USA

The US and Turkey have imposed travel restrictions on each other’s citizens in an escalating diplomatic spat that highlights worsening relations between Ankara and its western allies. Washington said late on Sunday it was suspending the processing of all non-immigrant visas in Turkey due to “recent events”...

he North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has vowed to build up his country’s nuclear arsenal as a “powerful deterrent” to the United States, state media reported, hours after President Trump said that “only one thing will work” in dealing with the isolated country. Mr. Kim...

Iraqi Kurds voted in a very controversial non-binding referendum to split from Baghdad on 25 September. 72 percent out of the 8.4 million strong Kurdish population partook in the referendum and 92.7 percent voted ‘yes’. Iraqi central government under Haider al-Abadi has refused to...

Courtesy The New York Times-  WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan and other active war zones, a proposal that the White House appears to favor despite the misgivings of some at the Pentagon, according...

By Hussain Abid & Sajid Ali There is increasing indication that a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia is imminent. Such indications are given credence with the announcement of Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif that after Haj (Muslim Pilgrimage) diplomatic visits could possibly be exchanged...

Courtesy Yeni Safak- The non-binding referendum of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on whether to declare independence from Baghdad slated for Sept. 25 carries great significance for millions of Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds in Iraq and Syria. A former Iraqi Member of Parliament, Feyha Bayatlı, told...

Courtesy The National Interest-  President Trump has decided to follow the lead of his military advisers in Afghanistan, choosing not to pull out the U.S. troops that candidate Trump had pledged to withdraw. Rather, he’ll send more troops, with the express purpose of training and...

Courtesy Dawn- Sometime earlier this year, CPEC brought three Chinese families to my parents’ neighbourhood in suburban Lahore. For the first couple of months, I was told, the new neighbours rarely ventured out of their residences for anything other than commuting to work. In a...

Courtesy War on the Rocks-  A version of this article was originally published by The Interpreter, which is published by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in Sydney. War on the Rocks is proud to be publishing select articles...

Courtesy The Washington Post-  North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is advancing quickly. This year, it has tested a suite of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles that can hit neighbors and American bases in East Asia, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, two intercontinental-range ballistic missiles and a purported thermonuclear...