Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he doesn’t trust Iran's newly elected President Hassan Rohani, calling him a "wolf in sheep’s clothing."

• July 15, 2013

President Barack Obama raised U.S. concerns directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday over Moscow's handling of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, but there was no sign of a breakthrough on Washington's demand that Russia expel him.

• July 14, 2013

Russia's U.N. envoy on Thursday sharply criticized what he described as Western nations' "small propaganda storm in a glass of water" regarding allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own people.

• July 12, 2013

Supporters and opponents of the ousted Egyptian Islamist President Mohammed Morsi are preparing to stage large rallies in Cairo on the first Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan.

• July 12, 2013

Egypt has accused Iran of "unacceptable interference" in its domestic affairs after Tehran criticized the army's removal of Islamist President Muhammad Morsi.

• July 11, 2013

A Syrian opposition leader is undermining chances for proposed peace talks by saying that foes of President Bashar al-Assad will only attend if they make military headway first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

• July 10, 2013

Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, the defense ministry said in its first annual report since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office.

• July 9, 2013

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics during June 16-30th 2013
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Germany again blocks Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, citing the AKP government’s response to the Taksim Square protests.
• Turkey’s leading official in charge of EU negotiations criticizes German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the matter.
• Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan continues assertions that foreign powers are at play behind the protest movement.
• A lack of evidence to this assertion, and the obvious lack of a “Deep State” that he subdued continues to make Erdogan look like a leader proffering conspiracy theories rather than listening to protesters demands.
• NABUCCO (West) meets its end when Shah Deniz Consortium chooses TAP pipeline project on June 28.
• NABUCCO’s end is a result of over a decade of rising cost and changing geopolitical positions of the stakeholders involved.

• July 9, 2013