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Gunshots have been fired at the US embassy in Ankara but caused no casualties, Turkish and American officials said, amid escalating tensions between the two NATO allies.

On Wednesday Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended the company’s decision to put Infowars founder Alex Jones in a seven-day “timeout”. Dorsey said, “I feel any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors,” Dorsey said. In the same week that Jack Dorsey is lecturing on “appropriate actions and behavior” Twitter just certified racist New York Times writer Sarah Jeong with a blue check mark. And now this Twitter shut down two top Iranian activist’s pages today.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is putting on a rather fierce face in reaction to new tariffs from President Donald Trump and the plunging lira. Erdogan – ever the strongman – implored the country to show economic patriotism in response to what was going on. Via Daily Sabah in Turkey. “If you have dollars, euros or gold under your pillow, go to banks to exchange them for Turkish lira. This is a national struggle,” he said.“This will be my people’s answer to those who declare economic war against us,” he added.Erdoğan also said Turkish people should not worry, saying “We...

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration has quietly started cutting scores of Pakistani officers from coveted training and educational programs that have been a hallmark of bilateral military relations for more than a decade, U.S. officials say.

A top Iranian official has admitted for the first time that Iran knowingly helped al-Qaeda terrorists — including some of the 9/11 attackers — travel secretly through the Middle East. “Their movements [through Iran] were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence,” Mohammad-Javad Larijani said in a recently surfaced interview. That was one of the main accusations leveled against Iran in the U.S. government’s 9/11 Commission Report, which named the nation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Larijani, the secretary of the Iranian judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights and a former diplomat, is a prominent member of the...

The Turkish lira has collapsed to an all-time low against the dollar, but the country's leader has brushed aside concerns, telling Turks "we have our God." The Turkish President Recep Erdogan then followed those comments up Friday by urging Turks to sell dollars and gold and buy lira. At around 8:00 a.m. ET Friday, the lira had fallen to $7.081, an almost 11 percent loss for the session. It has since pared some losses. As recently as April one dollar bought about four Turkish lira.

Shocking photos show the men, dressed in blue overalls, handcuffed and surrounded by Yemeni soldiers as crowds watched their public execution take place in city's streets. Authorities ordered the rapists to lie down on the floor, pointing a gun to their head, before shooting them five times in the heart. The rapists' dead corpses were propped up by in the air by a crane, in Sana'a, Yemen, publicly displayed in front of crowds, serving as a firm warning to anyone who dared commit such crimes. Capital punishment in Yemen is legal, and the country has one of the highest execution...

The Saudi Arabian government plans to withdraw all Saudi students studying at Canadian universities, colleges and other schools in retaliation for Canada criticizing the country’s human-rights record. A Saudi government source, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said there are more than 15,000 Saudis here on government-funded scholarships, grants or in trainee programs. Accompanying family members bring the number to 20,000 or more. The Saudi students will be moved immediately to study programs in other countries with similar education systems, such as Britain or the United States, the Saudi official said. Separately, Saudi Arabian Airlines, via the...

Turkey has delusions that it is a superpower have led to a deepening crisis with the United States, said Simon Waldman, head of the Turkish Studies Research Group at King’s College London. This false impression of its power is one of the root causes of problems with the United States, which also include a weak Turkish state and increasing authoritarianism in the country, Waldman wrote for his blog, simonwaldman.org. “Turkey suffers from delusions of grandeur when it comes to international affairs and finds it difficult to reconcile its self-image of greatness, often emanating from a selective and politicised memory its...

Bin Laden’s mom says he was a good boy who fell prey to ‘a cult’ By Natalie O'Neill 2-3 minutes August 3, 2018 | 6:56pm | Updated August 3, 2018 | 7:01pm A mother’s love really is unconditional. Osama Bin Laden’s mom says her ruthless terrorist son was a good boy who fell prey to “a cult” — and shouldn’t be blamed for the attacks on 9/11, according to a report. In her first-ever interview about the notorious Al-Qaeda leader, Alia Ghanem insisted her son grew up sweet and was led astray by bad influences, according to the UK Guardian....

<p>The Trump administration is quietly pushing ahead with a bid to create a new security and political alliance with six Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, in part to counter Iran’s expansion in the region, according to U.S. and Arab officials.</p>

Christian pastor who has been detained in Turkey for 21 months has been released after President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose a new “harsh policy” and sanctions, according to Reuters. Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, left a Turkish prison on Wednesday and will reportedly be transferred to house arrest. Many are crediting Trump sand Pence for his release from prison, as the White House threatened to impose a new round of brutal sanctions on Turkey if the American pastor was not released. Brunson, who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years, was...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said on Thursday the U.S. administration will not achieve its desired results by threatening Turkey, after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of sanctions unless Ankara freed an American pastor. “The United States must reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey,” Ibrahim Kalin said in a written statement. End

Sales of F-35 joint strike fighters to Turkey could be suspended for months under a final 2019 defense bill unveiled by Congress on Monday. The Pentagon would be required to submit a report to lawmakers within 90 days on the relationship with Ankara, all its foreign weapons sales, and Turkey’s move to purchase an S-400 air defense system from Russia, before any more of the Lockheed Martin jets could be sold. The House is expected to vote on the massive policy bill this week and the Senate could take it up in early August.

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

A pastor who has started hundreds of churches in Pakistan, where he suffered persecution for his faith, has chronicled his extraordinary journey in a new book where he says that divine healings and prophetic dreams are leading many Muslims to Jesus Christ.Pastor M El Masih, who started Cry of the Persecuted Church and now lives with his family in the United States, shared in an interview with The Christian Post some of his most difficult challenges growing up in Pakistan, where he studied and followed Islam and the Quran for years.In his book, From Persecution to the Promised Land, Masih,...

Defying expectations, a Turkish court rebuffed appeals today to free Andrew Brunson, the US pastor whose trial on bogus terror charges has become a litmus test for turbulent ties between Turkey and the United States. The trial was adjourned until Oct. 12.The North Carolina pastor has been charged with espionage and links to coup plotters and Kurdish militants and could face up to 35 years if convicted. Brunson continued to deny any wrongdoing in his third courtroom hearing, amid a string of wild assertions from witnesses for the prosecution. “I am an innocent man on all these charges. I reject...

More than a hundred people have been killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan as tensions rise in the country ahead of an election on July 25. At least 128 people died in the explosion at an election rally in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Siraj Raisani, a candidate running for a provincial assembly, was among those killed in the town of Mastung. It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan in four years. Hours after the bombing, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested after making a high-profile return to the country. Sharif was given a 10-year prison sentence in...

Apparently the mullahs and their goon squads were in for a surprise when on Sunday, someone opened fire on them in Khorramshahr, 400 miles southwest of Tehran, as they rolled in to shut down a protest over locals getting poisoned by untreated water. It's an area with a large Arabic population out near the Iraqi border. The gunfire came back at them. Mowing down is now going two ways, and it's clear the regime is scared - their official state media said the protestors only threw stones and garbage. Well, no. There's a spectacular, well-shot video on Twitter here, showing...

Following the explosions on June 27 in Afrin that resulted in the death of dozens of gang members, over 100 civilians have been abducted by Turkish forces. The invading Turkish soldiers abducted 18 young Kurdish people today in Afrin. The invading Turkish forces raided homes that belong to Kurds in two neighborhoods of Afrin today. 18 young people have been abducted in the house raids. Reports say at 08.00 in the morning, invading forces raided homes that belong to Kurds in the Ashrafiyah and Mahmudiyah neighborhoods in Afrin and took 18 young people away to an unknown location. Local sources say...