All Middle East
Potential splits between Islamic State and other militant groups in SyriaA UK-based professor who tracks radicalization and militant Islamist movements says the brutality and prominence of foreign fighters within the ranks of the Islamic State is a source of contention with other militant groups in Syria.
Aid to Sunni Arabs in Kurdistan comes with a side of suspicionSunni Arabs have found shelter from Iraq's spreading war in Kurdish controlled camps. But ethnic hostility is close to the surface.
Erdogan's first term as Turkish president: 4 things to watch forRecep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's first directly elected president, faces civil wars on his borders, a possible economic slowing, and accusations of authoritarianism.
Israel believes it's developing regional support for hurting HamasThe Israel-Gaza cease-fire agreed yesterday appears to be holding. Many in Israel are optimistic they're going to get the support of Arab states in weakening Hamas.
Finally a real cease-fire between Hamas and Israel?An agreement to stop the fighting was apparently reached in Cairo. But there are differences between the claims that Hamas and Israel are making for the contents of the agreement.
Will US work with Syria's Assad as Islamic State makes gains?Many say the US needs to spread its airstrikes campaign from Iraq into Syria in order to check IS. That could mean working with a regime the US sees as a pariah.
Israel says no difference between Hamas and Islamic State: True?The Israeli government has been working hard to convince the world that Hamas and the Islamic State, the jihadi group in Iraq and Syria, are cut from the same cloth.
In northern Iraq, Islamic State switching to terror tacticsTerror attacks in the Kurdish city of Erbil and the city of Kirkuk over the weekend show that the so-called Islamic State has the ability to strike in areas it doesn't hold.
After Foley murder, more jihadi threats to murder hostagesLebanese hostages held by Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria and the so-called Islamic State were threatened with death in a video yesterday unless Lebanon's Hezbollah withdraws its support for Bashar al-Assad.
Terrorist or ally? A Kurdish militia joins the fight against the Islamic StateThe PKK is fighting to defend Iraqi Kurdistan from the so-called Islamic State. The group, focused on Kurdish rights in Turkey, is categorized by the US as a terrorist organization.
How the Founding Fathers grappled with hostage ransom demandsThe debate over the US government refusal to pay ransoms to kidnappers, including the captors of James Foley, has a long history. In the late 1700s, the US fought Barbary pirates who demanded ransoms and tributes.
Israeli airstrike kills 3 commanders but Hamas seems unbowedIsrael killed 3 senior Hamas commanders in Gaza today. But the movement's demand for an end to Israel's blockade as the price of peace still stands.聽
James Foley's murder puts spotlight on journalists in conflict zonesRegions like Syria pose high risk for journalists, especially freelancers like Foley 鈥� and media outlets face difficult decisions over when and how to use their reports.
After James Foley murder, an effort to stamp out jihadi Twitter accountsThe jihad group IS videotaped its murder of American journalist James Foley as a propaganda exercise, fueling a debate over when and how often such groups should be censored on social media sites.
Lebanon to US: We need military aid, tooLebanon's Army is seeking more US military equipment, including anti-tank missiles, after a tough fight earlier this month against Sunni jihadis that exposed its shortcomings.
Three things to know about Iraq's Mosul DamThe Islamic State has targeted key energy infrastructure in Iraq, including Mosul Dam, which was recaptured yesterday by Kurdish and Iraqi forces backed by US airstrikes.
As US steps up air campaign in Iraq, Kurdish forces seize strategic damThe dam had been in the hands of Islamic State militants. The role of US warplanes in the offensive raises questions over mission creep in Iraq.
Hezbollah lowers fighting age as it takes on Islamic StateThe traditional enemy of Hezbollah has been Israel. But the Shiite group is now also defending the Syrian regime and Lebanon's borders from the Sunni Islamic State, stretching its resources.
With Islamic State threatening region, can Iraq's peshmerga turn the tide?The fighters of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan have struggled to contain the spread of the so-called Islamic State. But infighting, a lack of training, and political divisions have hampered them so far.
As ethnic refugees flood Iraqi Kurdistan, a strain on hospitalityMembers of Iraq's Yazidi minority and other groups have flooded into Iraqi Kurdistan for safety. But their needs are vast, and the region is coming under strain.
