The United States on Tuesday said that it was “horrific” watching the battle of Syrian Kurdish town Kobane in real time and insisted that it doesn’t want the town to fall to the Islamic State (IS). The three-week siege of Kobane seems to be on the verge of ending soon, despite the efforts of the US-led coalition in the town. …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that Kobane was “about to fall” after Islamic State (IS) fighters advanced into the southwest part of the town, pressing home their three-week assault, which has reportedly cost around 400 lives. The prospect of the Syrian Kurdish town, which lies on the Turkish border, being captured by the extremists will likely increase pressure …

On Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Israel to protest Stockholm’s declaration to recognize the state of Palestine. Swedish Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser was asked to come in by Aviv Shir-On, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deputy director general for Europe – Shir-On had “protested and expressed Israel’s disappointment” after Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loefven declared his intention …

As a liberal agnostic, I might better enjoy my time critiquing religion with fellow skeptics. But when skeptics single out a particular faith or group for unfair demonization, I do feel compelled to respond. It is, of course, old news that Bill Maher is one of the skeptics who, while feeling antipathy towards religion in general, holds exceptional hostility towards …

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said that it will protect Turkey, a member-nation of NATO, against attacks from extremist group Islamic State (IS), which is battling to capture territory in Iran and neighbor Syria near the Turkish borderline. “Turkey is a NATO ally and our main responsibility is to protect the integrity, the borders of Turkey. We …

A US drone strike in the restive tribal region in Pakistan near the Afghani border killed at least four militants on Monday.  The attack happened at 20:15 GMT in Mangrotai in Shawal district, South Waziristan – the region is considered to be a Taliban stronghold. “A U.S. drone fired two missiles targeting a center run by Uzbek rebels, killing four …

On Monday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that he will face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), thereby becoming the only sitting President to be bought up at the ICC. However, Kenyatta, the son of Kenyan independence hero and first Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta, said that he will first hand over power temporarily to “protect …

By Kenneth Roth Some combination of denial and fear led the Egyptian government to refuse my colleague and me entrance to the country on Sunday night. The form wrapped around my colleague’s passport describing why we were being denied entry was checked, “For security reasons.” It was an unprecedented step. No one from Human Rights Watch had ever been barred …

British-Iranian woman Ghoncheh Ghavami imprisoned in Tehran after she tried to attend a men’s volleyball game has gone on a hunger strike after being in custody for one hundred days, her mother said. Ghavami was arrested on June 20th near the Azadi stadium in Tehran, where the men’s national volleyball team was about to play Italy in a World League …

Twenty extremists from radical group Islamic State (IS) on Sunday night were killed when they tried to occupy Syrian Kurdish border town Kobane, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said. According to the monitor, the extremists were killed by Kurdish fighters belonging to the People’s Protection Units when they tried to enter an eastern neighborhood of Kobane. The Kurdish militia …