CULF 3331: "Middle Eastern Revolutions"

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the Syria crisis by phone on Monday, expressing their full support for Syria peace talks in Geneva, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Syria and Russia are considering the possibility of setting up joint banks to carry out transactions between the two countries, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Halqi told Sputnik. "The Russian-Syrian business council has expressed a wish to open a joint Russian-Syrian bank with an equity participation of 50 percent by each side.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants have shelled the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing 16 people and injuring 86, state news agency SANA reports, as the fragile ceasefire is being threatened by resurging violence. A source at Aleppo police command told SANA on Monday that shells fired by al-Nusra fighters landed in Aleppo's al-Sulaimaniyeh neighborhood, claiming lives of four, three of them children, and injuring 19 others, many in critical conditions.

Syria and Russia have signed agreements worth 850 million euros to restore infrastructure in the Arab nation, Russia's RIA news agency quoted Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaki as saying on Monday.

The Saudi cabinet approves plans to try to move the country away from its dependency on oil profits, including creating a giant sovereign wealth fund.

15-year plan includes diversification, privatisation of state assets, tax increases and creating a $2tn sovereign wealth fund

This source reports the third day of a successful blockade of an Israeli ship in the port of Oakland. The organization blocking the ability to dock wishes to voice their disapproval with the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and bring exposure to the partnership formed between the two countries which they believe resulted in the current militarization of police forces in the United States.

An article published by Al Jazeera reports an attack on a container ship that was passing through the Suez Canal around the date September 1, 2013. Though the attack was unsuccessful, this article exemplifies the importance of the Suez Canal to the global markets and documents the presence of active security by the Egyptian armed forces along the canal.

This article offers a brief history of Russian naval bases and highlights modern day Russian ports in Syria. From these facts, an investigation is proposed regarding military actions by Russia in Syria against ISIS and the presence of the naval base.

Barack Obama lands in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the U.S. alliance with the Mideast powerhouse is being questioned on both sides like never before.

Aaron David Miller says the two allies have drifted apart but still need each other for many reasons.

Aaron David Miller says the two allies have drifted apart but still need each other for many reasons.