Iraq’s second city of Mosul looks like a model of success for its new rulers from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
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The Isis economy: Meet the new boss - FT.com - 0 views
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But in the back alleys, litter fills the streets. The lights stay on, but only because locals rigged up generators themselves. And under the blare of café televisions, old men grumble about life under Isis’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
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Sunni Muslims in both countries have long felt discriminated against by regimes dominated by rival sects
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without an economy that gives people a chance to make a living, many say Isis has little more to offer
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“Compared to past rulers, Isis is a lot easier to deal with. Just don’t piss them off and they leave you alone,” says Mohammed, a trader from Mosul. “If they could only maintain services — then people would support them until the last second.”
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“They’re operating like something between a mafia, an insurgency and a terror group. Maybe they thought six months ago they were going to function as a state. But they don’t have the personnel or manpower.”
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volunteers handing out sacks of wheat stamped with their black and white seal. They even announced plans to issue a currency,
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In some cases they say Isis takes credit for systems in place before it seized power. In others, locals say it is stealing the resources of the region it seeks to rule
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Travellers must stock up on Iraqi dinars to use in Iraq, US dollars for the road and Syrian pounds once they arrive.
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services continue to function because of the money Baghdad still pays to former civil servants in Mosul. Isis taxes those employees at up to 50 per cent of their salaries.
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It is as if Isis is financing itself partly through a pyramid scheme, and this has begun to falter.”
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Though many now question Isis’s economic management, its military prowess and organisational skills are clear.
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Isis allows easy movement through its territories to facilitate trade. Trucks passing through are taxed about 10 per cent of the value of their cargo.
Reeling from Gaza losses, Palestinians in the West Bank organise boycott | Middle East Eye - 0 views
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Syria officially joins UN Chemical Weapons Convention - 0 views
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Syria officially joined the United Nations convention banning chemical weapons, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The treaty requires all countries that join it to eliminate their chemical weapons, including stocks and related facilities. Syria is the 190th country to join the OPCW.
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The War Between Hezbollah and ISIS in Lebanon - 0 views
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Egypt welcomes US Congress draft legislation to label Brotherhood 'terrorist group' - 0 views
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On Wednesday, a Republican-led House Committee approved the legislation designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Sunday 28 Febuary 2016 Egypt was welcomed by the United States Congress Judiciary Committee to label the Muslim Brotherhood a "foreign terrorist organisation." This would also mean to non US citizens with any affiliation with the Brotherhood inability to enter the US as well.
Gulf Arab states designate Hezbollah a terrorist organisation - Region - World - Ahram ... - 0 views
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Two new cyber-espionage groups targeting ISPs inside Iran - 0 views
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Ignorant jihadis 'have bought into fantasy fuelled by social media' | World news | The ... - 0 views
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“They all had impoverished backgrounds, they were illiterate, their families had been approached by the Taliban and were coerced into abandoning their children, they were lambs to the slaughter,” she said.
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Those from the west are naive and lack imagination, they are chasing a fictional dream, and they often have barely any knowledge of what Islam is.”
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The book aspiring Isis militants most commonly ordered online before taking off to Syria was Islam for Dummies, she said.
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“What Isis has done, and they have exceed al-Qaida in this, is take really spectacular control of the narrative of their organisation while sharing that story through masterful use of all mechanisms of the media,” she said
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Ten years ago, it was difficult to access and acquire videos like the beheadings we have seen unless you were part of an inner circle, but now this material is mainstream, you can access it just by opening Twitter,”
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“If you are a young person with limited imagination, a limited sense of self, and you are uninclined to engage with your neighbours, friends and a pluralistic society, you are very easily seduced. You’re like a blank canvas.”
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Islamism promotes explicit totalitarianism and the belief that Islam historically had incredible global and geopolitical glory that should be restored through violence, jihadism and barbarity
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Egypt receives 300 recommendations in UN human rights review - Daily News Egypt - 0 views
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recommendations relating to the controversial Protest and NGO Laws, media freedoms, freedom of association, the use of the death penalty, and women’s rights.
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20 recommendations that dealt with the status of civil society organisations in Egypt and called for a revision of the current law
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Seven Egyptian NGOs refused to participate in the UN UPR, citing a fear of reprisals by the Egyptian government.
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13 times among the 300 recommendations, with calls to amend the law and “bring it in line with international standards
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Iceland read “Ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the mass killings in [Rabaa Al-Adaweya] Square in 2013 and hold the perpetrators accountable
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The US also recommended that Egypt “release those detained solely for exercising rights to freedom of expression or for membership in a political group, and ensure remaining detainees full fair trial guarantees on an individual level”.
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included recommendations to tackle corruption, human trafficking, the promotion of human rights, and investment in education for young people.
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“reconsider its policies and orientation before Egypt slides into an abyss of unremitting terrorism and political violence”.
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Human Rights Watch calls for anti-FGM measures in Egypt | FIGO - 0 views
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doctor was charged with conducting the practice, he insisted that it was for medical purposes and not simply as a form of FGM.
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HRW says that existing laws need to be enforced properly with the help of greater commitment from local authorities in particula
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“The authorities must send a clear message to the police, prosecution and the courts on investigating and prosecuting those who perform FGM
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Profile: Egypt's militant Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group - 0 views
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Al-Qaeda-inspired militant organisation Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Champions of Jerusalem) has claimed responsibility for the 24 January bomb attack on the police headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Initially, the group was known for launching attacks on Israeli targets and interests, but after the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, it has started directing its violence against the Egyptian army and police.
