Group items tagged

ISIS has taken over a refugee camp near Damascus, the Syrian capital. They say they are targeting opposition forces living in the camps. ISIS is making it nearly impossible to evacuate those inside the camp and the UN has called this a major "humanitarian crisis."

The fighting in Syria and Iraq has expanded and gained more foreign fighters from many more countries around the world. 

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.

His face is on posters, shirts, cupcakes and now campaign banners and billboards across the country. The image of Egypt's next likely president, ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was iconized well before he declared his candidacy by propagandists, opportunists and supporters soon after he led the military ouster of President Mohammed Morsi last summer amid the nationalist fervor sweeping the country.

Conflict broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli forcing Mitiga airport, primary airport since Tripoli International was closed due to damages, to close down worsening the bloody proxy war thus escalating the crisis. Egypt and UAE have been aiding the Islamic opposition, helping to fight against the Islamic militants backed by Turkey and Qatar. Apparently Qatar's involvement in Libya goes back to the revolution that ousted Gaddafi, contributing $2 billion in support of the Islamic movements as a part of its vision to establish an Arab regime ruling through Sharia Law. As of now, no players are willing to compromise in this "state of war." 

Political parties are demanding payments of up to $28,000 for candidates to be included in their electoral lists. This is prohibiting youth groups from having an active role in the formation of the new government. Although the new electoral law gave Copts, women, and people with disabilities the right to be a part of parties' electoral lists, splits and conflicts between parties interferes with the process. There is a consensus in the higher order of politicians that the youth are not prepared to be a part of the political process. Others believe this is an unfair statement. However, the mistake of the youth in the revolution was that they did not take part in the government process at the beginning. They missed their opportunity to fulfill their demands by only aiming to overthrow the regime.

Interesting article about challenges social media companies face in preventing and deactivating accounts with content or users linked to terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

Tensions are rising even higher as the Syrian government take actions to regain the crossing to Jordan. This crossing was lost to the rebels not long ago and has closed an important crossing. 

At least two dozen Islamic State fighters have been killed in northeastern Syria in a battle with Kurdish forces supported by U.S.-led air strikes, a Kurdish official and a group monitoring the war said on Saturday.

More violence in Aleppo, Syria. This is on the activity of Ahrar al-Sham in the Northern parts of Syria.

Overview of the Nuclear Deal as well as the pros and cons. A more in-depth evaluation of facts about the program and the benefits of global intervention.

Iran now has a Supreme Council of Cyberspace and is quickly developing it to become a powerful tool. Even though they aren't quite in the same league as the U.S. or China, they impose a threat big enough to worry about other than China.

Iran's cyber potential has reached levels to match the US. Not only does Iran run a strong defense, monitoring its people's access to the internet but it also has a strong offense, as evidenced by an attack on Saudi Arabia. Iran is not afraid to boast and toss threats at the US either, this has US intelligence officials prudent and wary.

Turkey's "provocative" military buildup on the border and shelling of the Syrian territory could thwart the truce and disrupt the peace process in the Arab Republic, said the head of the Russian ceasefire monitoring center Lt. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko.

Because there are many instances of human trafficking that go unreported, it is impossible to determine the amount of victims who have been part of human trafficking. Uganda is a major source and destination for human trafficking of men, women, and children. Kenya is another country that is a major source and destination and both of these countries are ranked as Tier 2.

looks Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad does not take the issue of cease-fire seriously after the air strike on a school today.