In The News

New York Times: Summary of US Russia Investigation

Mikayla Bouchard May 17, 2018
US special counsel Robert Mueller and a team of investigators have been at work for a year examining Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. A US Senate committee, also investigating, has released multiple documents. The New York Times presents a timeline summarizing themes of the investigation along with key dates, participants and targets. The investigation focuses on...

Reuters: Israeli Forces Kill 41 in Gaza Protests

Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell May 14, 2018
In December, US President Donald Trump announced relocation of the US Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, angering Palestinians and triggering protests against Israeli occupation since. Protests intensified for opening day, and Israeli forces responded, with more than 40 Palestinians killed and 900 wounded. Previous US presidential administrations had opposed embassy relocation before...

The Diplomat: Plans for South China Sea Nuclear Power Plants

Viet Phuong Nguyen May 11, 2018
Environmentalists express concerns about a floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, dispatched by Russia in late April to the Arctic. China also plans as many as 20 floating nuclear reactors in the South China Sea: “In 2016, two major Chinese state-owned nuclear suppliers, the China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), announced a plan to...

Center for Public Integrity: TPS Cancellations in the US

Susan Ferriss May 8, 2018
Since 1990, the United States could grant temporary protected status for citizens of select countries with challenging conditions including conflict or disasters that prevented safe return. The Trump administration has announced an end of this protected status for citizens of Honduras as of January 2020 and Nepal as of June 2019. The limited status was granted to Hondurans after a 1998 hurricane...

Times of India: The Wuhan Puzzle

Nayan Chanda May 7, 2018
China and India, the world’s two most populous nations, are rivals for trade and regional influence. A two-day summit between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi may have been a quest for cooperation and Nayan Chanda, writing for the Times of India, refers to a Mao Zedong theory on setting priorities: “In his famous work ‘On Contradiction,’ Mao stated successful policy depends on identifying the...

Reuters: What Could Iran Do if US Drops Nuclear Deal?

Babak Dehghanpisheh May 3, 2018
Reuters reports that US President Trump is expected to pull the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. The move could signal that democracies are not reliable long-term partners. Babak Dehghanpisheh lists scenarios by which Iran could make trouble for US interests in the Middle East in many ways. Iranian-supported militias fighting extremists in Iraq and Syria could target US...

Haaretz: Netanyahu Says Iran Nuclear Deal Is Based on Lies

Noa Landau May 1, 2018
With a document release, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains that Iran has deceived the world about its ambitions for nuclear weapons. “Netanyahu referred to a secret Iranian nuclear project, codenamed ‘Amad, which he said had been shelved in 2003, though he said work in the field had continued,” reports Noa Landau for Haaretz. In a news conference, he claimed Iran lied about...