The United States and Russia have brokered a truce in Syria in hopes of resuming United Nations-backed peace talks on March 9. Today News-Decoder correspondent Rashad Mammadov looks at what Russia hopes to gain in the five-year-old conflict. By Rashad Mammadov Once...
Fighting rages in Syria despite international efforts to impose a ceasefire and advance a peace plan. How remote are the prospects for peace in Syria? A hospital destroyed in northern Syria, 15 February 2016 (EPA/Sam Taylor/Médecins Sans Frontières handout) Fighting...
By Rashad Mammadov Once again, diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict have stalled. Only two days after opening in Geneva, talks between the government, rebel forces and both sides’ international backers were suspended last week until...
The execution of a Muslim cleric has inflamed an ancient sectarian rift dividing two Mideast powers — Saudi Arabia and Iran. An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Tehran, 4 January 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) In the Muslim world, the...
By Rashad Mammadov Saudi Arabia has announced it will lead a coalition of 34 Muslim countries with a single, proclaimed goal — to fight radical Islamism. The geography of the new alliance is impressive: it extends across three continents, from the Atlantic Ocean...
As global negotiators hammer out an unprecedented climate accord in Paris, most Americans don’t believe climate change is a very serious problem. (Flickr/Russell Darling) Severe storms. Extreme precipitation. Melting ice caps. Rising sea levels. Health problems....
The shooting down of a Russian warplane by Turkey could mark a turning point in President Vladimir Putin’s military muscle-flexing. A demonstrator protesting against Russian military operations in Syria. Istanbul, 3 October 2015 (AP Photo) Airspace violations...
It seems that the U.S. media just recently stumbled upon the Syrian refugee crisis, more than four years after it began in March of 2011. I consider myself a well-informed college student. But it is worrying that young adults in the United States, myself included, are...
By Kate O’Rourke Writing for an online news start-up about an international issue raises ethical decisions that many college journalists do not address in their reporting experiences. The Syrian refugee crisis is difficult to cover for several reasons, the most...