In December, the United States imposed new sanctions on several Cuban businesses and Nicaraguan government officials. The U.S. has a long, volatile history with Cuba and, under the Trump administration, has tightened economic sanctions and imposed other restrictions. The Treasury Department states that three entities, the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.,
On September 15, Bahrain normalized its relations with Israel making it the second Arab nation to do so this year. The diplomatic move is formally recognized under the “Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations.” According to the New York Times, the agreement is unsurprising.
At the end of August, the Taliban nearly took the strategic Afghan city of Kunduz. According to US News, the bulk of the Kunduz offensive took place between August 20th and 26th. During this time, the Taliban took several checkpoints, captured two bases, and displaced approximately 60,000 people before being
On Monday this week, a Saudi court convicted eight people of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reported Reuters. Khashoggi, a seasoned journalist, was a strident critic of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and prior to his murder had been living in exile in the
On August 4 an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon killed 190 and injured 6,500 people, according to Reuters. The blast was caused by the detonation of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate. This explosion, the New York Times writes, generated approximately 4.6 billion dollars in damages and 3.5 billion in economic loss –
Two weeks ago, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), brokered a deal intended to foster future cooperation in areas such as energy production and water use, in addition to finding a viable COVID vaccine, reports the BBC. Termed the “Abraham accord,” this deal will establish full diplomatic relations between
On 16 May, Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan national indicted on multiple charges of genocide, was arrested by French authorities just outside of Paris. 23 years ago, Kabuga was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda but then fled the country and has been at large ever since. Kabuga, 84,
Earlier this week, Aden, the “interim seat of the Saudi-backed government”, was declared an “infested city”, reports Reuters. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there is “full-blown transmission of the virus in Yemen, with the disease spreading undetected among a population with some of the lowest levels of immunity
It has emerged that Shady Habash, an Egyptian artist and filmmaker, died in maximum security Tora prison in Egypt on 3 May. According to the New York Times, Habash was imprisoned in 2018 after he directed the music video accompanying “Balaha,” a song by Egyptian musician Ramy Essam. The song
On 27 April, Saudi Arabia’s state-backed Human Rights Commission issued a statement signaling an end to the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by minors. According to the BBC, this announcement supported the earlier decree by King Salman and came two days after Saudi Arabia banned discretionary flogging.
Iran launched its first successful military satellite midday local time on April 22. According to the New York Times, the satellite, Noor, was launched with the aid of a messenger satellite carrier, a hitherto unheard of technology in Iran. This development comes at a time in which Iran wrestles with
Yemen has been experiencing a tenuous period of peace over the past week. According to the BBC, last Thursday the Houthi rebels and Saudi army implemented a two-week long ceasefire. This ceasefire, heralding the first cessation of hostilities since the beginning of Yemen’s civil war in 2014, was negotiated in
