April 16, 2023 written by Bushra Bani-Salman The Arab League had suspended Syria’s membership to the Arab League after the Bashar Al-Assad government’s violent suppression of pro-democracy movements in 2011. Arab diplomacy talks are back to work with Syria to discuss the possibility of Syria’s return to the Arab League, as well as normalizing relations... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman March 12, 2023 Saudi Arabia and Iran Restore Ties In Beijing, with China as the mediator, Iran and Saudi Arabia have pledged diplomatic talks in pursuit of restoring ties. This includes reopening their embassies after years of halted diplomacy. The two countries have had a seven-year rift with rising tensions. Saudi... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman February 11, 2023 On February 6, Turkey experienced the most devastating earthquakes since 1939. Two earthquakes struck southern parts of Turkey, including its Kurdish provinces, and parts of northwestern Syria, mainly controlled by Kurds. Countries from around the world have sent emergency assistance, whether it be monetary funds, search and rescue... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman September 26, 2022 Jina Mahsa Amini was a 22 year old Kurdish woman from East Kurdistan/ Western Iran visiting Tehran with her family when she was taken into custody by the morality police for allegedly violating the government’s modesty policies. Iran has had a mandatory hijab and loose-clothing policy for all... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman October 3, 2022 Protests continue for nearly two weeks after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini. Amini was a 22 year old from East Kurdistan/ Western Iran who died in Iran’s police custody after she had been accused of violating the country’s modesty laws. Amini was allegedly beaten by the police... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman October 17, 2022 Turkey’s parliament passes new legislation restricting free speech.  In recent years, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been less forgiving to political dissent and has even called social media a threat to democracy. The new law allows the government to jail journalists and social media users for spreading information... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman November 7, 2022 Benjamin Netanyahu lost his position as Prime Minister last year due to corruption charges but will now return as Prime Minister. Netanyahu’s allies also won 64 seats in the legislature, leaving current Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s allies with 51 seats.  Netanyahu governed Israel for a majority of the... Continue Reading →

Written by Bushra Bani-Salman December 5, 2022 Qatar is about the size of Connecticut, with less than three million people residing in the country, and 88 percent of the population are foreigners. The tournament in the country was questioned due to the country’s disapproval of LGBTQ people, as well as their mistreatment of migrant workers,... Continue Reading →