CULF 3331: "Middle Eastern Revolutions"

In Algeria, the number of human trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors has increased considerably. The main groups of people of concern for UNHCR in Algeria are vulnerable Saharawi refugees.

This recent update is a report on Vice President Joe Biden's visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden assures Israel U.S. will back Israel's security in response to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps reports their "ballistic missiles are capable of reaching Israel." Israel was not in favor of U.S. negotiations re: Iran Nuclear Deal last year, and they seriously doubt more security assurance from our end.

This article depicts a very real and recent trauma that Yemen is undergoing; their healthcare system and facilities, much like other poorer middle eastern countries, is on the brink of extinction. This raised the question that we have been discussing in class; would foreign aid eliminate poverty? While there are millions in Yemen starving, would it be justified to provide their country with aid as more developed countries are supplying refugee camps in Jordan and Syrian rebels?

I found this article from 2015 to still be very relevant considering President Obama's speech and a recent push by university/techs to communicate regarding the exact threat of ISIS' cyberterrorism capabilities. The NSA reported that this means of war is parallel to that of the Cold War; leaving countries on edge since traditional human espionage is slowly becoming intertwined with "technical operations."

Caucasus Emirate is another al Qaeda-linked group that is fighting in Syria, Aleppo more specifically. I was surprised by how much detail was divulged by the group about their role in the fighting.

Another article about the political realism shown by Western countries in their policies on Syria. It states that history will look on the war in Syria critically, making the claim that they would never have stood by watching.

I bookmarked this article because the former UN and Arab League envoy to Syria is saying something I suspected from the start: the conflict could have been resolved in 2012, but none of the countries involved had the interest of Syrian people as their first priority.

"An overview of the lack of equality and oppression of women under Sharia - the position of women in Muslim majority societies." Women have little to no rights under sharia law and insist on revoking said law.

Algeria is known for being a destination and gateway for human trafficking. There are organizations that try to help children avoid being victims of human trafficking by trying to keep them off the streets at a young.

Human trafficking is the only way some people are able to leave their African country and make it to Europe. People leave with all of their savings in an attempt to cross the desert for a better life, but only have a 10% chance of having a successful journey.

There are many different types of human trafficking, but the one thing the different types all have in common is the vulnerability of the victims. The reason and types of different human trafficking include trafficking for forced labor, sexual exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation of children in tourism, trafficking for tissue, cells, and organs, and others.

The division in opinion among Arab Israelis over the war in Syria and support for Hezbollah or Sunni rebels is mainly determined by the person's ideological affiliation.

U.S Congress members urge EU to do as Gulf states and outlaw both military and political branches of Hezbollah, to actually harm the terrorists.

the general intelligence revolution has revealed an alleged Hezbollah plan to take over Beirut by purposely bombing the organization's own munition factories as well as military positions of the Lebanese army

The Syrian Arab Army's Central Command and their allies have been planning for this offensive for a long time now; it is expected to be the largest military operation to take place during this brutal war against ISIS.

A group of 5 men, aged 21-24, were arrested recently for taking a boat full of 200 people and trying to illegally smuggle them across waters. If anyone tried to escape the tightly packed boat, one of the five men would beat them with sticks and knives and forced them back inside.

While true that "slacktavism," online bullying, and unprecedented threats to our privacy are challenges, few could argue that social media has not vastly facilitated political involvement. The results have been impressive, if not always as dramatic as the Arab Spring.

Of course, Libya is currently the largest political issue, alongside Japan's natural disaster and nuclear situation. In both situations we also have an unusually prominent amount of information being made available through social media websites. It really is pretty remarkable.

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.

This article talks about a senior figure of ISIS by the name of Tarkhan Batirashvili. It turns out, one of the big figures at the head of ISIS is far from Syrian, as he is a Chechen that served in the US-trained Georgian army.