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A NEWSWEEK article by investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball about the memo linking Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein dismisses a recent WEEKLY STANDARD report as "hype" and concludes, the "tangled tale of the memo suggests that the case of whether there has been Iraqi-al Qaeda complicity is far from closed." While it's refreshing to see the establishment media pick up the story, the Newsweek article is less than authoritative. The authors write: "The Pentagon memo pointedly omits any reference to the interrogations of a host of other high-level al Qaeda and Iraqi detainees--including such notables as Khalid...

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, the world’s only sitting leader wanted on genocide charges, is expected to win a landslide victory in elections this week, extending a 25-year reign in which the country has endured multiple insurgencies and the secession of the oil-rich south. Despite Sudan’s seemingly perpetual unrest, al-Bashir survived the 2011 Arab Spring. His ruling party dominates the parliament and local councils, and the massive security apparatus has left the once-vibrant opposition a husk of its former self. Al-Bashir has ruled the country since taking power in a 1989 coup, but billboards across Khartoum showing him in traditional robes...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow on Monday where the issue of Middle East peace talks will be raised, Russian authorities announced Thursday. “The two leaders will hold talks concerning key aspects of Russian-Palestinian relations and their future, with particular attention on the trade, economy and humanitarian sectors,” the Kremlin said in a statement according to AFP. There will also be “an exchange of ideas on the process of Israeli-Palestinian talks and other problematic regional situations,” the statement continued, adding that North Africa would also be on the agenda. …

It has been said that the period between 760 BCE to 656 BCE in Egypt was the 'age of the black pharaohs'. It was during this time that ancient Egypt was ruled by a dynasty or succession of kings from Nubia, the Kingdom of Kush, a rival African kingdom just to its south in what is today northern Sudan. Beginning with king Kashta's successful invasion of Upper Egypt, what became known as the 25th Dynasty achieved the reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and also Kush (Nubia), the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. They introduced new Kushite cultural...

The storm of Islam” is coming, already with the persecution of Christians in the Middle East but it’s “going to get worse” with “persecution” in America because resident Barack Obama is “very sympathetic to Islam,” said evangelical pastor Franklin Graham... Muslims are influencing U.S. foreign policy as was evident in the way the White House “snubbed” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “[I]t’s because of the influence of Islam,” he said. “They hate Israel and they hate Christians, and so the storm is coming.” ... this isn’t just radical Islam – this is Islam. They’ve been persecuting Christians, minorities for centuries....

Destroyed warehouses allegedly stockpiled weapons purchased by Iran for Hamas An Israeli air force jet allegedly bombed warehouses in Libya placed in a small airfield in the south of the country, according to Arab media citing unnamed Libyan security sources. According to the reports, the warehouses, which were completely destroyed, stockpiled weaponry purchased by Iran from Africa and were intended to be smuggled to Hamas in Gaza.

Arab news sources reported at week's end that an unidentified jet believed to be Israeli destroyed warehouses in southern Libya that held weapons bought by Iran for Hamas. According to the reports in Al Watan and other news outlets, the warehouses were completely destroyed. The weapons that were inside them had allegedly been purchased by Iran, by means of weapons dealers in Sudan and Chad, and were supposed to be smuggled to Hamas through Egypt, by means of the smuggling tunnels between Sinai ands Gaza.

On the brink of a new Middle Eastern catastrophe: Saudi Arabia sends war planes into Yemen in a terrifying clash with Iran leaving region at boiling point Religious fissure between Sunni and Shia Muslims erupted into conflict Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels 18 civilians were injured after Saudi warplanes targeted Sana’a in Yemen Britain and America supported the Saudi-led military intervention Coalition deployed 100 fighter jets and 150,000 soldiers to fight in region Truly, it is a terrifying development. The great religious fissure between Sunni and Shia Muslims that dominates the Middle East has erupted into...

Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya. "We support the Arabs' aspirations for a prosperous future and for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any...

The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency on Sunday described President Obama's Middle East policy as one of "willful ignorance," saying the administration needs a clearer strategy for dealing with conflicts emerging across the region. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that recent developments in the Middle East are moving in a bad direction for the United States, with Iran "clearly on the march" to influence events in a "regional sectarian war." “At the end of the day, we have just this incredible policy confusion — never mind what our strategy is to...

