But Turkish leaders regard Kurdish hopes for autonomy and their own country as a terrorist endeavor. The US president announced a withdrawal of US forces from the border region, despite questions about the welfare of Kurdish allies known as the Syrian...

Protests, Curfew in Ecuador: Miami Herald

Jim Wyss October 9, 2019
Massive protests over rising prices and an end to fuel subsidies are roiling Ecuador’s capital. President Lenin Moreno has left the capital, transferred the government from Quito to Guayaquil, and declared a state of emergency, reports Jim Wyss for the Miami Herald. The president blames neighboring Venezuela and political opposition, and some US officials agree with that assessment despite...

The US Withdraws from Syria: New York Times

Peter Baker and Lara Jakes October 8, 2019
Civil war in Syria began soon after the Arab Spring in 2011. Islamic State terrorists took advantage of chaos, gaining territory and control, and the United States supported Kurdish fighters in containing ISIS. But Turkey resents the Kurds – a large and marginalized minority in that country as well as Syria, Iraq and Iran – and labels them terrorists. President Donald Trump announced withdrawal...

US Whistleblower’s Complaint on Trump

September 27, 2019
A declassified and redacted version of a whistleblower’s complaint on US President Donald Trump has been released. “In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the complaint begins. “This...

Zelensky-Trump Meet on UN Sidelines: Kyiv Post

Bermét Talant September 26, 2019
Expect global leaders to apply caution in interactions with the United States. Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine since May, spoke with US President Donald Trump by telephone in July, shortly after the president had suspended an aid payment. Details of the call, possibly connected to a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump, have galvanized global attention. Speaker of the House of...