Rasa - A former French judge has been appointed as the head of an independent team tasked with investigating war crimes in Syria.

Rasa - First it was President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement that drew swift backlash from leaders on the world stage.

Rasa - An estimated 129 nations are prepared to sign a global ban on nuclear weapons, the first ever such treaty and the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty in more than 20 years.

Rasa - Foreign funding for extremism in Britain primarily comes from Saudi Arabia, but the UK government should set up a public inquiry into all Persian Gulf funding sources, that’s according to a new report by the Henry Jackson Society.

Rasa - In a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres this week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared that the fate of Syria, and President Bashar al-Assad is “now up to Russia,” by way of accusing them of not standing by previous negotiations on a peace process for ending the Syrian War.

Rasa - On Monday, Saudi Arabia and its allies extended by 48 hours the deadline for Qatar to accept their list of demands to lift a de facto blockade.

Rasa - As celebrations are being planned across Iraq for liberation of Mosul, the Pentagon regime officials say they have other things in mind.

Rasa - Read this first: In several countries in the Middle East, it seems that one war ends just in time for the next one to begin. In Iraq, most expect the ISIL war to give way to a fight over Kurdish secession. In Syria, with ISIL starting to lose ground, the next round of wars is already starting to take shape.

Rasa - Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, said the developments in the Middle-East have increased the possibility of the formation of new coalitions among Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Russia and even Qatar.

Rasa - Renowned academic and activist Noam Chomsky said that “neoliberalism is tyranny” and the Republican Party in the US is “dedicated to destroying human life”.