All Middle East
- Why Iran views Islamic State fight through a conspiracy lensIran鈥檚 top leadership blames the US, CIA, Israel, and America's Sunni allies such as Saudi Arabia for 'creating' the Islamic State as a tool to undermine Iran.
- Could Iraq's tribes provide the glue that keeps the country from falling apart?Saddam Hussein tapped Iraq鈥檚 tribes, which cross geographic and ethnic lines, to bolster his regime. Now some tribesmen are offering to help fend off the self-declared Islamic State.
- Islamic State: Would three old MiGs an air force make?Unconfirmed reports took flight Friday that former Iraqi air force pilots were training Islamic State fighters to fly captured Soviet-era jets at an air base in northwestern Syria.
- In Jordan, slashed UN food aid has even 'well off' Syrians feeling the pinchWith Jordan limiting job opportunities and the UN reducing food aid, even middle-class refugees from war-torn Syria are asking how, and where, they can survive.
- Iran nuclear talks: Parties officially upbeat, but is failure an easier sell?Despite years of haggling and less than six weeks before a Nov. 24 deadline to strike a deal, negotiators' positions at the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna this week are still far apart.
- Flight from Islamic State overwhelms UN refugee agency. Is Europe's door open?An exodus of refugees from Iraq, Syria and other conflicts has drained the resources of host countries in the Middle East. Many of the refugee households are headed by women.聽
- What has life been like for the Islamic State 'poster girls'?A pair of teenage girls fled Austria to become 'jihadi brides' for the Islamic State. Officials now say the girls have contacted their families and want to come home.
- On Islamic State's western front, Lebanon girds for pre-winter attacksLebanon fears that Islamic State and other militant forces 鈥 pressed by Hezbollah and Syria into the mountains along Lebanon's border 鈥 are trying to break into populated areas.
- Rise of IS elicits soul searching in Arab Gulf, a source of funds and fightersIn op-eds and at dinner, Gulf Arabs are debating who is to blame for the Islamic State. Culprits include Syria and the US, but also local sheikhs who raised funds for the jihadists.
- Battle for Kobane: Turkey pressed to let weapons through to Kurdish fightersWith US-led airstrikes having a limited impact on the Islamic State siege of Kobane, Turkey is being urged to open its borders to let weapons through to the increasingly overwhelmed Kurdish fighters.
- Egypt's universities, centers of dissent, reopen under strict new controlsIn antigovernment demonstrations last year at Egypt's universities, more than 800 students were arrested and 16 were killed. In response, Egypt has clamped down on security and tightened control over faculties.
- Yemen suicide bombings a reminder: Sunni-Shiite tensions matter there, tooNearly 70 people were reportedly killed Thursday in a pair of suicide attacks in Yemen that bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
- Kobane backlash: Rage among Turkey's Kurds risks opening old woundsTurkey鈥檚 deadliest riots in more than a decade 鈥 at least 19 dead, 89 wounded, and 345 detained in Kobane-related violence 鈥撀爃ave prompted fears of reinvigorated internal strife among the country鈥檚 Kurds.
- In Babylon, Iraqis shield ancient symbols of identity from Islamic StateIslamic State militants, still some 37 miles from Babylon, have already taken a toll on Iraqi cultural heritage sites. 'For those who want to take pride in Iraq, Babylon is the best we have,' says the site's archaeological director.
- Islamic State: Why Turkey is hesitating to prevent fall of KobaneWith the Islamic State assault on Kobane entering its endgame, Turkey is resisting mounting pressure from its own Kurdish minority to assist the town鈥檚 defenders.
- In jihadist-ruled Iraqi city, residents fear US airstrikes 鈥 and sectarian revengeMosul is the largest city in northern Iraq and its capture in June by Islamic State was a major blow to Baghdad. Some Sunni residents welcomed their new rulers, but tensions are rising over a future assault by US-backed troops.聽
- Is Turkey targeting soccer hooligans or collecting names? Fans are suspicious.Attendance at Turkey's once-vibrant soccer stadiums has plummeted after the government introduced a new e-ticketing system that requires fans to submit personal data in return for a bank card used to buy tickets.
- Jihadists threaten Eid attack in Egypt. Can group reach beyond Sinai base?Ansar Bayt el-Maqdis, the deadliest of Egypt's jihadist groups, is said to be in touch with the Islamic State. It has been largely hemmed in by the army in the Sinai, where the army says it recently killed one of its commanders.
- In ancient Israeli city, an Arab-Jewish drive to keep Yom Kippur peaceWith the Jewish fast day of Yom Kippur coinciding with the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, officials in the mixed Jewish-Arab Israeli city of Acre are preaching tolerance to prevent the violence that marred the holiday six years ago.
- FocusCan the Iraqi Army regroup in time to repel the Islamic State?If the Iraqi Army is to serve as a US ally in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State, first comes the challenge of building a well-led fighting force, motivated by a belief in its cause.