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Though many of the youth leaders who participated in the 2011 revolution are in prison, youth-driven political campaigns will continue under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A new movement that has risen, called the "We have had enough" campaign has several demands from the Egyptian youth. These include holding accountable anyone who was involved in killing any Egyptian, a debate about implementing separation of powers, setting minimum and maximum wages, and amending the protest law. These demands have led the state to release some of the prisoners of conscience, in an attempt to prevent any chaos before parliamentary elections. A similar movement, called the Dhank movement, arose in protest of the living conditions for the poorest Egyptians. The leaders of this movement encourage protests like refusing to pay electric bills because of a lack of service. The activists describe the need for the Dhank movement coming from Sisi's poor treatment of the lower class that included removal of subsidies and raising prices of commodities. The "We have had enough" campaign spokesman says they insist on the implementation of 14 human rights amendments. He ends by reiterating the consistent suspicion the youth groups have of the state and a lack of confidence that their demands will be met. This shows that there is no clear strategy or realistic possibility to ending the tension between youth groups and the state.

What is Syria? Why the civil war? How did it all go so wrong compared to other countries of the Arab Spring? Why do Russia and Iran still like Syria so much? Why hasn't the US gotten involved? Why are chemical weapons being so heavily differentiated from other regime violent acts?

Upon researching issues in women's rights, an issue involving forced marriage came up as an issue for Saudi Arabia. This link is about forced marriage in Saudi Arabia. The article starts with the story of a 15 year old girl that was forced to marry a 90 year old man who paid her parents $17,000 for her. The article then goes into detail about who is to blame and how it is perceived religiously.

ISIS has become very rich extremist group because of the oil smuggling business they are involved in.

This article discusses the strategies of the FBI in trying to arrest potential jihad recruits. The article discusses several cases of individuals arrested for attempting to join ISIS and the implications involving each case.

This article accentuates the "Age of Proxy Wars" in the Middle East. While Syria and Libya are the 2 most known proxy situations, the article illuminates other states involved as well. We know already about UAE, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, which this article also brings up, but new information suggests that Bahrain and Kuwait are supporting sides of the regional war as well. While these nations think they're doing their part to support their values, these proxy wars are actually fostering further extremism since people supporting each side do not directly suffer the consequences. The article states that the metastasizing of these jihadist groups is grave threat to US national security, and the US must intervene in order to solve this crisis. The author says the US needs to improve their performance in donor cordination, funding the right groups, as well as be more aggressive in working directly with elections, uncovering networks of money and influence. He says rather than the conduction of elections, we must focus on the nature of politics in general, curbing corruption and embedding sectarian democratic values in their political sphere.

There are 3 types of FGM. Type 3 is the most harmful. Older women were not given nay type of pain medication. Recently, young girls were given medication to help with the pain. 

Committee meets to prepare plan for possible transition during post-assad period.

In this Office of the Historian publication, US involvement in the peace process of Israel and its neighbors is described in general. Touching on the Oslo and the Camp David accords, this article sketches a brief outline of the events occurring on the attempted road to peace.

Former CIA deputy director Mike Morell, who also served a stint as acting director of Langley, is testifying before House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence today. The hearing focuses on the Obama administration's response to the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Tunisian security forces arrested 21 individuals suspected of being involved in the deadly attack against the Bardo museum. The 21 suspects belong to two terrorist cells and so far 46 suspects have been arrested. The terrorists cells will be charged of being accomplice in the terrorist case through providing weapons and logistics.

When we think of domestic abuse or abuse in general we often think at home situations involving a man and woman. In Saudi Arabia, and surely other parts of the world, maids are frequently subjected to abuse. This article is one example of a maid that was severely abused for the simple act of bringing coffee too late. Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are often abused by their employers.

The gender inequity in Saudi Arabia leads to many issues regarding health and education. More women than men are illiterate due to the young ages that women can be married and forced to turn into stay at home moms. There are also limitations on women exercising in school and public places increasing the rate of obesity for women. Additionally, there are issues involving access to healthcare. Women frequently need permission from their guardians to receive medical care.

This article says why women need democracies. It provides us with 4 key practices for women's involvement as well as what the UN is doing.

This is a complicated war. This site explains in more detail than others and with more emotions put into it as well. It offers first hand accounts of men and women involved in the civil war. Also it discusses the refugee camps that are not mentioned in other sites. The site states that this is a messy, cruel war where neither side has much regard for civilian casualties.

Ghada Wali, a female minister from Egypt, wants to make a difference in Egypt, but also the rest of the Arab world in the matter of education and women's involvement in society.

This link is considered a refresher course on the Syrian civil war. It mentions how it started, who's involved, the reasoning behind the fighting, the death toll, the leadership, and much more.

more updates on ISIS/Syria situation: VP Joe Biden issued a statement ensuring "we are ready for a military solution against the Islamic State"; Moscow's airstrikes appear to be only focused on Assad's opponents; would U.S. intervention be as prominent if Russia wasn't involved...