2 Palestinian Gunmen, Israeli Army Officer Killed in West Bank Clash

Two Palestinians and an Israeli army officer were killed early Wednesday morning in an exchange of fire at an Israeli army checkpoint, the Israeli military and Palestinian medics reported. Israeli troops noticed two Palestinians holding weapons and approaching the Jalame checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Jenin, according to an Israeli army spokesman. The soldiers tried to arrest the Palestinians, who opened fire, killing the Israeli officer, Maj. Bar Pelah, the deputy commander of elite Nahal reconnaissance unit.

Why Russia’s Vladimir Putin is rooting for Turkey’s Erdogan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “pro-Russian tilt” has grown louder in recent weeks, as Vladimir Putin clearly looks for Erdogan to stay in power.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces the biggest challenge to his nearly two decades of uninterrupted rule as galloping inflation, a wilting national currency and resentment toward Syrian migrants sap his popularity — and one world leader is watching closely: Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Turkish intel chief pursues multiple goals in Baghdad

In landmark talks in Baghdad, Hakan Fidan sought to ease bilateral tensions over a deadly attack in July, assert Turkey’s resolve to continue military operations on Iraqi soil and sway the political impasse in Iraq.

Turkey’s intelligence chief Hakan Fidan became the country’s first official to hold high-level talks in Baghdad after bilateral tensions shot up in July. While Fidan’s visit was aimed at soothing the tensions, it was also a Turkish attempt to exert influence in the Iraqi political crisis.

Terror Alert: Armenia-Azerbaijan War on the Rise as the French Gets Involved

While the world is looking at Ukraine and Russia, a brewing all-out war is happening between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Fighting on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia has started, and as two troops faced each other today, 99 soldiers were killed in the skirmish, with both sides taking hits. Armenia reported losing 49 of their soldiers, while Azerbaijan noted they lost 50. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-long conflict over the area of Nagorno-Karabakh. This region was considered part of Azerbaijan but had been controlled by Armenian ethnic forces since the separatist war ended in 1994.

Blinken Says Revival of Iran Nuclear Deal Soon Is ‘Unlikely’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a revived nuclear deal with Iran in the near future is “unlikely,” based on Iran’s response to the European Union’s most recent proposal for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. “What we’ve seen over the last week or so in Iran’s response to the proposal put forward by the European Union is clearly a step backward and makes prospects for an agreement in the near term, I would say, unlikely,” Blinken said on Monday during a visit to Mexico City.