Avi Asher-Schapiro

The State Department lacks a rigorous protocol to ensure that US equipment doesn't find its way into the hands of Egyptian units flagged as human rights abusers, even as it has itself criticized Egypt's rights record.

A joint aid convoy idled for seven hours outside of the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya before Syrian soldiers turned it away. Minutes later, the town was shelled.

The insurgents, who largely control the Afghan drug trade, are flush with cash and new recruits after the lucrative poppy harvest in Helmand province.

While both sides say they want to maintain the peace, Israeli soldiers moved into the strip to blow up cross-border tunnels, Hamas retaliated with mortar fire, and Israel responded with tank shelling and aerial assaults.

The New York City Council passed a bill that would require stores to charge a minimum five cent fee for plastic bags — supporters of the measure say it will help cut down on the estimated 9.3 billion plastic bags New Yorkers throw away each year.

Biden plans to meet with senior Iraqi officials at a time when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government is locked in a political stalemate, and the Iraqi army is struggling to take on the Islamic State.

At the New York Tactical Officers Association Conference, cops are being sold military-grade gear, and given a lecture by a terrorism expert who's been called a conspiracy theorist.

It's been four days since Reuters published an expose implicating Egyptian security forces in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, and in Egypt threats against the news organization are mounting.

The backtracking over the appointment comes ahead of the crucial New York state primary. Sanders has been campaigning heavily in New York City, where nearly 20 percent of Democratic primary voters tend to be Jewish.

A young Jewish activist with a history of criticizing Israel has just been named Bernie Sanders' National Jewish Outreach Coordinator.

A news survey, based on 3,500 face-to-face interviews across the Arab World, charts young peoples' changing opinions on a broad array of issues, ranging from the Islamic State to the fallout from the Arab Spring.

The Department of Justice and Goldman reached a $5 billion settlement stemming from the financial titan's conduct in the lead up to the financial crisis.