Russia clearly rushed the launch of its plan to impose de-escalation zones in Syria in order to catch potential opponents off guard and present them with a fait accompli.The plan, tabled a week ago during talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, carves out four areas where hostilities betwee

France and Human Rights Watch have issued a fresh accusation that Damascus was responsible for an apparent attack with sarin gas on April 4 on the town of Khan Shaikhoun in takfiri-held Idlib province in northwest Syria.The incident, which, reportedly, killed 80-90 people, “bears

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s narrow victory in the April 16 constitutional referendum has strengthened his drive to overthrow the modern, Western-style Turkish state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.Ataturk’s aggressively secular state, modelled on France, was

Last Saturday’s suicide bombing of buses carrying Shiite civilian evacuees from the towns of Fouaa and Kefraya has not drawn condemnation from world leaders aside from Roman Catholic Pope Francis, a humanitarian figure without a disturbing political agenda.Writing in The Independ

On April 9, Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and the diaspora commemorated 69 years since the Deir Yassin massacre, when scores of Palestinians were killed by Zionist militias after Israel’s underground army, the Haganah, encircled the village.Bodies were left

The Trump administration blamed Damascus and its allies Moscow and Tehran for Tuesday’s deadly gas attack on insurgent-held Idlib province but seems to be sticking to decisions on the US posture on the six-year Syrian war that could lead to progress in the next round of intra-Syr

According to the UN, some 300,000 to 400,000 Iraqi civilians remain trapped in the Daesh-held Old City of Mosul.Caught in the crossfire between Daesh defenders and Iraqi government attackers, trapped families lack food, water and medical supplies.Hundreds have been killed and wou

Syria’s once most populous city, and trade and industrial hub, Aleppo, has been deeply wounded by the war. After rebels took control of the poor eastern quarters in July 2012, Aleppo suffered conflict, division and devastation. Thousands of its citizens died, hundreds o

US President Harry Truman popularised the saying, “The buck stops here,” meaning: “I am responsible for what happens while I am in office.”Truman, who served from 1945 to 53, was a blunt man, a former shopkeeper turned politician. Few contemporary politicians accept this dic