In The News

Europe Reluctant to Take Back ISIS Fighters: NPR

Vanessa Romo February 20, 2019
The Islamic State recruited young men and women from around the world with propaganda, promising a caliphate, devout surroundings, marriage and adventure. Syria, the United States, Russia and the Kurds, Turkey and Iran worked separately to defeat the brutal terrorist group. Now, disillusioned and defiant ISIS members hope to return to their homes, reports NPR. Some express less remorse than...

New York Times: Pope Francis’ Gulf Tour

Jason Horowitz February 6, 2019
Seeking warmer relations with the Muslim world, Pope Francis established interfaith dialogue during his historic trip to the United Arab Emirates, the sole oasis in the Middle East that provides a somewhat permissive environment for Christianity, allowing worship in private. The UAE has a million Catholics, about 10 percent of the population, many migrants. Jason Horowitz, writing for the New...

New Yorker: Trump Eyes Iran as Bush Once Eyed Iraq

Jonathan Chait February 5, 2019
US intelligence officials testified on live television before a Senate committee that their evidence shows Iran has not resumed efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Donald Trump initially took offense, before claiming the public mischaracterized the assessment and the officials privately agreed with him. “Trump’s rejection of intelligence assessments of Iran’s weapons of mass destruction...

Guardian: Disfigured Syrian Girl Refused US Visa

Amanda Holpuch January 23, 2019
Under Donald Trump’s travel ban, the United States denied a visa to a 16-year-old Syrian refugee seeking medical treatment for burns from a bomb attack that left her disfigured. The Guardian notes that Marwa had settled in Nuremberg, Germany, with her family. There, doctors advised the family to seek advance treatment in the United States, “following 13 operations to repair trauma from third-...

Washington Post: Sudan Unites Against al-Bashir

Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak January 23, 2019
Nationwide protests erupted in Sudan and popular opposition to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir continues. Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak report for the Washington Post: “throngs of demonstrators – most in their teens and 20s – have been met with tear gas and bullets. Thousands have been swept up in mass arrests, and at least 40 have been killed.” Protestors have mobilized against a regime they...

The Economist: Qatar Decides to Leave OPEC

January 20, 2019
As of January 1, Qatar is no longer a member of OPEC. Qatar, the first Arab state to join OPEC after its creation in 1960, is now the first Arab state to withdraw from the oil cartel. According to Qatar’s Minister of Energy Saas al-Kaabi, the decision was made to “focus efforts” on natural gas production. Although the Gulf nation is the world’s largest exporter of liquified gas, it is a minor...

Washington Post: Response Needed in Yemen

Missy Ryan January 20, 2019
Aid agencies and the United Nations have put out a warning about the food shortages in Yemen as the civil war rages on. As Missy Ryan for the Washington Post reports, “the civil war is putting more and more civilians on the brink of starvation.” Analysis suggests that 16 million people, more than half Yemen’s population, are regarded as “food insecure.” This announcement comes in the face of...