#TODAYS 5 TOP STORIES
![Officials said Tarrant was fit to stand trial following an assessment of his mental state [File: Reuters]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/8980ce3c58b345339bcac2c89d4e2e3f_18.jpg?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
![Turkish-backed rebels claim attacks carried out by the Syrian forces in the last three days killed 30 civilians [File: Anas al-Dyab/AFP]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2ec4c792733b411bb2b3005e3ba3b3e2_18.jpg?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
![The two leaders met as Abe (left) is attempting to help deescalate tensions between Iran and the US [Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP Photo]](https://i2.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/48ed4cd0f8d84173a29adec841ea9ade_18.jpg?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
Europol report details ISIS propaganda for women
The European Union’s police agency says that ISIS extremist group’s recruitment and use of women to support its extremist cause...
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![Officials said Tarrant was fit to stand trial following an assessment of his mental state [File: Reuters]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/8980ce3c58b345339bcac2c89d4e2e3f_18.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi on May 14, 2019. [Reuters/Alexander Nemenov]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1cc07dd6474d487ebac5bf113c4e84d2_18.jpg?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
Will Russia back the US maximum pressure on Iran?
The May 14 visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Russia was, without exaggeration, expected in the Kremlin. After the report of Special...
North Korean denuclearization deal a distant prospect
Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the landmark Singapore summit, perhaps the US administration’s signature foreign policy initiative to date....
The cries of Iranian women and my little sister Farah
Public floggings, economic disempowerment, social stigmatization: These are daily reminders to the women of my country, Iran, that in the...
Lebanon needs a new crop of Sunni leaders
There was a time when I considered Beirut as my second home. It was one of my favorite vacation destinations,...
![Students surround the bronze statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, as it is removed from the campus of Cape Town University, South Africa on April 9, 2015 [File:AP/Schalk van Zuydam]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/9ce53e0857d74fbfb3e956796a99dfc5_18.jpg?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
How to truly decolonise the study of Africa
From Cape Town to Cairo, Bahia to Bombay, recent calls to "decolonise the university" have gained traction across the globe....
Saudi Arabia’s air defense forces shot down five Houthi drones aimed at Asir region
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's air defense forces shot down five drones launched by Houthi terrorists against targets in the Kingdom's southern...
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Regime and Russia bombardment kills 28 in northwest Syria: monitor
BEIRUT: Regime and Russian air strikes and shelling killed at least 28 people including seven civilians in embattled northwest Syria,...
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Sudan military acknowledges violations in sit-in dispersal
KHARTOUM: Sudan’s ruling military has acknowledged that security forces committed violations when they moved in to disperse a protest sit-in...
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UAE’s Gargash says Iran’s Zarif credibility ‘diminishing’
UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash criticized on Friday Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, saying the...
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![Iranian protesters flash victory signs during a protest after Friday prayers at a university in Tehran on July 17, 2009 [File: Reuters]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/192c139630134d15bee7d6ae65f6b13f_18.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
![Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags during a protest marking the 71st anniversary of the Nakba in the southern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2019 [Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/e8591ca168a448ab8f3a64fe24b18ea5_18.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi on May 14, 2019. [Reuters/Alexander Nemenov]](https://i1.wp.com/middleeastaffairs.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1cc07dd6474d487ebac5bf113c4e84d2_18.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
