Obama, EU Leaders Expand Russian Sanctions
President Obama along with Western Nations announced new, tougher sanctions against Russia on Tuesday targeting key sectors of the Russian economy: energy, arms and finance.
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Christian Presence in Middle East Becoming ‘Shadow of its former self’
The State Department issued a dire report Monday on the state of religious freedom around the world, with an alarming warning that the Christian presence in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East is becoming a “shadow of its former self,” Fox News reported.
US House Panel Set to Approve Hezbollah Sanctions Bill
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has nearly completed “The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014”, which will prevent the Lebanese terrorist organization from receiving financing from international institutions.
Iraq Has Split into Three States
Iraq has effectively been split into three States, each representing ethnic factions, according to a former U.S. Ambassador.
U.S. Accuses Russia of Violating Missile Treaty
The Obama administration has accused Russia of violating a 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing a ground-launched cruise missile and says the U.S. is prepared for immediate high-level dialogue with Moscow over the matter, Fox News reported.
River Turns Bloody Red in China
Last Thursday, a river in China mysteriously turned a blood red color. China’s environmental protection bureau has yet found the cause of the incident, but suspicions are the ‘blood red’ color was a result of illegal dumping.
UN: South Sudan’s Food Crisis ‘Worst in the World’
The United Nations called South Sudan’s food crisis the ‘worst in the world’ and urged donor nations who pledged $618 million to make good on their promise.
Foreign Policy Conundrum: Qatar Purchased Billions of U.S. Arms — and Supports Hamas
Qatar recently cemented an enormous weapons deal with the United States. But this week, the tiny, resource-rich Gulf kingdom with out-sized geopolitical ambitions — and a seemingly bottomless pocketbook — might be setting itself up for more problematic relations with the U.S., Business Insider reported.
U.S. Releases Images Showing Russian Military Firing into Ukraine
The United States released a series of satellite images Sunday that appear to support its claims that Russian forces have fired across the border into Ukraine to support rebels there, suggesting a new level of direct Russian involvement in the conflict, USA Today reported.
‘Islamic State’ Overruns Syrian Base and Beheaded Syrian Soldiers
The Islamic State have released images of captured soldiers being beheaded following a battle for a large Syrian military base on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa.
Russia Supplying Weapons to Iraq
Russia has begun supplying military helicopters and fighters jets to Iraq, a report said Thursday, as Iraq’s defense minister visited Moscow to press for equipment to thwart a jihadist offensive, AFP reported.
‘Solution is Israel’s Destruction’, Iran’s Ayatollah Declares
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated on Wednesday that the only solution for the region is the destruction of Israel, and that the armed confrontation must expand beyond Gaza, the Daily Caller reported.
European Court Rules Against Poland Over Secret CIA Prisons
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that Poland is financially responsible to two individuals, who are now held in Guantanamo Bay, for rights that were violated by the CIA on Polish soil. Poland denied the existence of secret CIA prisons, however the judgment that adds pressure to the United States to reveal the truth of its detention of al Qaeda suspects worldwide.
Iran Could Achieve Nuclear ‘Breakout’ in Two Months
Iran could still produce enough nuclear material to fuel a bomb in as little as two months, a time frame that has not been prolonged under the recently struck agreement to extend nuclear talks through November, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Iran Calls on Resistance Groups to ‘Ink Defense Pact’ Against Israel (Video)
Iran’s Basij Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi called on all “resistance groups” in “Palestine, Syria and Lebanon” to sign a defense pact to help and support each other against Israel, the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Militia Blamed for Benghazi Attack Moved Next Door to Consulate Before Attack
Members of the Islamist extremist militia blamed for the Benghazi terror attack had moved in next door to the U.S. Consulate months before the strike but “nothing was done” despite concerns about the dangerous neighbors, Fox News reported.
Islamic State Campaigns Water War to Drive Out Christians
The Islamic State has been closing access to water supplies from the Tigris river to Christian towns in an effort to eradicate Christianity from the region.
Antisemitic Protests Erupt Around the World
Anti-Semitic rallies took place all across the world stretching as far south as Chile, and as far north as Japan. Protests took place all across major European cities and throughout the United States as Israel continues to destroy Hamas’ infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
‘Intifada’ Erupts in Paris Results in Firebombed Jewish-owned Stores, Synagogues (Video)
For the second straight day on Sunday anti-Jewish rioters defied a protest ban in Paris to rampage in the predominantly Jewish suburb of Sarcelles in what one police official called the “Paris Intifada,” Algeminer reported.
Iran Has Another Four Months to Enrich Uranium as Negotiations Extended, Receives Another $2.8 Billion
The United States will give Iran access to another $2.8 billion over the next several months and appears to have conceded to Iran’s demand that it be permitted to domestically enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, the Washington Free Beacon reported.