Middle Eastern countries

Public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixion are a regular fixture in jihadist-controlled areas of Syria, a UN probe charged Wednesday, also accusing Damascus of repeatedly using chemical weapons against civilians.
      

On his second working day in office, on Sept. 1, Turkey’s new President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will make his maiden foreign trip to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios on Monday stressed the need for a “fair, functional and permanent” settlement for the Cyprus problem based on international law.

CACAK - The Republic of Cyprus supports Serbia's EU integration, Cypriot Ambassador to Serbia Nafsika Krousti said in Cacak on Monday.

Cyprus believes Serbia will become a member of the EU and supports and admires the perseverance of the Serbian government and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in pursuing that goal, she told reporters.

NICOSIA/BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic conferred with Cypriot Defence Minister Christoforos Fokaides concerning the improvement of military-economic cooperation on Friday.

Gasic conferred with Fokaides during the visit to members of the Serbian Armed Forces who are participating in the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

One of the commanders of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has reflagged itself to a more compact “Islamic State” (IS), has thanked Turkey for growing strong enough to conquer large swathes of Syria and Iraq.

The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing "monster" that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
   

Last week American television journalist Charlie Rose hosted former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. When answering Rose’s question on Israel-Palestine, Clinton said: “Turkey is the principal interlocutor that I would look to.”

NICOSIA – Cyprus will grant its first license for a casino resort within about a year, the government said on Friday, to be built in the south of the island where gambling has been strictly prohibited. Scores of Greek Cypriots regularly cross into the north of Cyprus, a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state recognized only by Ankara and where there are several casinos.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday confirmed a lack of progress in talks to reunite the Mediterranean island, blaming the impasse on Turkish intransigence.