(2020-06-18). Trump's Order to Withdraw US Troops from Syria Good-for-Nothing. globalresearch.ca Mark Taliano, author and activist, says the US troops' deployment to the oil fields areas in Eastern Syria is an act of reoccupation, indicating the futility of US President's order to withdraw its forces from the Arab country. | *** | Speaking …
(2020-06-18). Crippling new sanctions punish Syrian civilians for US defeat in proxy war. thegrayzone.com As Syria tries to recover from a nearly decade-long war, the US has imposed crippling new sanctions under the Caesar…
(2020-06-18). Berlin's threats will 'not be left unanswered' Russian ambassador says, after Germany links Chechen ex-militant's murder to Moscow. rt.com 
The Russian envoy to Germany, Sergey Nechaev, has blasted Berlin for blaming the murder of a former Chechen insurgent leader on a Russian "state entity". Such accusations lack proof and only hurt bilateral relations, he said. | "We consider the accusations leveled against the Russian authorities to be baseless and unsupported by evidence," Nechaev said in a statement, commenting on the latest indictment issued by the German prosecutors in relation to a high-profile murder that took place in Berlin's Tiergarten Park last August. | A 40-year-old man, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was shot by a suspect identified as a…
(2020-06-18). The Empire Declares a "Maximum Pressure" War of Economic Strangulation on Devastated Syria. anti-empire.com 
The United States has imposed a sweeping set of new sanctions against any country, individual or entity that provides support to the Syrian government – a campaign that experts warn may devastate the lives of ordinary Syrians trying to survive and rebuild after nine years of war. | The Caesar Act, passed in Congress
(2020-06-18). Video: Idlib Militants Attack Turkish-Russian Patrols as Turkey Shifts Focus to Northern Iraq. globalresearch.ca On June 16, a joint convoy of the Turkish Army and the Russian Military Police became the target of a new IED attack during a patrol along the M4 highway in southern Idlib. The explosion damaged a BTR-82A armored personnel …
(2020-06-18). "Main Victim of Caesar Act Is the Syrian Citizen." Ambassador Bashar Al-Ja'fari. globalresearch.ca The Caesar Act comes at a time when the whole world is suffering not only in the health arena (Covid-19) but also in the financial one. | Syria specifically is suffering from great duress. Coming out of a ten year long …
(2020-06-18). Starving Syria and Lebanon into submission. thealtworld.com Hezbollah and its allies won't wait for their countries to be crippled before retaliating for the 'Casear Act' | As the so-called 'Caesar Act' came into force on Wednesday, the US announced the imposition of individual sanctions on 39 prominent Syrians — including President Bashar al-Asad and his wife Asma al-Akhras — while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo served notice that additional, more punishing, sanctions are to follow. | It is futile to point out that this Act is illegal, or set out all the evidence that those who will be punished most by it are the ordinary people of Syria, the great majority o…
(2020-06-18). US imposes new sanctions on Syria under Caesar Act. peoplesdispatch.org The US administration announced a new set of political and economic sanctions against Syria on June 17, Wednesday, under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection act. The act was enacted in the US in December 2019 and made part of the National Defence Authorisation act for the year 2020. | The Caesar act asks the government of Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, to halt military operations aimed at retaking territories captured by armed militias and rebel forces supported by Turkey and the US in Syria. The Syrian government has rejected the act, saying that it cannot allow such a division of the country. | The exe…
(2020-06-18). Lebanon Is Victim of Its Deeply Entrenched Political Elite. globalresearch.ca Lebanon is the victim of its deeply entrenched political elite, which has refused to adopt and execute meaningful reforms since tens of thousands of Lebanese poured into the streets last October to demand an end to mismanagement, corruption and the …
(2020-06-17). Lebanon in Economic Free Fall—MES EP.58. thealtworld.com 1st segment | Lebanon's worst economic crisis in decades has already cost thousands of jobs, with unrest stirring again as protesters lashed out at the government's response. The depreciation in the Lebanese Lira is driving up prices, hitting disposable incomes and forcing many Lebanese to rein in the free-spending lifestyles they'd become accustomed to. To discuss this issue with us from Beirut is Dr. Hussein Gharbieh academic and political commentator. | 2nd segment | Libya's conflict has taken a new twist after an attempt by eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar to seize the capital, Tripoli, crumbled rapidly…
(2020-06-17). UN sends 49 truckloads of aid to Syria's Idlib. yenisafak.com The UN on Wednesday sent 49 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Idlib, northwestern Syria, where millions of people are in need of assistance due to internal conflict in the country.Truckloads of supplies entered Idlib through the Cilvegozu border crossing of Turkey's southern Hatay province.The aid will be distributed among residents of Idlib and nearby rural areas.Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN estimates.Idlib falls within a…
