Recent Posts

The Long Arm of Authoritarianism

How Dictators Reach Across Borders to Shut Down Dissent Last year was a particularly dangerous time to be a Belarusian political dissident—not just in Belarus, but anywhere in the world. In 2021, after months of violently cracking down on peaceful opposition protests at home, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko began exporting …

Read More »

Can Sudan replace Ukraine as breadbasket for MENA region?

Despite Sudan’s agricultural and animal resources, political instability is hindering the country’s potential to benefit itself and the region. Sudan’s Minister of Trade and Supply Amal Saleh Saad says her country can secure food for the Arab world and compensate for the shortages of Ukrainian and Russian wheat caused by …

Read More »

OPEC+ alliance agrees to production increase

Pressure on Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers has boosted production amid high prices. An alliance of major oil exporters announced a big increase in production today. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed to boost production by 648,000 barrels a day for July …

Read More »

Germany sentences five Tajiks to jail over ISIS plots

A German court on Tuesday convicted five Tajik men for their membership of an ISIS cell that planned terrorist attacks in Germany and abroad. The men, aged 25 to 34, were given jail terms of between three years and eight months to nine-and-a-half years, a court in Duesseldorf said. They …

Read More »

EU Slaps Sanctions on al-Qaida-linked Group

The member states of the European Union on Monday agreed to impose terrorism-related sanctions against an al-Qaida-affiliated armed insurgent group and two of its leaders. The European Council, which oversees the 27-member bloc’s political direction, identified Hurras al-Din, a Syria-based al-Qaida affiliate, its leader, Faruq al-Suri, and its religious leader, …

Read More »