In The News

BBC: Militants Attack Afghan Intelligence Base

January 22, 2019
Afghanistan’s citizens have reason to worry about security. The United States signaled plans in December to reduce its troop presence and has met with the Taliban for peace talks in Qatar without the Afghan government’s participation. Still, Taliban attacks continue. Extremists attacked an intelligence security base near Kabul, with car bombs, suicide bombers and gunmen, killing more than 40 and...

New York Times: US Separated More Families

Miriam Jordan January 21, 2019
A US policy that separated more than 2700 children from parents seeking asylum at the border with Mexico shocked the world in 2018. A government inspector’s report reviewing the policies uggests thousands more separations may have occurred before the country’s zero-tolerance immigration policy was launched in spring 2018. With no explanations to parents, border agents placed children in shelters...

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...

Wall Street Journal: US Criminal Probe Targets Huawei

Dan Strumpf, Nicole Hong and Aruna Viswanatha January 18, 2019
The United States is investigating China’s Huawei Technologies for theft of trade secrets from US partners, reports the Wall Street Journal. “The investigation grew in part out of civil lawsuits against Huawei, including one in which a Seattle jury found Huawei liable for misappropriating robotic technology from T-Mobile’s Bellevue, Wash., lab, the people familiar with the matter said,” the...

Phys.org: Human Diet Damages Planet

Marlowe Hood January 17, 2019
The diet of more than 7.5 billion humans could cause “catastrophic” damage to the planet, reports research published in Lancet. People should consume half as much sugar and red meat and twice as many vegetables, fruit and nuts, suggests a commission of more than 30 researchers. Almost a billion people go hungry and more than 2 billion eat too muchof some foods that contribute to obesity, heart...

BBC: France Activates No-Deal Brexit Plan

January 17, 2019
Cooperation on complex trade, financial and security relationships requires compromise. Brexit’s most vehement supporters did not realize that leaving the European Union would still require compromise. Britain, as one member among 28 nations and representing about 16 percent of the European Union’s total GDP, lacks leverage. Agreement of all EU members is required for any deal. The British...