A Test of Faith in Brutal Captivity
VATICAN CITY — The Islamic State’s beheading in August of the journalist James Foley stirred global outrage, fury and despair. But for many of his fellow Roman Catholics, Mr. Foley’s…
Tag: syria
Concern in Britain as Schoolgirls Seek to Join Islamic State
LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Saturday that the country’s authorities would do everything they could to help three British schoolgirls who were believed to be traveling…
UK police raise alert over missing teen girls who may be headed to Syria
UK police appealed for help Friday to find three teenage girls who are missing from their homes in London and are believed to be making their way to Syria. The…
Signs Of Tension Emerge Among ISIS Militants
As the Islamic State group tries to expand and take root across the Middle East, it is struggling in Syria — part of its heartland — where it has stalled…
How ISIS makes (and takes) money
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has crude, stomach-turning tactics when it comes to dealing with its enemy, but experts say that its moneymaking methods are highly sophisticated, especially…
UMass Amherst lifts ban on Iranian engineering students
UMass Amherst based its decision on a law Congress enacted in 2012. The “Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012,” restricts Iranian citizens from education in United…
From a Private School in Cairo to ISIS Killing Fields in Syria (With Video)
As his dreams crashed into Egypt’s social and political turmoil, Islam Yaken left his friends, family and a life of guilty pleasures for religious extremism, jihad and the Islamic State….
Official: U.S. keeping ISIS kill list
The U.S. is maintaining a list of about two dozen or so top ISIS operatives in Iraq and Syria it hopes to target in airstrikes according to a senior U.S….
Gaps in France’s Surveillance Are Clear; Solutions Aren’t
PARIS — Last June, Patrick Calvar, the head of France’s domestic intelligence service, faced a decision: continue surveillance on a French Islamist who had been viewed as a potential threat…
Can Jeb Bush escape his brother’s legacy in Iraq?
Nearly 25 years after his father launched the first Gulf War and almost 12 years after his brother began a much more contentious sequel, it’s Jeb Bush’s turn to articulate…
Syrian Forces Try to Cut Supply Route to Aleppo as Hezbollah’s Role Grows
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government forces gained ground Tuesday in a new offensive that threatened to cut off the main supply route to insurgents in the divided northern city of…
U.S. Intensifies Effort to Blunt ISIS’ Message
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is revamping its effort to counter the Islamic State’s propaganda machine, acknowledging that the terrorist group has been far more effective in attracting new recruits,…
What 2016 presidential candidates can’t avoid
History has a cruel sense of humor. Just watch President Barack Obama struggle with a war in Iraq and Syria during his final years in office; watch him discuss what…
Why does ISIS keep making enemies?
Adding to your list of enemies is never a sound strategy, yet ISIS’ ferocious campaign against the Shia, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, and Muslims who don’t precisely share its views has…
Toronto Jane’s Twitter trail through Syria
Jeff Weyers, a senior analyst with the Canadian counterterror research group iBRABO, has been tracking her movements through Syria with every tweet. “I don’t think she knew that she was…
From Syria, an Atlas of a Country in Ruins
Recent satellite image analysis by Unitar-Unosat, an agency of the United Nations, reveals vast devastation in major cities across Syria from the civil war that started nearly four years ago….
U.N. Envoy to Syria Says Assad Is Crucial to Hopes to End War
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Appearing to address one of the core issues that have derailed peace talks in Syria, the United Nations special envoy for the country on Friday described President…
ISIS magazine claims Hayat Boumedienne is in Syria
The magazine, entitled Dar al Islam, claimed Boumedienne safely reached the Islamic State, but offered no pictures or any other proof to corroborate the claim. French terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard…
Leader of Belgian Sharia Group Is Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
BRUSSELS — In a case seen as a test of Europe’s ability to combat Islamic extremism through the courts, a Belgian judge on Wednesday ruled that Sharia4Belgium, a group accused…
Kayla Mueller, American Woman Killed By ISIS, Helped Abuse Survivors, HIV Patients, War Victims
Kayla Mueller was killed while trying to wipe away human suffering from the world’s most vulnerable victims. The Obama administration and Mueller’s parents confirmed on Tuesday that the 26-year-old who…
American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller dead, family says
“We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life,” a statement from the family reads. “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian….
United Arab Emirates Resume Airstrikes Against ISIS
WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday launched a series of airstrikes in Syria, returning to combat missions against the Islamic State for the first time since December. A…
Parents’ anguish as they wait for word on daughter ISIS claims is dead
For a year and half, Mueller’s family in this idyllic town has lived with the knowledge that the Islamic militant group ISIS is holding the 26-year-old American aid worker. Publicly,…
Jordan Says It Conducted 56 Air Raids In Three Days Against ISIS
AMMAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Jordan’s air force chief said on Sunday his country’s jet fighters had conducted 56 raids in three days of intensified bombing targeting a stronghold of…
Iran Presses for Progress in Nuclear Negotiations
MUNICH — As consultations continued here on a possible new cease-fire arrangement with Russia and Ukraine, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Sunday that Tehran does not favor…
Jordan On ISIS Strike: ‘Beginning Of Our Retaliation’
WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said his country’s strike against Islamic State in Syria on Thursday was just the start of its response to the…
U.S. Sends More Search-and-Rescue Helicopters to Northern Iraq
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon sent additional Black Hawk helicopters this week to Erbil in northern Iraq to reduce the time needed to rescue pilots who may go down conducting airstrikes…
Hillary Clinton demands release of ISIS captive
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is demanding the release of kidnapped Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Razan Zaitouneh. Zaitouneh, her husband and two other human rights activists…
Two things that could hinder U.S. efforts to ‘destroy’ ISIS
President Barack Obama announced in a speech Wednesday night a plan for U.S. airstrikes in Syria, as well as increased U.S. support for the Syrian opposition. “In the fight against…
Jordan’s Foreign Fighter Problem
As Jordan reels from the horrific killing of one of its fighter pilots by Islamic State militants, the death also highlights how inextricably involved the country has become in the…