ISIS

Submitted by Elijah Magnier, Middle East based chief international war correspondent for Al Rai Media

The Russian Defense Ministry has released aerial images allegedly showing ISIS, the SDF, and US special forces working side-by-side on the battlefield against Syrian and Russian forces in Dier ez-Zor, Syria.

The aerial photos of ISIS' territory north of #Deir_ez_Zor where #USA special operation troops are seen https://t.co/lH6u8H9bvZ pic.twitter.com/gjqlQubi9o

The moment the first Russian jet landed in Syria at the invitation of the Assad government in 2015, Putin placed himself in the driver's seat concerning the international proxy war in the Levant. From a strategic standpoint the armed opposition stood no chance of ever tipping the scales against Damascus from that moment onward. And though US relations with Russia became more belligerent and tense partly as a result of that intervention, it meant that Russia would set the terms of how the war would ultimately wind down.

In a move that was entirely expected, Iraq's Supreme Court has ruled that the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum scheduled for September 25 cannot take place. The ruling comes as Turkey has begun military exercises along its border with Iraq's Kurdish region in a show of force meant to signal that Ankara will not tolerate an independent Kurdistan either. Turkey fears that its own Kurdish separatists which it has been doing internal battle with for decades will become emboldened by the existence of a Kurdish state.

Authored by Kate Knibbs via Gizmodo.com,

Remember when people put that “RTs ≠ endorsements” disclaimer in their Twitter bios, like that would offer some form of protection from the being associated with what they retweeted?

Well, a retweet can be seen as an endorsement. It can also apparently be used as evidence that you’re trying to join ISIS.

22-year-old Queens resident Ali Saleh was arrested this week following an FBI investigation into his attempts to join ISIS.