CULF 3331: "Middle Eastern Revolutions"

A feature on Magnum's website showing the work of Moises Saman and his documentation of foreign volunteers fighting with the YPG in Syria. I think the work is stunning and it will end up being a historically significant record of a few brave people willing to join the fight even though it wasn't their own.

The actual number of human trafficking victims is unable to be determined. This is because there is not an official database on human trafficking. It is hard for some police officials to positively identify trafficking cases. In some cases many people do not even recognize they are victims of the crime.

Because it is nearly impossible to obtain any accurate information about the real extent of criminal activities that go undetected, there has been little research on human trafficking. There has ben reported estimates that the number of women and children that were expected to be trafficked during the 2010 Soccer World Cup ranged from 38.000 to 100,000. The author of this article believes that many of these numbers are overly exaggerated and unsubstantiated.

The kid in the dock could be auditioning for a starring role in the global psychodrama The Little Guy Versus the State. Pale, thin and dwarfed by two enormous security guards in London's Westminster Magistrates' Court, Jake Davis speaks in a whisper, and only to confirm his name.

This article discusses the role of 'cyberactivism' or the role played by new media in paving the way for political transformation, in both the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions of 2011.

On the prism of democracy, Kenya and Egypt are light-years apart, but cyber-activists and sections of Kenya's political class are drawing false parallels between the two and nudging for protests in Kenya.Kenya's cyber-space reveals fragments of the country's activists and political class are pondering using social media to emulate the Egyptian-style protest perhaps to coincide with the third anniversary of the 2008 post-election mayhem.

The International Organization for Migration contends that human trafficking with worth between $7 billion and $12 billion annually. This would make human trafficking the third most lucrative criminal activity after the narcotics and weapons trades.

IBM has been doing business in Egypt in 1954, and we've continued to invest in the country and support our clients ever since. We're committed to helping Egypt develop a world-class tech infrastructure, even through the turbulent changes in government of the past few years.

Recently the Saudi Ministry of Defense website was cyber attacked via DDoS. Tensions between Iran and Saudi are evident as a back and forth of cyber attacks exchange. The attack is alleged to be a form of protest as Saudi continues its executions of people on charges of terrorism.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have a long standing history of conflict that continues to this day. As the conflict continues cyber crime is becoming a regular tool for Iran to employ. Saudi Arabia also engages in cyber attacks but not as frequent as Iran. In addition a Yemen Cyber group, that has engaged in cyber crime, is believed to have direct ties to the Iran State.

Cyber activity and crime are growing in the Middle East according to anti-virus industry reports. This raises the question of business in the Middle East are prepared or taking action to counter the increase of threat; reports however show that most are not.

Although Iran does have a track record of international cyber attacks a report authored by a cyber security company is being scrutinized for its lack of proper documentation and evidence for current activity. It is important to foreign relations and intelligence official of the State that information available to them is of the utmost accuracy.

This article is about the improvement of education in Yemen. Yemen is a very poor country with a large population growth. These programs have created platforms and finances to attract teachers, advocates for girls groups, advocates for education, and have pushed the literacy rate up towards 90%

This article discusses the large gap amongst girls and boys in Yemen. There are fewer women in the population, not as many teachers, the literacy rate is 15% lower for girls as compared to boys. This project will deploy 700 teachers to rural areas of Yemen, hoping to attract 25,000 more students, and it will increase cash stiphens to encourage families to let their daughters go to school

This article highlights some of the challenges with improving girls education. Yemen has very little resources so taking resources from one place and giving to another-is basically like taking from students sitting on the dirt and giving to students sitting on rocks. There is also high security concerns. Many religious sects don't believe women should receive education.  So girls and schools are being terrorized on the way to school. Some families don't believe the cash transfer is worth loosing children. 

Before the conflict and poverty that has been affecting the nation for years, Yemen was once a center of civilization and wealth. This article outlines the history of this tumultuous country from its beginnings as "Happy Arabia" (as the Romans used to call it) to a country divided.

This article goes briefly over the history of the Yemen and gives information on the present conflict. The future of this country looks grim as the war between the Shiites in the north and Sunnis in the south will divide the country.

This video traces the origins of the crisis in Yemen. Protests began in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring Uprisings, but it yielded nothing but violent conflict.

The war in Yemen has forced nearly 100,000 people to flee across the Gulf of Aden to Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa. Many live in refugee camps, like Markazi refugee camp, but are unwanted due to "Yemen's reputation for terrorism."

Jordan officials killed 7 suspected jihadist militants whom were supposedly planning to blow up civilian and military targets in the country. Jordan, backed by the U.S., has been amping up the crackdown on ISIL influence flooding from Syria.