In The News

Abdullah Kamal May 30, 2014
Egypt, long considered a center of the Muslim world, has been in turmoil since the Arab Spring and the ouster of two presidents, dictator Hosni Mubarak and democratically elected Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president after barring the political party associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which won the only real democratic vote in Egypt’s history....
Benny Avni May 29, 2014
President Shimon Peres and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas accepted an invitation from the leader of the world’s Catholics to participate in peace talks at the Vatican. Many remain skeptical that a “prayer for peace” will have significant impact on a long and bitter conflict. As Benny Avni of Newsweek details, one obstacle is the power differential between the two...
Ahmed Abuhamda and Nicholas Casey April 25, 2014
Palestine factions plan a unity government, and United States and Israel argue the move undermines peace talks shepherded by US Secretary of State John Kerry. The West Bank has been controlled by Fatah and Gaza Strip by Hamas, a group committed to the destruction of Israel. The Israeli prime minister canceled a meeting of peace negotiators and Hamas reported Israel fired rockets into the Gaza...
Arch Roberts April 10, 2014
Iran possesses the technology to enrich uranium that could lead to production of nuclear weapons, putting the country in a class with 14 nations including Germany and Japan. Perhaps that was the nation’s goal all along. “It’s possible that a pause in Iran’s nuclear program has become desirable and convenient in the face of the sanctions that undermine the economy and the regime, especially given...
Adam Withnall April 4, 2014
A series of royal decrees and laws in Saudi Arabia are defining terrorists – and atheists, peaceful protesters, members of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as those who leave to fight wars in other country, particularly Syria, all qualify, suggests a Human Rights Watch report. The crimes can be published with prison sentences up to 20 years. “Article one of the new provisions defines terrorism as ‘...
Joergen Oerstroem Moeller April 1, 2014
President Barack Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, and both men “recognize that the geopolitical ground shaped by their common interest in stable oil prices has shifted, creating a new imbalance that could spill over into Mideast security policy,” suggests researcher Joergen Oerstroem Moeller. The so-called shale-gas revolution and eventual self-sufficiency in the United...
Tony Burman April 1, 2014
The global audience appears to be more curious about the mystery of 239 people on board Malaysian Flight MH370 than the victims of the civil war in Syria – as many as 125,000 dead, including nearly 12,000 children, and millions of refugees as of December. Tony Burman, journalism professor, reviews the news coverage of a search by 25 nations for a missing jet versus the suffering in a refugee camp...