Nytimes.com | By Tim Arango, James Risen, Farnaz Fassihi, Ronen Bergman and Murtaza Hussain 

Hundreds of leaked intelligence reports shed light on a shadow war for regional influence — and the battles within the Islamic Republic’s own spy divisions

Independent.co.uk | Patrick Cockburn

Making life impossible for a civilian population can take other effective but less dramatic forms than the use of white phosphorus or roadside killings

nytimes.com | By By Bret Stephens Opinion Columnist | Nov. 15, 2019

Under the avalanche of endless Trump scandals, a superpower is losing its grip.

Thenation.com | By Alexandra Marvar *

In times of conflict, war, and climate change, hydropower is state power.

Independent.co.uk | By Asser Khattab

Refugees accuse soldiers of ethnic cleansing as some 200,000 displaced

Ahvalnews.com

Turkey’s goal of creating a “safe zone” for civilians in northern Syria is being undermined by increasing reports of abuse against the local population at the hands of Ankara-backed proxy forces, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. 

Nytimes.com | By Eric Schmitt

In an internal memo, the senior American diplomat in northern Syria criticized the Trump administration for failing to try harder to deter Turkey from invading northern Syria last month.

Ahvalnews.com

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plan to resettle Syrian refugees in Turkey to a safe zone to be established in northern Syria resonates the state-facilitated or state-enforced population transfers in the former Ottoman Empire and in recent Turkish history, analyst Nick Ashdown said in Foreign Policy on Friday. 

Rudaw.net | Roj Eli Zalla

Below is a translated, full transcript of the interview Rudaw's Roj Eli Zalla conducted with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi on November 5, 2019.

Reuters | Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin; Editing by Giles Elgood | October 26, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany's defense minister presented to NATO her proposal for a security zone in northern Syria on Thursday, receiving support from Turkey and the United States but also a warning from the alliance's chief that it may need to involve the United Nations.