Honestly, I think it is now only conjecture to say that World War III is not underway.  Just as the world didn't recognize the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand as the beginning of World War I, so the world didn't immediately recognize the invasions of Austria and Poland as the beginnings of World War II. The tumultuous uprisings in the Arab world that began in 2010 have only grown more tumultuous until now.  I believe the massive Arab coalition invasion of Yemen may later be seen as the beginning of World War III.  The wars and rumors of wars all across...

Hezbollah leader slams Saudi campaign: ‘You say the new situation threatens you… Do you not feel the threat posed by Israel?’ Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday bemoaned the Saudi-led Arab coalition engaged in a campaign against rebels forces in Yemen, saying Arabs should unite against Israel rather than the Houthi militias who have taken over the capital Sanaa and much of the country over the past months. The leader of Lebanon’s Shiite terror group slammed Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen, dubbed Operation Decisive Storm, calling it “surprising and painful.” Hezbollah, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels, is supported by Iran, which...

As airstrikes and ground battles continued across Yemen on Saturday, defiant words were uttered by regional leaders at an Arab summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik.Ousted Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi said Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes must continue until Shiite Muslim Houthi militants, who drove him from power, agree to surrender. He branded the Houthis as “stooges of Iran” and directly blamed the Islamic Republic for creating chaos in Yemen and forcing him to flee.

Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers for anti-Houthi campaign. Also from Al Arabiya: UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan Deploy Warplanes Against HouthisThe UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan have deployed fighter jets to join the Saudi air force in the ongoing air campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Al Arabiya News Chanel reported. The UAE has deployed 30 fighter jets, Bahrain 15, Kuwait 15, Qatar 10 and Jordan 6 warplanes, according to the news channel. Pakistan and Egypt are also taking part in the military campaign, contribution with air and naval forces. Al Arabiya said Egypt, Pakistan and Sudan have...

(CNN)Saudi and allied warplanes struck rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia threatening to send ground troops and inserting itself into its southern neighbor's civil war, potentially opening up a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East. The swift and sudden action involved 100 Saudi jets, 30 from the United Arab Emirates, 15 each from Kuwait and Bahrain, 10 from Qatar, and a handful from Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, plus naval help from Pakistan and Egypt, according to a Saudi adviser. The Egyptian state news agency on Thursday quoted Egypt's Foreign Ministry as saying Egypt's support also could involve...

Militia men loyal to Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi take photos near an army tank in Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 19, 2015.Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops to the borders of war-torn Yemen has jolted global oil markets, sending crude prices up 6 percent on fears of supply disruptions.Higher oil prices are just what the Kingdom needs after months of having to take money from their reserves to finance government programs. News of Saudi air strikes on the Yemeni capital and an Arab offensive to push back the Iran-backed Houthi rebels sent oil up more than...

Sudan pledges air and ground troops to Saudi-led strikes on Yemen; Kerry offers logistics, intelligence support in Yemen as Iran-backed Houthi rebels advance on the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. Egypt and Sudan on Thursday pledged support for the Saudi-led strikes on Iran's Yemen allies the Houthis, even as four Egyptian naval vessels crossed the Suez Canal en route to Yemen to secure the Gulf of Aden. Maritime sources at the Suez Canal confirmed the vessels' route, saying they expected them to reach the Red Sea by Thursday evening. Sudan's Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Mohammed Hussein told reporters on Thursday that his...

...Brent for delivery in May fell 1.1% to $54.71 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $45.64 a barrel, down 2% from last week’s close. Both contracts gained last week with U.S. crude snapping a four-week losing streak. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s influential oil minister Ali al-Naimi told a conference in Riyadh that there was no conspiracy behind the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision last fall to maintain its output target. He said the group could have lost market share if it...

ISTANBUL: A group of foreign medical students, including seven Britons, an American and a Canadian, are thought to have traveled to Syria to work in hospitals controlled by ISIS, a Turkish member of parliament in the border region said Sunday. Ten of the group, aged between 19-25, flew from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to Istanbul on March 12, according to Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, an opposition MP in the Hatay border region who is trying to help their parents find the men and women. An 11th member of the group - which also includes two Sudanese - flew to Istanbul from...

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi continues to reach out to America for help in rallying the forces of good against a rising tide of evil—the ever-spreading virus of militant Islam. And so far we are still snubbing him. As I have written before in this space, Sisi appears to be a surprising successor to the heroic British leader who first rallied his own people, then appealed to the New World to join not only his, but humanity's, cause against the Nazi menace—which is in many ways similar to the Islamist one today. Despite America's declared need for strong Arab allies in...