In The News

Turkey Seeks World Support on Syria Moves: Hürriyet

October 9, 2019
Kurdish forces were key to defeating Islamic State extremists in northern Syria. The ethnic group is a sizable minority in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. But Turkish leaders regard Kurdish hopes for autonomy and their own country as a terrorist endeavor. The US president announced a withdrawal of US forces from the border region, despite questions about the welfare of Kurdish allies known as the Syrian...

The US Withdraws from Syria: New York Times

Peter Baker and Lara Jakes October 8, 2019
Civil war in Syria began soon after the Arab Spring in 2011. Islamic State terrorists took advantage of chaos, gaining territory and control, and the United States supported Kurdish fighters in containing ISIS. But Turkey resents the Kurds – a large and marginalized minority in that country as well as Syria, Iraq and Iran – and labels them terrorists. President Donald Trump announced withdrawal...

Beijing and Revenge on Hong Kong: Financial Times

Jamil Anderlini October 7, 2019
Hong Kong’s status as a vibrant financial center, a base for companies of all types, flourished under democracy. Democracy and fears about erosion of freedoms also fuels protests. Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, operates with a separate set of political processes, since 1997 through 2047. Increasing Chinese influence over Hong Kong, including expulsion of specific elected...

War Crimes in Yemen: Guardian

Mohamad Bazzi October 4, 2019
Inequality and conflict have divided Yemen since north and south Yemen united in 1990. Civil war began in 1990, and the 2011 Arab Spring recharged divisions. By 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened to target Houthi rebels supported by Iran. The war has led to a humanitarian crisis with daily airstrikes, famine and cholera leaving as many as 200,000 people dead, though the UN...

US Whistleblower’s Complaint on Trump

September 27, 2019
A declassified and redacted version of a whistleblower’s complaint on US President Donald Trump has been released. “In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the complaint begins. “This...

Zelensky-Trump Meet on UN Sidelines: Kyiv Post

Bermét Talant September 26, 2019
Expect global leaders to apply caution in interactions with the United States. Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine since May, spoke with US President Donald Trump by telephone in July, shortly after the president had suspended an aid payment. Details of the call, possibly connected to a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump, have galvanized global attention. Speaker of the House of...

Climate Strike Spans Continents: Financial Times

Sarah Provan, Philip Georgiadis, Camilla Hodgson, Myles McCormick, Adam Samson September 20, 2019
Millions of students and their supporters are protesting to demand immediate action from political leaders on climate change, ending the reliance on coal and other fossil fuels. Protests are scheduled in about 3,000 cities and more than 160 nations. Many businesses lend their support, with one group ringing fire alarms, responding to an early call of activist Greta Thunberg’s: “I want you to act...