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In 2013, human trafficking in Eritrea was gaining a lot of international attention, especially from the piece, "Ruthless Kidnapping Rings Reach From Desert Sands to US Cities." In 2009, a possible solution was made to send large numbers of youths to the United States in order for them to receive an opportunity to get a better education.

A Russia today article talking about the possible cease fire and reiterating Russia's firm stance against IS, ISIS/ISIL, Al Nusra etc. the article then talks about Turkey's continued shelling despite the peace talks.

A Reuters article discussing the possible cease fire/truce that is supposed to occur over the weekend. The article does a good job of highlighting the uncertainty amongst various groups as to what the terms of the deal will be.

Since the Syrian crisis involves the possibility of a president stepping down, it is being more and more compared to Egypt and Nasser's reign. Assad wants the comparisons to stop because he believes that the Syrian state is different than that of Egypt's.

Iraq had some material stolen from them that has sparked fear of possible future ISIS attacks that may contain this dangerous material. It was stolen from a US owned storage facility and according to the documents about the material, it could be attatched to explosives to make a dirty bomb.

According the Independent, a middle east news center, reported today an explosion in Ankara with at least 18 killed and 45 injured; a car bomb hit Turkey's capital. Turkish officials assume that the Kurdish Worker's Party is responsible; possibly due to an unsuccessful peace negotiations between Turkey and the PKK.

US special forces were able to take an ISIS member into custody. Through questioning, the military men were able to learn that ISIS is now beginning to make plans to use mustard gas as a chemical weapon. The Red Cross has been identified because of the possible use of chemical weapons.

An Islamic State detainee currently in American custody at a temporary detention facility in Erbil, Iraq, is a specialist in chemical weapons whom American military officials are questioning about the militant Sunni group's plans to use the banned substances in Iraq and Syria, Defense officials said. The member of ISIS who is probably dead at this point reports say, told the miltants that they were planning on using mustard gas with upcoming attacks planned.

NGO's in Egypt are facing the possibility of prosecution due to new laws passed. The entire human rights movement is being attacked by the Egyptian government.

Discusses possible scenarios of the regime with regards to the Muslim Brotherhood in 2014. Eye opening to see what analyst thought the implications would be in 2014 of the different scenarios.

Donors are scared to fund NGO's in Egypt because of possible repercussions. There is currently a funding crisis due to this fear.

A record of Michael Christopher Brown's life both inside and outside Libya during 2011, this new photobook details is about a young man going to war for the first time and his experience of that age-old desire to get as close as possible to a conflict.

Syria and Russia are considering the possibility of setting up joint banks to carry out transactions between the two countries, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Halqi told Sputnik. "The Russian-Syrian business council has expressed a wish to open a joint Russian-Syrian bank with an equity participation of 50 percent by each side.

This article talks about recent finding of Egyptian women buried with extensions. There is evidence that the women dyed their hair as well. 

Arab states have began to jump on board offering support to the coalition against ISIS. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon have recently voiced their support. Turkey, the only Arab member of NATO has voiced their lack of support in the coalition thus far. Saudi, the home to major religious cities, feels like a direct threat to ISIS and have made it clear that they will be playing a major role in the war against the Islamic State. UAE allegedly initiated bombings from Egyptian bases on Libya due to islamic militia takeovers of major cities and institutions. Arab states along with France, Germany, and Britain have agreed to form a "coordinated military campaign." Bringing in Assad from Syria is somewhat crucial, but the coalition is hesitant due to the loss of the Assad Regime's legitimacy over the past years of civil strife. Official plans of attack are still sketchy, but are definitely in the works. The coalition of states have made it clear that in order to tackle this ISIS threat, they must band together to dynamically exterminate the Islamic State from all angles.

Compiled by faculty members at the German University in Cairo, this working paper series addresses the effect that watsa has on competence and morality in Middle Eastern economics and society. The authors define watsa as, "the intervention of a patron in favor of a client to obtain benefits and/or resources from a third party." In simpler terms it is a system of social networking in Arab culture in which family and social ties play a significant role in the attainment of economic advantages and resources, largely in the hiring process in businesses and organizations. A person applying for a job seeks out watsa to increase their chances of getting hired. Comparable to nepotism and cronyism, but is not restricted to friends and associates, watsa can also involve strangers linked through some social web of people. Watsa runs somewhat parallel to a Chinese concept of guanxi, based on Confucian ethics and focusing on strong collective ties. While guanxi is a part of Chinese ethics it actually defies Muslim ethical values, which advocates hiring the person most capable. In a Jordanian survey, 87% of respondents want watsa eradicated. While we know that unemployment in the Arab region is widespread, we can assume that this motivates people to do anything they can to improve their chances of obtaining a job. However, the practice of watsa as a whole is actually degrading the economic systems in the Arab sates even further. The article explains the linkage between watsa and poor job performance, economic decline, and the festering of injustice and frustration among the masses in Arab countries.

This looks super interesting, but I can't get the link to open. Thanks for writing a thorough summary of it!

This is such a controversial topic. I saw a reference to it recently (was it possibly something that was brought up in the Bill Maher/Ben Affleck dust-up?) that pointed out that the practice is almost unheard of outside of central and northeastern Africa, with a few small pockets in Iraq and the Gulf.

Ali Khamenei is Iran's Supreme Leader. On Sunday, April 19, 2015, he pronounced that Iran's nuclear program and that nuclear weapons are a myth made up by the U.S. and European nations. As a result, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched investigations regarding the possible military dimensions of the nuclear program.

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.