by RT.com - During a trip to Beirut, US Central Command leader, General Joseph Votel, told top Lebanese officials that declaring safe zones in Syria would work once ground troops and other resources are in place. President Donald Trump has long promised such a policy. On Monday, four-star General Votel met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf to discuss military strategy against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other jihadist forces in Syria. Syrian safe zones would be “a viable concept” in “areas that have already been secured where we already have humanitarian and stabilization activities ongoing,” Votel said, according to Foreign Policy.

However, “You’ve got to have all of the resources,” Votel added. That would include ground troops, but the general reportedly did not go into specifics about which country or countries would provide the boots on the ground. Turkey is skeptical of a safe zone in Syria, where Kurdish forces may hold an influential position. Turkish President Recep Erdogan threatened that its Free Syrian Army allies could attack the Kurds, an incident Votel said could “have an impact on the coalition campaign plan,” Foreign Policy reported. “We are fully engaged with our Turkish partners,” Votel added, referring to northern Syria, where Kurdish forces have advanced.

by DailyStar.com.lb Lebanon’s Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan Tuesday warned of a total collapse of the industrial and trading sectors in Lebanon. …

by Robbie Gramer, Foreign Policy

The Islamic State is now setting its sights on China, releasing on Monday a half-hour video in which they pledged to “shed blood like rivers” in attacks against Chinese targets. Experts say it’s the first threat the terrorist organization has leveled against China. “Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say. We are the soldiers of the Caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed,” an Islamic State fighter said in the video, which was analyzed and translated by U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group. The video showed fighters, including heavily-armed children, praying, giving speeches, and executing suspected informants. The video appeared to be the terrorist group’s “first direct threat” against China, Michael Clarke of the Australian National University, told AFP .

At first glance, China may seem like a strange target for the Islamic terrorist group. It has no real military footprint in the Middle East, and while Beijing is getting more involved in the region’s energy business, it’s not involved in the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq and Syria. But experts say China entered the terrorist group’s crosshairs over its treatment of ethnic minority Muslims, the Uighurs, who are concentrated in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Beijing is taking an increasingly hard line against unrest there. On Monday, thousands of police — backed by helicopters and armored vehicles — staged a mass rally, the fourth this year, as a show of force, Reuters reported . A Xinjiang Communist Party official pulled no punches as 1,500 cops were dispatched to problematic cities.

by Edwin Mora breitbart.com

Director Ava DuVernay celebrated her decision to wear a gown to the 2017 Oscars by a designer from Lebanon, which she proudly described as “a majority Muslim country.” Lebanon was founded as a Christian “sanctuary” state in the Middle East, and its religious makeup is so controversial the nation has not held a census since 1932. Although various assessments that use other metrics have determined that Lebanon is a slightly Muslim-majority country, Tom Harb, co-chairman of the Middle East Christian Committee, believes otherwise.

In Lebanon, “Christians are the majority including [Lebanese people] abroad,” Harb told Breitbart News, adding that there has been “no census since 1932.” “The Muslims in Lebanon refused the Lebanese diaspora to be counted because they count for more than 70 percent of the Christian Population,” he explained. “A small sign of solidarity. I chose to wear a gown by a designer from a majority Muslim country. Thanks to @AshiStudio of Lebanon. #Oscars,” director Ava DuVernay wrote on Twitter on Sunday, the day of the awards.

The move to wear a dress from Lebanese brand Ashi Studio was a deliberate snub towards President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from seven terrorism-linked countries, which she has protested in the past. Lebanon is not among the countries on the list.
 Intended as a sanctuary for Christians in the Middle East, Lebanon was established over territory from the crumbling Ottoman Empire.