In The News

Money-Laundering by Video Games: Financial Times

Tim Bradshaw January 13, 2020
Valve, the developer of the popular video game “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” announced that players wouldn’t be allowed to trade the in-game currency that could be used for buying virtual knives, guns and skins. That was an abrupt action against the rising trend of money laundering by video games, in which criminals could cash in stolen credit cards or use the proceeds of crime for in-game...

Iran Nuclear Deal Should Be Kept: TehranTimes

January 13, 2020
Iran’s government censors its media, but cannot totally mask public desire for restraint in relations with the West. US President Donald Trump withdrew from an international agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, on limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for an end to sanctions. Amid tensions with the United States starting in 2020, Iran withdrew from the...

Iran Strikes Iraq Bases: Washington Post

Karen DeYoung, Paul Sonne and Dan Lamothe January 8, 2020
Iran launched more than 10 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases with US military personnel, described as retaliation for the death of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani at US hands. Analysts describe the missile attack as restrained, though Iran warned it would meet a US response with additional attacks, including countries hosting US bases. Iran claimed casualties; the United States and Iraq...

The President’s Men Must Testify: New York Times

Harold Hongju Koh January 7, 2020
The US House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump after compiling evidence about blocked military aid for Ukraine. The White House ordered staff not to testify, and most complied. The two articles of impeachment “should overrule any ethical or legal objection these witnesses now have to testifying before the Senate,” argues Harold Hongju Koh,...

Iranians Display Unity: Wall Street Journal

Aresu Eqbali and Sune Engel Rasmussen January 6, 2020
The US targeted killing of powerful commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad has united Iranians and their leaders call for retribution. Esmail Qaani vows to carry on Soleimani's work of orchestrating interventions and shadow wars throughout the Middle East, suggests, “The minimum retribution for us is to remove America from the region.” Iran also announced its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear...

Idlib Violence Spurs Refugees: Spiegel

Melanie Amann, Giorgos Christides, Steffen Lüdke, Peter Müller and Maximilian Popp January 6, 2020
Idlib, one of 14 governorates in Syria, has a population of about 3 million people, according to the United Nations. As a rebel stronghold during the Syrian civil war, Idlib is under siege from Russia, Iran and the Syrian regime, with residents desperate to flee to nearby Turkey. “The Idlib offensive could finally mark the end of the war in Syria -- but also the beginning of a new mass exodus,”...

Debate Goes Dark in Beijing: The Guardian

January 5, 2020
China’s human rights violations with regard to the ethnic Turkic minority of the Xinjiang province attract international criticism. The Chinese government’s detention of Uighurs into concentration camps was the subject of a segment of a US Democratic presidential debate. China refuses to acknowledge the criticism, and a live CNN broadcast of the debate “went dark in Beijing,” reports the Guardian...