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For half a century, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of Mideast policy. A guaranteed supply of oil has bought a guaranteed supply of security. Ignoring autocratic practices and the export of Wahhabi extremism, Washington stubbornly dubs its ally "moderate." So tight is the trust that U.S.

More Middle Eastern countries are following Saudi Arabia and cutting ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia severed all diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday. "The move comes after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, ransacking and setting fire to the building in retaliation for Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric and 46 others on Saturday," Business Insider's Natasha Bertrand reports.

The United Arab Emirates has pledged more than $130 million for the refugees, but despite this generosity, many think the country should do more. CNN's Jon Jensen reports on this crisis.

The U.S. Army's elite Delta Force operations to target, capture or kill top ISIS operatives have begun in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation. The official said the group has spent the last several weeks preparing, including setting up safe houses, establishing informant networks and coordinating operations with Iraqi and Peshmerga units. It's the same strategy that Special Operations forces have used in previous deployments to combat zones. This is a strong move shown by the United States that says ISIS is the main priority in the Syrian War. Many officers of high rank have said that this has taken weeks of planning and scouting out enemy positions so that it would be swift missions that would demand very accurate precision.

Czech president Milos Zeman, a leftist and anti immigrant, made a speech claiming that the integration of Muslims into the Czech Republic is impossible. He said that they are nothing like the Czech people and that incidences like in Cologne would happen. He also said that most likely Syrians would not want to remain in the Czech Republic and would probably escape to places like Germany. He also blames all the refugees on a plan by the Muslim Brotherhood to penetrate into Europe. He claims that people should not run away from Syria, but rather fight it is they want to fight.

The United States is beginning to make their presence known in the middle east. A special operations force captured an ISIS operative who has been described as a "significant" member of the terror group.

Another New York Times article about the weekend truce. Unfortunately according to the article it seems that Russia used the clause that allows airstrikes against ISIS, as an opportunity to also bomb some opposition fighters positions.

A New York Times article discussing how the various sides were following the truce at the time of publication. I think this truce is a step in the right direction and therefore is worth bookmarking.

"merican troops in Iraq are interrogating a leader of the Islamic State after capturing him in a special operations raid, according to national security officials in Washington."

"ISIS has taken the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to a nearly industrial level as the terror group continues to hold onto territory in Iraq and Syria, Foreign Affairs reports."

Interesting article covering one of Lebanon's refugee camps for Palestinians called Ain-al-Hilweh , providing security and free healthcare until now. UNRWA is suffering from a deficit of more than $100m last year trying to maintain this refugee camp.

Palestinian refugees in the camps protesting on the health system changes after charging for treatment.

temporary ceasefire agreement issue remain to be the interest to the great powers. While suspend or forget about the central issue which is the removal of Bashar al-Assad.

looks Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad does not take the issue of cease-fire seriously after the air strike on a school today.

The important question in this election! who will "vote" in the absence or the displacement of most of the Syrian citizens.

Muqtada al-Sadr is one of the most influential figures in Iraq, especially in Shiite circles. Here he is return to the political scene again after a long absence

Women in Egypt do not normally drive but Um Waleed has been driving for 30 years. She must face harassment everyday to continue to provide for her family. It includes a documentary.

US special forces captured the head of the Islamic State militant group's effort to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq, two senior Iraqi intelligence officials have told the Associated Press, the first known major success of Washington's more aggressive policy of pursuing the jihadis on the ground. This is a huge step in obtaining more information regarding the ISIS front.

Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed over the past week, and Russian aircraft have been dropping supplies to beleaguered army units. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad is battling to retain a foothold in the area. A key city in the country of Syria is being fought over by ISIS militants as we speak. This city is in the middle of the line that has been split between the several groups vying for power in Syria.

The United States has seen increases in movement towards chemical weapon use by ISIS members in their attacks. Military forces were able to take out two key facilities that were being used by ISIS to create chemical weapons.

According to the author, there are six reasons Iran has not directly intervened in Yemen through military action. Among these is that launching a military campaign in Yemen is not a priority considering the conflict in Syria and Iraq.