Tag: Weekly Digest
On July 13th, Egypt’s parliament authorized the deployment of troops outside the country. The authorization, coming immediately after the Egyptian president threatened military action against Turkish-backed troops in Libya, has been seen as further escalating Turkish-Egypt tensions in Libya. Egypt, which backs Khalifa Haftar, leader of the rebel Libyan National Army, used national security threats […]
Can Cannabis Fix the Lebanese Economy? On Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament passed legislation to legalize cannabis cultivation for medical and industrial purposes. The move had been recommended by economic advisers even before the coronavirus pandemic dealt yet another blow to the country’s struggling economy. Although the plant has long been widely and openly grown and […]
Prisoners Released Across Region to Stem Outbreak On Monday, with a COVID-19 outbreak confirmed in Turkey’s prisons, the country’s parliament approved a new law that would relax sentencing requirements and reduce the prison population by nearly a third, despite criticism that inmates held on terrorism charges will not eligible for early release. Furloughs and the […]
TeachMideast relies on the help of interns whose semesters were interrupted by Covid-19 and it has taken some time to adjust to new realities on the ground as a small organization like ours. We thank you for your patience. TeachMideast will dedicate space in the coming days to specialized content on the pandemic in the […]
With increasing instability and violence in neighboring Libya, Tunisian President Kais Saied in a national security meeting on January 7th noted the possibility of an influx in Libyan refugees. President Saied urged international organizations such as the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees for humanitarian aid in responding to the influx […]
On Monday, revolutionary songs rang out on Tehran’s streets as hundreds of thousands of Iranians gathered to mourn the country’s top general, Qassem Suleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on January 3rd. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, wept as his voice cracked while he delivered prayers over the caskets of Suleimani […]
On Monday morning, Turkey started sending detained foreign IS fighters back to their home countries. According to the New York Times, one of the deported detainees is an American who requested to be sent to Greece rather than the United States. Upon arriving in Greece, the former fighter was denied entry and sent back to […]
Over the past few years, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a secessionist movement focused on gaining independence for South Yemen, has attempted to mediate peace talks warring factions in the country in order to bring an end to one aspect of the conflict. On Monday, Reuters announced that Saudi Arabia “has been hosting indirect talks […]
Among the historical treasures of southeastern Turkey, the ancient town of Hasankeyf is soon to disappear under water due to the creation of an artificial lake as part of the Ilisu hydroelectric dam project. On Monday, photographs were published of Kurdish residents relocating the graves of deceased family members, marking the next big step toward […]
On Tuesday, a Chaldean Catholic man of Iraqi descent died after being deported from his hometown of Detroit in June 2019. Jimmy Aldaoud, according to an immigration attorney close to his family, was an Iraqi national born in Greece who immigrated with his family to the U.S. as a young child. He died in Baghdad […]