Iran
Iran Cracks Down on Journalists Ahead of Elections
Author Archives: CJ Radin
Israel
Israeli jets bombed a convoy near Syria’s border with Lebanon. The convoy, believed to destined for Hezbollah, was carrying antiaircraft missiles but apparently not chemical weapons.
Syria
Ferocious battle for strategic suburb could hold the keys to Damascus
Syria
Both rebels and the government accused each other of the execution-style massacre of more than 100 people in Aleppo. The head of the rebel coalition said he was willing to hold talks with representatives of the Assad regime.
Egypt
Secular and Islamic groups met to try to defuse the political crisis. Protesters in Cairo rejected prosecutors’ decision to arrest members of the Black Bloc group on terrorism charges. Islamist parties said Black Bloc members must be killed.
Syria
Syria gets ‘blowback’ after playing with fire in Iraq
Syria
The bodies of more than 100 men and boys, apparently executed, were pulled out of a river in Aleppo. After five days of fighting, rebels overran an intelligence complex in eastern Syria, freeing 11 from its prison facility. Syrian refugees exceed 700,000.
Egypt
Egypt’s army chief warned that the current political crisis could cause the collapse of the state. In Port Said, thousands of protesters called for the downfall of Egypt’s president. Public prosecutors urged that members of the ‘Black Bloc” anti-President Morsi group be arrested.
Al Qaeda
New Al-Qaeda Generation May Be Deadliest One
Al Nusrah Front
Inside the war for Syria’s mountains
Egypt
Protesters and riot police clashed in Cairo and Port Said for a fifth day in spite of President Morsi’s declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday; 50 people have died in the violence so far. Morsi’s call for national dialogue was rejected by the main opposition alliance.
Bahrain
Opposition groups said they are willing to open dialogue with the government over the country’s long-running political crisis. Bahrain’s Sunni leadership has clashed with Shiite opposition groups since February 2011.
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After Arab Spring no-show, jihadists make comeback
Israel
Israel’s vice premier said any sign of Syria losing control of its chemical weapons could trigger an Israeli attack. Israel deployed its Iron Dome rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa.
Iran
Iran nuclear impasse likely to continue
Lebanon
Closer ties emerge between Sunni militants from Lebanon and Syria, officials say
Syria
Fighting in southwest Damascus caused the closure of the main highway to Deraa. Russian Prime Minister Medvedev said Assad’s chances of staying in power were getting “smaller and smaller.”
United Arab Emirates
UAE charged 94 people with attempting to overthrow the government. The suspects were alleged to have built a secret network, raised money through real estate deals, and maintained links to the Muslim Brotherhood for expertise and financial support.
Syria
West’s fears over Syria Islamists mount as coalition flounders
Iran
A senior official said Iran would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself. The statement followed a similar comment in September 2012 when a military official said Iran would take action if the US attacked Syria.
Syria
As fighting continued over the strategically important city of Homs, the government brought in pro-regime militia to target civilians. Government troops attacked rebels in Damascus. Rebels freed 100 inmates in battle at a major prison outside of Idlib. Two car bombs exploded in the Golan Heights.
North Korea
North Korea threatened to attack South Korea if it joined UN sanctions. China said it would reduce its assistance to North Korea if the country engages in further nuclear tests.
Bahrain
Anti-government protesters clashed with riot police after authorities denied a request for an opposition rally. Police blocked roads and used tear gas and stun grenades.
Egypt
Tens of thousands gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on the second anniversary of the revolt that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. The demonstration grew violent as protesters attacked government buildings and set fire to the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters. Emergency personnel said 110 people were injured.
Syria
Government forces stepped up an offensive against a rebel-held area in Homs, bringing in ground reinforcements to secure a strategic road junction. Jordan’s King Abdullah II said he did not expect the Assad regime to fall any time soon. A record number of refugees fled to Jordan this month.
North Korea
What’s the real threat? North Korean rhetoric and reality don’t always jibe
Egypt
Egypt: on 25 January, one anniversary but two commemorations
Egypt
Egypt’s Revolution, Two Years On
Hamas
Hamas to establish military academy for schoolkids
North Korea
Following the UN’s condemnation of its ballistic missile launch, North Korea vowed to conduct more nuclear weapons tests and missile launches. North Korea said it was targeting the US as its “sworn enemy” and would retaliate against the US with “force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival.”