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Turkish forces raise flag on Syrian territory - Daily News Egypt - 0 views
www.dailynewsegypt.com/...es-raise-flag-syrian-territory
turkish forces flag ISIS syria politics war
shared by fcastro2 on 23 Feb 15
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urkish forces entered Syrian territories and advanced to the outskirts of Aleppo Saturday to transport the buried remains of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Suleyman Shah.
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was threatened in March 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) as the radical militant organisation demanded that Turkey lowers its flag and withdraws troops guarding the site.
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A soldier was killed in the operation, as far as the international coalition to combat ISIS knows, although it didn’t see clashes,
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After the Turkish forces transported the remains, they destroyed all the buildings in the site to “prevent abuse of the site
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BBC News - Can Iraqi militants be kept off social media sites? - 0 views
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The Iraqi government responded by blocking social media sites and, in some provinces, barring access to the internet entirely.
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The BBC spoke to a number of social networks, all of which said they did not actively monitor their sites for content promoting terrorism, but rather responded to requests from governments and individuals to remove offending material.
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One Ask.fm account offered advice on how to join Isis fighters in Iraq, as well as what weapons one could expect to be equipped with on arrival.
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rminated any account registered by a member of a foreign terrorist organisation - as designated by the US secretary of state - and used in an official capacity to further its interests.
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BBC News - Egypt: Deadly risks, but female genital mutilation persists - 0 views
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"It's perceived as being safer, but no-one learns how to do this at medical school. We should definitely assume more girls are dying as Suhair did,
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"The case has started a debate among the liberal-minded," said Mohamed Ismail, who works for a local women's rights organisation.
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Campaigners warn that it will take more than one prosecution to spare other girls. More on This Story
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"It's an irreversible act. There are mental and physical scars that stay with the girl for a lifetime."
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"It's a very bad thing for girls," said Amira. "There's no need for it. It's wrong because it's dangerous."
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Tunisian cyber activists take on Egyptian cause - 0 views
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ocial media played in organising the uprising in Tunisia, and now, activists there are focusing their technical skills on helping anti-government protesters in Egypt. Tunisian hackers say they will attack website belonging to the Egyptian government in solidarity with the pro-democracy activists protesting there.
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Schooling in a crisis: the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey - ODI HPN - 0 views
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The Syrian civil war has created one of the largest and most intense episodes of human suffering of the early twenty-first century.
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Turkeys efforts to meet the needs of refugees have been spearheaded by the Afet ve Acil Durum Yonetimi Baskanligi
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majority of refugees are women and, especially, children; of the 200,000 refugees in Turkish camps, about 60% are children.
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t was left to him to find tents, wooden flooring, carpets and paving bricks, desks, chairs, drawing boards, teaching aids and, of course, textbooks
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he pre-school director in Islahiye Camp used empty office and storage space in the warehouse to house five rooms full of loud young children
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curricula are not recognised or sanctioned by the Turkish education authorities, and so licenced Turkish teachers cannot be assigned to them.
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Indeed, one source of tension between Syrian parents and the Turkish authorities has been the Syrian demand for special classes for advanced students whose preparations for university entrance exams were interrupted by the war.
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Syrian parents also tend to insist that their daughters wear headscarves (hijab) in public and in schools, while it is illegal for Turkish teenage girls to cover their hair at school.
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Tensions over the separation of the sexes, curriculum and language of instruction are compounded by the politics of Syrians refugee status
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y contrast, the Turkish government chose not to officially recognise the Syrians as refugees as defined by UNHCR, and did not ask UNHCR to register the newcomers as refugees.
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Even guests can outstay their welcome, and with no end in sight to the civil war and no prospect of a return of Syrians to Syria, Turks are beginning to question how long they can sustain their assistance. I
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une 2013 AFAD began accepting offers of financial and other aid from outside agencies, including UNHCR and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
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The schools developed in Syrian refugee camps in Turkey provide valuable models for establishing schools for rapidly growing refugee populations.
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The next critical challenge for Syrian education in Turkey is what to do with the growing number of Syrian teenagers who need to finish their high-school studies at accredited schools in order to compete for places at universities in Turkey or elsewhere.
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This was probably the most interesting article I have read about education in the MIddle East. It is from the "Humanitarian practice Network". This article is about Turkey and the Syrian refugees, who are not documented as refugees, and the growing desire for improvements to education. Right now, the education which is in place for Syrians is adequate for a temporary stay of preserving knowledge. It is not designed to be used long term, to advance students, or to prep them for universities. This article looks at those issues and tensions which are happening currently in Turkey
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Turkey's Erdogan denounces US support for Syrian Kurds - BBC News - 0 views
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More than 500 people, including dozens of civilians, have been killed since the assault began 10 days ago
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urkey has already taken in more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees over the past five years and says it will continue to do so in a "controlled fashion".
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urkey's president asked in a speech: "Are you on our side or the side of the terrorist PYD and PKK organisation?"
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While Turkey sees the PYD and YPG as offshoots of the banned PKK, the US does not and believes they are the only effective force against IS on the ground in Syria, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul.
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France's outgoing Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, also questioned the commitment of the US to resolve the crisis in Syria on Wednesday, saying its "ambiguous" policy was contributing to the problem.
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Turkey has denounced the United States for providing support to the Democratic Union Party, who any are calling a terrorist group. This is contributing to the bloodshed.
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Turkey is mad at U/S over their support for Syria's Kurdish group. Turkey claims them as a terrorist group. Refugees are still fleeing from Syria.
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US support of Syrian extremist group, the Democratic Union Party, has been denounced by Turkish president Erdogan. The recent fighting has displaced 50,000 people and cut off key supply routes for bringing in aid. Turkey has vowed to continue to accept refugees.w