Written By Lily Elias
The Middle East is a large and diverse region composed of several countries and cultures in North Africa and Western Asia.
Iran:
At least five people have been killed and 330 others injured after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Iran on Friday November 8th, Iranian state-run Press TV reported. Press TV said emergency and evaluation teams are operating and Red Crescent teams have been dispatched to the area.
Image By MEHR
They have further reported that the tremor struck at around 2:00 a.m. local time (5:30 p.m ET Thursday November 7th) in Iran's East Azerbaijan Province, and there have been more than 50 aftershocks. The reports added that buildings in the area have been destroyed. The Earthquake had a shallow depth of only 8 kilometers (almost 5 miles) according to the University of Tehran Seismological Center, as cited by Iranian state media. Their reports said three small villages in the area were destroyed in the quake, semi-official FARS news reported. Iran sits on a major fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian plates and has experienced many earthquakes in the past.
Lebanon and Iraq:
October was not a good month in Iraq, protests are also ongoing against government corruption, a lack of basic services and growing unemployment.
Image By Ali Hashisho
As in Lebanon, demonstrators there have transformed once heavily policed urban spaces into opposition strongholds.
Image By BBC
In Baghdad's al-Tahrir tunnel, men and women take cover from security forces and treat the wounded, Murals cover the tunnel walls. The heart of old Beirut -- a neighborhood normally blocked by private security guards - is speckled with clusters of tents where activists meet for lively discussions about their future. Young protesters in Iraq and Lebanon say they are outraged at the perceived arrogance of the political elite. A proposed tax on WhatsApp calls by the Lebanese government exposed a gaping disconnect between the country's leadership and an increasingly tech-savvy - as well as impoverished - population that has come to rely on free phone calls.
Syria:
At least 15 people were killed, and many others injured on Saturday November 9th, in a car bomb explosion in a northern Syrian town that Turkey took control of last month, officials said. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion at a market in Tal Abyad near the Turkish border. Turkey's defense ministry blamed the armed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), while a group aligned with the Kurds blamed Turkey.
Image By Baderkhan Ahmad
Another Event happened recently in Syria:
ISIS confirmed the death of former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and named his replacement in an audio message on Thursday.
In the recording, published on the terrorist group's media accounts; ISIS announced its new leader as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. Baghdadi died during an American commando raid on his compound in northern Syria over the weekend. The message was voiced by ISIS' new spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qarshi. He replaces former spokesman Abu Hasan al-Muhajir, who was killed by US forces near Jarablus in northern Syria, a senior State Department official said. Baghdadi's death marked the end of a year-long hunt to find one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. He has been in hiding for the last five years. In April, a video published by ISIS media wing al-Furqan showed a man purporting to be Baghdadi. It was the first time he had been seen since July 2014, when he spoke at the Great Mosque in Mosul.
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