Security forces battled against militants for control over a strategic location in northern Iraq on Monday, thereby forcing half the region’s population to abandon their homes. Meanwhile, the United States of America have mulled over the thought of using drone strikes against the militant forces leading the charge. John Kerry, US Secretary of State, said that he was also willing …

The startling developments in northern Iraq, where the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has taken control of Mosul and other cities, highlights several troubling trends that have been evident across much of the Arab World for years. ISIS moved into Mosul and other cities swiftly and without any real combat because these underlying trends …

How it happened and why? The sudden collapse of military units defending Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, the late Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit and the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk is reminiscent of the swift disintegration of Saddam’s army at the gates of Baghdad in 2003. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sectarian policies backfired dramatically last week when his army quickly …

By Ali Gharib When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his Republican primary last night, pundits were left asking how his potential departure from Congress would affect GOP moves on policy matters like immigration, where the Virginia Republican had sometimes played a moderating role. But few discussed another policy area where Cantor exerted influence: on Middle East issues, particularly on …

Two McMaster graduate students were wrapping up a community presentation on mental health when members of the audience began approaching them, in tears. The audience had just experienced an eye-opening discussion in which some had learned that symptoms they had battled privately were in fact the hallmarks of recognized conditions such as depression and anxiety, and that treatment was readily …

On Wednesday, Yemeni warplanes struck tribesmen suspected of damaging power lines on Tuesday, an act that left the country without any electricity and caused angry protests in the capital city of Sana’a. Officials had also accused the tribesmen of blocking the road that connects Sana’a to the province of Marib to the east, thus making it almost impossible to carry …

An Egyptian court on Wednesday handed a 15-year jail sentence to leading activist Alaa Abdel Fattah for violating a protest law, among other charges, Fattah’s lawyer said. 33-year-old Fattah became a symbol of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak in 2011 due to his prominent role in demonstrations and on social media. The court handed out 24 other people the same …

More than 6,000 people in the past week have fled the northeast Nigerian state of Borno due to Boko Haram violence, the nation’s main relief agency said. On Wednesday, The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that it had registered exactly 6,227 internally displaced people (IDP) in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, the past week. “Most of them came in …

On Wednesday, the United States of America vowed to increase aid to Iraq, after scrambling to respond to a Jihadist offensive that has already captured two Iraqi cities and is heading towards Baghdad. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, said that the United States is committed to “working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a …

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat on Wednesday called for immediate international action against Israel regarding its detention of over a 100 Palestinians who have been on a hunger strike since they were held without charges. “I am writing on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President Mahmud Abbas to request your immediate intervention on behalf of the approximately 130 …