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Finally Palmayra is no longer under the destruction that it was, or whatever's left of it. This article talks about how the city has changed under ISIS. Apparently, they handed out booklets to the residents advertising themselves.

A string of assassinations over a 24-hour period in Benghazi has heightened tensions in the already blood-soaked Libyan city, raising fears that the killings could initiate an even deadlier wave of violence as the country threatens to fracture.

The Council on Foreign Relations published an article about democratization in the middle east and the major obstacles that are present in the process. While most assume Islamists and Islamic embedded institutions are the root of the delayed democratic transition, the problems are much bigger than that. While Islamist regimes do indeed stunt the growth of democratic progress in terms of creating a stable government, Arab countries struggle with economic and social factors as well. The Arab Spring Revolutions have caused economic and social degradation across the region, resulting in a road block of political leadership. Without a reliable and capable government structure, the states are unable to progress economically. However, in order to have a stable government, social and economic institutions must be in place to create this capitalist economy that they strive for. Because most wealth resides in oil, the revenue that the states bring in isn't distributed properly throughout society and is concentrated within few business elites. The article stresses that instead of foreign aid going into the hands of an unstable leader or regime, it should be invested in institutions in order to spur economic growth and eliminate corruption. Rather than focusing on the Islamist-secularist divide, the world should be working towards the strengthening of institutions to create a stable foundation for governance. 

With a new economic agenda being created and putting into place the people of Tunisia are worried. With the term "reforms" people of Tunisia are worried that the wrong issues are going to be handled. Like for instance creating jobs instead of increasing prices. Authorities tried to raise money by imposing a tax of $20 on foreign travellers, that angered residents but also hurt trade with Libya. This caused protests, caused officers to react with physical abuse.

A man was shot dead on Sunday during a protest over the economy in Tunisia. Protests have been over taxes imposed on local traders, with residents demanding more opportunities and jobs. Witnesses said police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.

Earlier this month, the residents of Ben Gardane declared a strike that led to the closure of the border crossing to demand lifting a 30 dinar tax imposed on foreigners crossing into Tunisia from Libya. Saturday Libyan vehicles crossed into Tunisia's border for the first time after the three week protest. According to the Tunisian security officials the protest was ended "swiftly" and "peacefully".

Residents of the Gaza strip fight back against Hamas

Residents of the gaza strip are tired of hamas occupation and their war crimes

The battle in Yemen is causing many civilians to flee, and business to close down. The instability is raising fears that Yemen could be falling deeper into poverty.

Interestingly enough people are kind of missing Ben Ali. He was overthrown and left the country. Ever since his leaving, Tunisia has been in an ugly state and residents are missing how comfortable they were when he was in power.

Putin and Russia have intervened in the civil war in Syria by bombing opponents of ISIS. They are bombing the moderate opposition. The country says that it has a range of targets that it is bombing but residents and rebels say that this is not the case.

Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State group has slashed salaries across the region, asked Raqqa residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for a price of $500 a person. After America blew up Isis's money hideout, they have hit a skid with the money not coming in and the war still raging on.

The US was able to commit such detrimental airstrikes to ISIS currency storage facilities that the "caliphate" is now cutting salaries. Millions of their finances have been drained since this attack.

ISIS fighters executed innocents in a Syrian town Friday, after hundreds of residents demanded they leave following regime airstrikes that targeted the jihadists but also incidently killed civilians as well- the Islamic State executed the innocents publicly

Hafed al-Ghwell is a senior non-resident Fellow with the Rafik Hariri Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC. On Monday, Libya's House of Representatives, whose legitimacy has been questioned since the day it was elected by a mere 15 percent of the country's eligible voters, decided to add more gasoline to the already raging fire that is the four-year civil war in the country.

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

As part of a 2013 agreement signed in the Saudi Arabian capitol of Riyadh, Qatar has agreed to expel exiled leaders of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood that have taken up residence in the country that has traditionally supported them. The Muslim Brotherhood is seen as an extremist organization by many Arab states and the West but Qatar and Turkey are still supporters of them however pressures from the threat of ISIS finally coerced Qatar to honor the 2013 agreement. The exiled leaders have already been welcomed into Turkey however.

This article discusses Qatar's agreement to expel any exiled leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. This is just one of the many agreements that Qatar is forced to abide by under Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This decision was made as a way of shifting political alignments.