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Ruth Hanau Santini writes on women's rights in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in the wake of the Arab Awakening. After female activists played a prominent role in actions leading to the recent leadership changes, Santini argues that women have been marginalized in the political space and their voices sidelined.

Before the conflict and poverty that has been affecting the nation for years, Yemen was once a center of civilization and wealth. This article outlines the history of this tumultuous country from its beginnings as "Happy Arabia" (as the Romans used to call it) to a country divided.

Iran claims the United States did not follow through on the nuclear deal and has created more difficulties for Iran in regards to their relations with other countries. Iran also worries that the administration following Obama will not uphold previous commitments. Iran does acknowledge that the deal has benefitted their relationship with the U.S. because they now have ample opportunity to talk about these issues which has not been done in previous decades.

Russia warned it will act unilaterally starting on Tuesday to end alleged violations of the "cessation of hostilities" agreement, unless Moscow and Washington urgently reach an agreement to deal with attacks. The Russian military has accused the United States of dragging its feet on responding to Moscow's proposals on rules for joint monitoring of the Syria ceasefire and response to violations, saying delays are leading to civilian casualties. The Russian Government has threatened the Syrian people who stand against the peace treaty..

"I think it's absolutely horrible," Trump said. "Look at Brussels, Brussels was a beautiful city, a beautiful place with zero crime, and now it's a disaster." He said the Belgian capital "is an armed camp" and added that "Paris is no longer the beautiful City of Lights." The United States GOP party is weighing in on the ISIS attacks, and what they think Obama should be doing. This puts the United States under high alert because several people flock in from the border every day to get to the US.

Despite constant criticism of Iran Nuclear Deal, Joe Biden still defends the plan. Claims that the U.S. is ready and able to take action if Iran breaks the deal and says America has full control over Iran.

A cyber-espionage hacker group believed to be backed by Iran and located in Tehran have been identified. Tracking has led to identification of, Yaser Balaghi, the leader of a group known as "Rocket Kitten".

Disclosed documents provide details of a veiled cyber scene in which governments are the major players. It notes that the start of Iran's cyber warfare was kicked off by the US under the Bush administration who initiated cyber attacks on Iran to prevent Iran's attempts at nuclear programs.

The Taliban states that they fully support ISIL and their attempt to set up a "caliphate" in the Middle East. They set up a statement saying how much they supported them.

Cairo (AFP) - An Egyptian jihadist group released a video Sunday showing the execution of four men, including three being beheaded, accused of spying for the army and for Israel's Mossad intelligence service. It is the second time such gruesome footage has been released by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), the deadliest militant group based in Egypt's insurgency-hit Sinai region.

ISIS had entered the town of Kobani, near the Syrian and Turkish border. This came a day after Turkish lawmakers had stated that they gave the government full power to deal with ISIS.

Now it seems ISIS has taken control of Kobani.

The Council on Foreign Relations published an article about democratization in the middle east and the major obstacles that are present in the process. While most assume Islamists and Islamic embedded institutions are the root of the delayed democratic transition, the problems are much bigger than that. While Islamist regimes do indeed stunt the growth of democratic progress in terms of creating a stable government, Arab countries struggle with economic and social factors as well. The Arab Spring Revolutions have caused economic and social degradation across the region, resulting in a road block of political leadership. Without a reliable and capable government structure, the states are unable to progress economically. However, in order to have a stable government, social and economic institutions must be in place to create this capitalist economy that they strive for. Because most wealth resides in oil, the revenue that the states bring in isn't distributed properly throughout society and is concentrated within few business elites. The article stresses that instead of foreign aid going into the hands of an unstable leader or regime, it should be invested in institutions in order to spur economic growth and eliminate corruption. Rather than focusing on the Islamist-secularist divide, the world should be working towards the strengthening of institutions to create a stable foundation for governance.