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With the retaking of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, we seem to finally have made tangible, on-the-ground gains against ISIS - that is, if "we" refers to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. President Obama and several of his would-be successors are satisfied: The terrorists of ISIS are losing ground.

An article published by Al Jazeera reports an attack on a container ship that was passing through the Suez Canal around the date September 1, 2013. Though the attack was unsuccessful, this article exemplifies the importance of the Suez Canal to the global markets and documents the presence of active security by the Egyptian armed forces along the canal.

Describes how the goal to "connect every U.S. school with the world in 2016" is in essence a scheme to get the Muslim Brotherhood in U.S. schools. By reaching this goal the U.S. would be working with a foundation that is very close with the Brotherhood. Since the brotherhood has numerous underground connections, it easy to assume they may have a hand in this plan as well.

Iran Nuclear Deal is filled with loop-hole phrases that allows Iran to technically make nuclear missiles. Ambassador John Bolton states that the plan was a complete failure and one of the better options would to essentially start over when the next president is sworn in.

This source reports the third day of a successful blockade of an Israeli ship in the port of Oakland. The organization blocking the ability to dock wishes to voice their disapproval with the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and bring exposure to the partnership formed between the two countries which they believe resulted in the current militarization of police forces in the United States.

Filmmakers are filming a film that talks about the sexual harassment issue that occurring in Egypt. Ninety-nine percent of women in Egypt have faced sexual harassment. It also shares the common misbeliefs that people believe due to American news. 

The author of this article was on NPR Friday discussing the women of Isis and their use of social media. The author stated that whole social media accounts of these women are constantly shut down, they operate several accounts at all times to ensure they spread their message.

In this article, Barbara Pollack tells the reader about Ganzeer, an Egyptian artist who was influential in the days of the January 25th revolution. Ganzeer has had the government single him out and labeled him "a recruit of the Muslim Brotherhood." This forced him to move for a long stay in the United States where he continues to work at bringing awareness to Western people and hopes to change the way America supports the Egyptian government.

When the people of Cairo took to Tahrir Square in January 2011 to oust Egypt's longtime ruler, Hosni Mubarak, the streets exploded with murals and graffiti that both mirrored the revolutionary spirit of the movement and propelled it forward. A young graphic designer joined the fray, working under the pseudonym Ganzeer, or "bicycle chain."

When the people of Cairo took to Tahrir Square in January 2011 to oust Egypt's longtime ruler, Hosni Mubarak, the streets exploded with murals and graffiti that both mirrored the revolutionary spirit of the movement and propelled it forward.

I heard this interview on KUT one evening and I thought it was really pertinent to our class discussions on Egypt. You can listen to the podcast or watch the interview via this link or download the podcast on iTunes for free, it is an author who just wrote a book on the Camp David Accords of 1978 and he discusses the book and the events during the interview.

This article basically lays out the faults in US intervention in Libya during the fall of Gaddafi and condemns the US officials for their lack of hindsight in their agenda. The US claimed that they could not "turn a blind eye" to atrocities and human right violations in other countries and to intervene in Libya was a matter of upholding "universal values." After the successful ousting of Gaddafi, the US hypocritically turned their back on the country as a whole, leaving them to pick up the pieces and re-build themselves in the midst of socio-political and economic chaos. The US claims that military intervention is sometimes necessary to address human right violations, but in the case of Libya more violations have occurred as a result of a fallen regime rather than because of its reign. The author basically says that the US should have predicted that short-term intervention strategies achieves nothing without years of sustained support for rebuilding the civil institutions. 

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is one of the main leaders for the Islamic State. Earlier this year there were rumors that he had been injured or killed by an air strike. But now there are rumors that he might still be alive.