(The Washington Post)- Russia’s completion this month of an integrated air defense system in Syria has made an Obama administration decision to strike Syrian government installations from the air even less likely than it has been for years, and has created a substantial obstacle to the Syrian...

(Zaman al-Wasl) Bashar al-Assad appointed Major General Jaiz Swadet al-Hamoud al-Musa as governor of al-Hasakah province on Sunday. Al-Musa succeeds Mohamad Za’aal al-Ali as province governor raising many questions about why this extremely loyal and only recently retired officer was appointed...

(Independent)- Syria’s army and Hezbollah and Iranian allies are preparing for a massive invasion by thousands of Isis fighters who will be driven out of Iraq when Mosul falls. The real purpose behind the much-trumpeted US-planned "liberation" of the Iraqi city, the Syrian military suspect, is...

(The Daily Star)- Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Monday that Riyadh had urged the Iraqi government not to let Shiite militias enter Mosul, fearing "mass atrocities." As Iraqi forces launched an offensive aimed at retaking the country's second city from ISIS, Jubeir warned against...