Violent extremist groups are exploiting public outcry surrounding the war in Gaza to fan the flames of radicalization, recruit followers, and encourage lone-wolf attacks in the West, counterterrorism officials have warned. Since the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, which sparked Israel’s retaliation in Gaza, security chiefs have warned of a dramatic rise in violent Islamist […]
Read moreWhy Lebanon seems destined to be the Middle East’s perennial theater of war
Israel’s suspected killing of senior Hamas figure Saleh Al-Arouri in Beirut on Jan. 2, followed by the death of Hezbollah commander Wissam Al-Tawil in a similar strike in southern Lebanon on Jan. 8, has once again thrust the country into the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although Israeli forces and members of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah […]
Read moreWhy is the latest Israel-Hamas war in the long-running Middle East conflict proving to be so polarizing?
Few issues in the world stir emotions of such intensity, global manifestations of outrage, or incomprehension of rival views as the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians does, even among those with no personal stake in the region. The current conflict in Gaza has brought these public tensions over the issue to the fore with a ferocity […]
Read moreUS, UK sanctions highlight role of Syrian, Lebanese figures in fueling Captagon addiction crisis
Sanctions recently imposed by US and UK authorities on two cousins of President Bashar Assad and several Syrian and Lebanese figures reflect growing international alarm over their role in manufacturing and trafficking Captagon, estimated to be worth up to $57 billion to the Syrian regime. Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine used throughout the Middle […]
Read moreIranians express anger and sorrow over the death of Asiatic cheetah cub Pirouz
Just a matter of decades ago, cheetahs boasted habitats from the eastern reaches of India to the Atlantic coast of Senegal. Today, the world’s fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of 120 kilometers per hour, is considered critically endangered. First published by Arab News That is why news of the death of Iran’s only […]
Read moreFears of widening gender inequality in Afghanistan as Saudi Arabia joins calls to Taliban to keep university doors open to women
Saudi Arabia has joined calls for the Taliban to reverse its decision to impose a ban on higher education for women in Afghanistan. It came a day after the group ordered women nationwide to stop attending private and public universities until further notice. The Kingdom’s foreign ministry expressed surprise and regret at the decision and […]
Read moreWhy Mahsa Amini’s death will deepen the alienation of Iran’s secular Kurdish minority
Since the death of Mahsa Amini after being taken into custody by Iran’s notorious morality police, protests have raged in cities across the Islamic Republic, beginning in Amini’s home province of Kurdistan. Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurdish woman, died on Sept. 16, three days after she was arrested in Tehran by the Gasht-e Ershad, the […]
Read moreHow setbacks in Afghanistan slowed global progress on UN’s gender equality goal
Since the Taliban seized Kabul in August 2021, two decades of progress in women’s education, employment, and empowerment in Afghan public life have been dramatically rolled back, leading to calls for the international community to increase pressure on the regime. Speaking at a recent UN news conference, Naheed Farid, an Afghan women’s rights activist who […]
Read moreUkraine aid requirements leave other global hotspots starved of funds
Growing humanitarian needs and a focus on Ukraine have left aid agencies with too little money to address the world’s other pressing crises, particularly the deteriorating situations in countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Humanitarian aid agencies working in the world’s conflict and disaster zones need $48.7 billion in 2022 to assist more than 200 […]
Read moreHow a UN fund gives hope to crisis-impacted children from Ecuador to Afghanistan
Conflict, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters, and the compounding effect of the coronavirus pandemic have left hundreds of millions of children and adolescents — particularly girls — without access to quality education worldwide. Today, 222 million young people living in regions affected by wars and disasters — in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America […]
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