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The Biden administration has determined that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, should be granted immunity in a case brought against him by the fiancée of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whom the administration has said was murdered at the prince’s direction. A court filing was made by Justice Department lawyers at the request of the State Department because bin Salman was recently made the Saudi prime minister and as a result, qualifies for immunity as a foreign head of government, the request said. It was filed late Thursday night, just before the court’s deadline for the Justice Department...

Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian population at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region, CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said WASHINGTON, November 26./TASS/. US-led coalition forces came under attack at a US-controlled base in Al Hasakah province, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. "Two rockets targeted coalition forces at the US patrol base in al-Shaddadi, Syria today at approximately 10:31 p.m. local time in Syria,: the statement reads. According to the document, "the attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition...

This video analyzes some of the current conflicts in the middle east today, especially Syria and Iran attacking the Kurds in Iraq. Many people may be surprised because much of this is not being covered by the news media. The video is 43 minutes and I think it is worth the time to watch. For those interested, the link to the youtube channel for all of these geopolitical analysis videos is below. Youtube channel for George W McMillan III (GWM3) Analysis w/ Matt Bracken

Iran’s government has embarked on an armed strategy of divide, crush and conquer to end nationwide protests against clerical rule in the Islamic Republic. The primary target is the Kurdish minority population, which has been protesting for more than two months. The government, dominated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has dispatched an aggressive and ill-disciplined militia known as the Basij to assault Kurdish towns and villages in western Iran. For the past eight days, thousands of Basij, transported by armored vehicles and firing heavy automatic weapons, have moved into the western border zone largely populated by Kurds. The Kurds have...

A statement by the UN Human Rights Office claimed “All information we have gathered … is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed...

The Azerbaijani parliament on Friday announced its historic decision to open an embassy in Israel. The embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, and will be the first embassy in Israel of a country with a Shi’ite majority and a Shi’ite government. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: "I welcome the decision by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to open an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between our countries."...

The Biden administration told a U.S. court that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s status as a sitting head of government shields him from a civil lawsuit brought by the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi, a former royal insider who criticized Prince Mohammed’s policies in Washington Post columns, was killed in 2018 and his body dismembered by Saudi agents during a visit to the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate where he was seeking papers needed to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen. In a filing Thursday, the State Department said “common law principles of immunity” informed its determination...

Outgoing PM at swearing-in of the 25th Knesset: "IDF soldiers will not be investigated by FBI or any foreign body or country' Prime Minister Yair Lapid slammed the US Administration's decision to launch an FBI investigation into the death of AL Jazeera Shireen Abu Aqleh during the swearing-in ceremony for the 25th Knesset Tuesday. "The IDF is a moral and ethical army. IDF soldiers and their commanders defend the State of Israel. The IDF thoroughly investigates any irregular event and is committed to the values and laws of democracy," Lapid said. "Our soldiers will not be investigated by the FBI...

JERUSALEM (AP) — After nearly four years of political deadlock and five elections, Israel swore in the most right-wing parliament in its history on Tuesday. Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is working to cobble together a far-right and religious governing coalition in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset. The surging popularity of a right-wing alliance once on the fringes of Israeli society helped propel Netanyahu’s political comeback even as he stands trial on corruption charges. The 25th Knesset was sworn into office with trumpets and choral music just hours after a Palestinian assailant went on a deadly rampage in an Israeli-controlled industrial...

The US and Russian spy chiefs held a rare face-to-face meeting in Ankara Monday on Moscow's nuclear threats in Ukraine and Americans held prisoner by the Kremlin, the White House said. In what appeared to be the highest-level direct talks between officials of the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman confirmed the meeting, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said it came as "an initiative of the American side," according to Russian media. Peskov declined to...

Move represents about-face by US, which had said it wouldn't open its own probe into death of reporter who Israel says was likely shot by IDF in error; Gantz: We won't cooperate The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is launching an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, apparently by an Israeli soldier, officials said Monday, with Israel immediately rejecting cooperation with the probe. US officials updated their Israeli counterparts earlier this month about the decision, an official familiar with the matter tokld The Times Of Israel on Monday, confirming a Channel 14 news report....