(2020-06-17). After the West Bank When (How Soon) Will the East Follow? ahtribune.com 
Whatever percentage of the West Bank Israel begins to annex in July, it will eventually annex the rest. Will it then turn to the east bank of the Jordan river? | Since the 19th century, the Zionist project was based on the seizure of all Palestine, including territory east of the Jordan. The map of 'Israel' presented to the Paris peace conference in 1919 extended northwards into what is now Lebanon and included the city of Sidon; in the northeast, all the Golan Heights and Syria almost as far as Damascus; in the southeast the entire Jordan River valley, with the territory it desired extending almost to the tow…
(2020-06-17). US Congress Calls it "Civilian Protection": Washington Wants 17 Million Syrians Starved Into Submission. globalresearch.ca Implementation of the so-called Caesar Syria Civilian Protection legislation (Caesar Act) is the latest shoe to drop in Washington's long war of aggression on the country, its legitimate leadership, and 17 million people. | Signed into law by Trump last December, …
(2020-06-17). Video: Russian Surface-to-Air Missile Systems in Syria Shoot Down Militants' Drones. globalresearch.ca Tor short-range surface-to-air missile systems have downed more than 45 unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Syrian militants, according to the chief of the Russian Air Defense Forces Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov. | "Since the start of combat duty, the calculations …
(2020-06-17). The US' Planned Imposition of Draconian "Secondary Sanctions" on Syria. Targets Any Entity Doing Business with Syria. globalresearch.ca The US hopes that making Syrians even more desperate than they already are could catalyze another Color Revolution at one of the country's most critical moments in its history, which could then be exploited for regime change purposes. | Reuters reported …
(2020-06-17). Beijing, Moscow deplore US sanctions on Syria. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 17 (MNA) — In a statement during a Security Council's session and in comments on imposing so-called "Caesar Act" by the US, representatives of Russia and China to the UN asserted that the US sanctions against Syria target the Syrian people.
(2020-06-17). Pompeo announces new round of US sanctions against Syria's Assad, his wife. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 17 (MNA) — To further weaken the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the United States on Wednesday imposed fresh round of penalties on 39 Syrian individuals and companies including Assad and his wife Asma personally, Mike Pompeo announced.
(2020-06-17). Tehran, Tunis confer on expansion of parliamentary ties. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 17 (MNA) — In a meeting between Iran's ambassador to Tunis Mohammad-Reza Raouf-Sheybani and Tunisia's speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People Rachid al-Ghannouchi the two sides discussed enhancement of relations between the parliaments of the two countries and activation of friendship committee of Iran and Tunisia.
(2020-06-16). Security Council: Time is on no-one's side in Syria, warns top UN envoy. news.un.org With war-weary Syria in economic freefall and protesters back on the streets, all sides — domestic and international — must find a way forward that helps its people overcome their suffering and shape their own future, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen says.
(2020-06-16). Huge anti-government protests sweep Lebanon. peoplesworld.org 
Huge protests swept Lebanon June 13 as demonstrators called on the government to resign. Demonstrators marched through Beirut demanding an end to the country's sectarian political system, where positions of power are allocated between different factions, and action over an economic crisis that has seen the currency collapse and yawning inequality. A bank was set …
(2020-06-16). India summons Pakistani ambassador after embassy staff detained following road accident. rt.com 
Pakistan's ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in New Delhi after two Indian embassy employees were held by Pakistani police, following an alleged hit-and-run incident in Islamabad on Monday. | The ambassador was handed a protest note against what India called "abduction and torture" of the staff of its embassy, officially called the High Commission. The two men were "video-graphed and coerced to accept a litany of fictitious allegations and concocted charges," the statement by the ministry read. | The embassy employees were "kept in illegal custody for more than 10 hours" and were released only af…
(2020-06-16). Hawkish, Gov't funded think tank behind Twitter decision to delete thousands of Chinese accounts. mronline.org 
Twitter's decision came after close collaboration with a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank that has been denounced by Australia's former ambassador in Beijing as "the architect of the China threat theory in Australia."
