Orientul Mijlociu

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Thursday that it documented the killing of at least 102 civilians during the month of September, in illegal operations by parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria.

SNHR stated in its report that at least 102 civilians — including 15 children, 10 women, and three medical personnel — were killed this September by those involved in the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria, indicating that suicide bombings and booby traps were the main reason behind the deaths.

On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree granting hundreds of thousands of public sector workers and soldiers a one-time financial stimulus, equivalent to an average monthly salary.

The stimulus — the third since October — comes as the national currency is crashing, now at 4,000 Syrian pounds to the dollar on the black market, compared to 700 a year ago. The official rate for the dollar is fixed at 1,256 pounds for 1 dollar.

782 suspects of terrorism and drug trafficking have been arrested in the governorates of Basra, Nineveh, Al-Anbar and Saladin in 2020.

A security source in the Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate on Tuesday revealed to Shafaq News Agency that 48 wholesalers of illegal drugs was arrested, and thousands of narcotic pills known as “01” and drug crystals were seized.

A group of international NGOs and Iraq’s civil societies, including Nobel Peace laureate Nadia Murad, has taken the occasion of the visit of Pope Francis to Iraq to appeal for concrete commitments for protecting Iraq’s minority communities.

Governments in the Middle East have a valid reason to be concerned about the nuclear deal. They have already witnessed its negative consequences.

[T]his would have not been the outcome if Israel and other regional powers had been part of the negotiations.

The composition of the current negotiating team, similar to the previous one, completely excludes those on Iran’s doorstep. In an approach reminiscent of the bygone colonial era, it remains a policy set by governments thousands of miles away.

“The mosque is a gift from Qatar but it’s not free. I have always said that they will expect something in return, and this shows that they are making some claims for their money.” — Lars Aslan Rasmussen, Copenhagen city councilman.

Officials from nearly all of Denmark’s main political parties have expressed their support for the bill to ban foreign funding of mosques.

“It is a real problem if donations are made from organizations that want to undermine fundamental democratic values.” — Foreign Affairs Minister Mattias Tesfaye.

What does the conflict in Syria look like on the ground?

The sides to the conflict are locked in an uneasy standoff that has brought the country a measure of calm, but fighting could rapidly reignite and trigger international instability. The turning point in the past year came when a Russian-Turkish ceasefire announced on 5 March 2020 halted a year-long Syrian regime onslaught on Idlib in the north west. This paused most fighting on the war’s last active front. Turkey expanded its military presence in Idlib, securing the truce. Thus, the area became the latest example of de facto ceasefires around the country.

Oil prices edged up on Monday, with Brent drifting near $70 a barrel, propped up by output cuts from major producers and optimism about global economic and fuel demand recovery in the second half of the year.

Brent crude futures for May gained 50 cents, or 0.72%, to $69.72 a barrel by 0528 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for April was at $66.13 a barrel, up 52 cents, or 0.79%.

French TV channel M6 aired lately an investigation on ISIS terrorists who have managed to settle without any problem in Europe, and particularly in Germany.

The M6 flagship program “Enquête Exclusive” showed how ISIS terrorists managed to slip through the cracks by posing as asylum seekers, and how they ended up being greeted with open arms and offered a safe haven in Germany, because of the dangerous laxity of German authorities.