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In 2011 when Ben Ali decided to leave the country, Tunisia, went into an uproar. Corruption, Jobs and freedom of speech were some of the main reasons for this uproar. This article briefly touches on these 3 reasons.

This report from December 2015, released news from Moscow that uncovered Turkey as ISIS' main destination for smuggling oil. Three main oil routes to Turkey have been discovered. Although ISIS' income from oil smuggling has been significantly reduced from $3 to $1.5 million per day, this still suggests Turkey was not only aware of ISIS' stealing, but aiding and buying.

Women are Egypt have been treated different than men since anyone can remember. The women are taking action and protesting that the constitution be revised to change rights. Seats in parliament is one of the goals they hope to achieve. Equality between sexes is their main goal.

This article details were certain countries, that are most affected by the Syrian conflict, stand within the conflict and how they would like to solve the issue. 

A Syrian and Jordan border crossing has now been closed due to tensions between the "freedom fighters" and other similar groups. 

In Algeria, the number of human trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors has increased considerably. The main groups of people of concern for UNHCR in Algeria are vulnerable Saharawi refugees.

This article describe how cartoonists are the first to depict the new president, Abdel Sisi, and the important role cartoonists have in society. The main cartoonists the article follows are Mohamed Anwar and Andeel who work for Al-Masry Al-Youm in Egypt.

BBC discusses the effect of IS and the current political state of Libya.

Syria's allies, Russia, Iran, and China, all stand by them despite western powers opposing the Syrian government. There are different reasons to why these powers seem to stay with Syria such as Russia's ideologies, Iran's strategy, or China's trading. Either way, these government will stand by them until there is nothing left to lose. 

In this link the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, offers information on chlorine gas poisoning including: what chlorine is, where it is found and how it is used, exposure, how it works, signs and symptoms, and long term health effects. This is beneficial for understanding one of the main chemical weapons in Syria, chlorine gas.

Tunisian military appeals court jailed blogger Yassine Ayari for 6 months for defaming the army. He was prosecuted over blogs he had written alleging financial abuses by army officers and defence ministry officials in a case. Ayari has alleged that he is being punished for blogs he wrote while out of the country. His family and supporters charge that his prosecution is a violation of newfound freedom of expression, which was one of the main gains of the revolution.

according to the UN, 96 percent of Syria's chemical weapons have been destroyed and the preparation for destruction of the 12 remaining facilities is underway. The UN hopes that peace and political process will be Syria's main priority soon.

The head of Tunisia's Ennahda movement, Rachid Ghannouchi, was undecided if he would run for a new term at the top of the movement during its 10th congress in the second half of this year. "Ennahda is about to formulate its main conceptions," Ghannouchi said. "We cannot start talking about the relation between religion and politics before formulating these conceptions," he added.

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.

A former senior official at the U.S. embassy in Cairo describes how Sisi's background is shaping his approach to domestic politics, counterterrorism, Israel, and other issues. From the way Sisi is described, his main priority is the domestic economy. He knows that without creating domestic stability through lowering unemployment and generating more capital, he cannot remain in power. In addition, it appears that Sisi is a strong believer of military influence. He has a strategic plan of cooperating with great powers to grow Egypt's reputation. Sisi's plan to create a strong state, while cooperating with other strong states and focusing on military power are all evidence of his political realist tendencies.

This video talks about the different groups in Libya who are fighting against each other. General Haftar is one of the major players in the attacks. He is against islamist groups and he says that he will never retreat until islamist groups back down. The main reason for the fighting is to gain as much power and economic gain as they can.

In 2011 Tunisia experienced two quarters of decline in GDP. The size of the Tunisian economy decreased. Before 2011 the average growth of the Tunisian economy was between 4% to 5% per year. Immediate initiatives need to take place. An example of one would be banning strikes until the end of 2011, that would help reassure companies that are the main source of wealth and jobs creation.

This video talks about the recent cyber warfare the U.S. imposed on Iran's nuclear system. The main concern is if we should have let it be known, because if it is used against us we may not be able to fight back.

A second round of talks will be held in Moscow. These talks are said to focus on humanitarian issues in Syria.