(2020-06-16). Video: Al-Qaeda Factions Create New Coalition in Idlib. globalresearch.ca Early on June 14, the Russian Aerospace Forces reportedly carried out airstrikes on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham near the villages of al-Bara and Deir Sunbul in southern Idlib. Since the signing of the new de-escalation agreement with Turkey on …
(2020-06-16). Syrian refugees resort to ever more desperate measures to resist pandemic impact. news.un.org The COVID-19 crisis has caused a dramatic spike in the number of Syrian refugees in need of emergency assistance in the last three months, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, in an appeal for funding to confront new challenges posed by the health emergency.
(2020-06-16). Trump's 'Caesar' Style Siege on Syria, A Sign of Impending Regional Failure. iranian.com Would be emperor Donald Trump has announced the 'Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act', to tighten the genocidal siege on the Syrian people. Without a hint of irony, this new edict imposes even more serious obstacles to the Syrian people getting access to energy, food and medicines, while claiming its purpose is to 'protect' those same …
(2020-06-16). NATO concerned by Russia's growing presence in E.Med. yenisafak.com Russia's growing presence in the Eastern Mediterranean region is a cause for concern for NATO, the military alliance's chief said on Tuesday."NATO is also concerned about the increased Russian presence in the eastern Mediterranean in general, in Syria, but also, of course, in Libya. And we have to follow and monitor that very closely," Jens Stoltenberg said in response to a question in an online news conference ahead of the NATO defense ministers meeting on June 17-18.He said the situation in Libya was not on the meeting agenda, but could be discussed, adding: "It has a direct impact on the security of especially…
(2020-06-16). Lavrov: Russia, Turkey, Iran to hold summit on Syria. yenisafak.com Ankara, Moscow and Tehran agreed to hold a videoconference and then a face-to-face meeting on the Syrian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Tuesday.The presidents of the three countries will discuss Syrian issues in a videoconference and then will hold a summit in Tehran, Lavrov said at a news conference following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif."Today, we confirmed the agreement of the three presidents of the Astana format countries that the summit will be held in Tehran within terms that will be determined considering the situation developing due to the c…
(2020-06-16). Resistance arms part of our culture, strategic doctrine: Nasrallah. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 16 (MNA) — Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says,"Resistance arms, for our people, are part of our culture, strategic doctrine."
(2020-06-15). America's Supernational Sovereignty: Iran and Syria Again on the Receiving End of Sanctions. ahtribune.com 
The conceit by the United States that it is the acknowledged judge, jury and executioner in policing the international community began in…
(2020-06-15). America's Supernational Sovereignty. thealtworld.com Iran and Syria again on the receiving end of sanctions | One of the most disturbing aspects of American foreign policy since 9/11 has been the assumption that decisions made by the United States are binding on the rest of the world, best exemplified by President George W. Bush's warning that "there was a new sheriff in town." Apart from time of war, no other nation has ever sought to prevent other nations from trading with each other, nor has any government sought to punish foreigners using sanctions with the cynical arrogance demonstrated by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The United States uniquely seeks to pen…
(2020-06-15). US Congress "Caesar's Law" Directed against Syria: Who Does It Target and How Will It Affect President Assad? globalresearch.ca In mid-June, the US sanctions against Syria will escalate, with the enactment in Congress of "
(2020-06-15). 'Trump Heights': The newest Israeli-approved illegal settlements in occupied Golan Heights. peoplesdispatch.org The Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel following the 1967 war. Israeli settlement activities inside the occupied territories are in complete violation of international laws…