(The Daily Star)- ISIS fighters slaughtered at least 232 people in and around Mosul last week as Iraqi troops advanced on the city, the U.N. rights office said Friday. "Last Wednesday 232 civilians were reportedly shot to death. Of these there were 190 former Iraqi Security Forces officers,"...

(The Guardian)- The UN has hired scores of friends and political associates of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, as part of its relief operation in the country, according to documents leaked to the Guardian. The staff lists show that relatives of high-ranking ministers have been on the...

 Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary groups are about to launch an offensive on ISIS positions west of Mosul, assisting in the military campaign to take back the city, a spokesman said Friday. The militias, collectively known as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces, have...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised on Thursday to amend a law that human rights groups say has severely restricted protest rights and hinted at possible pardons for young people imprisoned without conviction. Speaking at a youth conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, the former general...