TPS) Sources in the Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, told TPS on Monday that marriage contracts will now be processed at the Al Aqsa Mosque rather than in a Sharia Court office in eastern Jerusalem. The aim is to strengthen the Muslim presence on the Temple Mount by bringing Palestinian residents to the mosque. It was also learned that there has been a significant increase in the number of Muslim delegations visiting the Jerusalem holy site after visits dropped during the coronavirus pandemic. Waqf officials estimate that 700 Muslims from Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa visit...

This is the point in the story when we should probably summon Dr. McCoy to say, ‘he’s dead, Jim.’ The “he” in question would be the Iran nuclear deal, known around the White House as the JCPOA. The secretive, four-party talks that have been going on for well over a year never really came close to producing a functional deal, though most of us never heard any of the details. But now, at least according to one Trump administration official who was privy to the process, the entire thing is shut down with “no path forward.” The culprit is supposedly...

A least four people were killed and 38 others injured when an explosion hit Istanbul's popular pedestrian Istiklal Avenue on Sunday, Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya confirmed on social media...

Turkish President Erdogan commented on the terrorist attack in Istanbul: "The blast was caused by a planted explosive. Attempts to take over Turkey and the Turkish nation through terrorism will not achieve their goal today or tomorrow, as they have not...

Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu said Wednesday that a normalization agreement between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is within reach and would effectively “end the Arab-Israeli conflict.” The latest statement from the Prime Minister comes as the new conservative coalition vows to confront terrorism in the Middle East and strengthen alliances with Arab allies. Speaking from Israel at an online event hosted by Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center, Netanyahu reminded an online audience of nearly 300 people that the Abraham Accords were negotiated by the former Trump administration when he was Israel’s prime minister. The Accords normalized...

Turkey arrests bakers' union head for calling bread-eating societies 'stupid' ANKARA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Turkey jailed a bakery union head for "publicly insulting the Turkish nation" on Wednesday, state media reported, after he said society's "stupid" fondness for bread explained why it had elected President Tayyip Erdogan's governments for two decades. Union for Bread Producers Chairman Cihan Kolivar made the comments to broadcaster Haberturk on Monday as he spoke about the rising price of bread and Turkey's soaring inflation. "Bread is the staple food for stupid societies. I speak scientifically, I am not making it up - per capita...

Russia's decision to pull its forces back from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson was "positive and important," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. "Russia's decision regarding Kherson is positive, an important decision," told reporters in the capital Ankara on Thursday before leaving for a summit of Turkic countries in Uzbekistan. Vowing to maintain dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan's comments came after Moscow ordered its troops on Wednesday to withdraw from Kherson to the east bank of the Dnieper River. "I don't know whether there will be Russian participation in the G20 or not. We'll have...

Beyond rushing deliveries of very costly and unproven air defense systems to Ukraine, Washington is doing next to nothing about Iran’s delivery of 3,500 drones to Russia for the war. Russia has already fired off around 400 Iranian-made drones, mostly aimed at critical infrastructure targets in Ukraine including power plants, water pumping stations and dams. Combined with Russian cruise missiles, the drones and missiles have caused considerable damage. Deliveries to Iran include the Shahed-129 (a Predator drone knock-off), the Mohajer-6 (built especially for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and carrying two missiles) and loitering munition drones Arash-2 (allegedly designed to hit...

Former prime minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become Israel's next prime minister, according to Tuesday night's exit polls. According to the polls, Netanyahu's bloc, which includes Likud, Religious Zionist Party (RZP), United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas, crossed the 61-seat threshold and will be able to form the next coalition. In some of the polls his bloc reached 62 seats. What do the exit polls say? Netanyahu's Likud party is expected to receive 30 seats according to Channel 12 and 31 seats according to Channel 13, while Lapid's Yesh Atid party is expected to get 24...