Staley Smith previously was a National Security Intern at the Brookings Institution. She spent the past year studying in Jordan and Israel and will graduate from Johns Hopkins University in 2016 with a major in political science.
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This morning the Washington Post revealed in an 8,000 word deep-dive that the CIA obtained Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct instructions for undercutting Hillary Clinton and helping Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Event Announcements (More details on the Events Calendar)
Continuing on its path of destruction, the Islamic State has demolished an ancient Christian monastery in central Syria, the Guardian tells us. Priests and activists say ISIS militants wrecked an Assyrian Catholic church inside the monastery that dates back to the first Christian centuries.
We begin today in Yemen, where U.S. officials have confirmed after months of investigation that Saudi-led coalition forces are using indiscriminate cluster bombs in their fight against the Houthis. According to a US News report, the Pentagon is aware of Saudi Arabia’s use of cluster bombs but has not revealed whether it plans to discuss the issue with Riyadh.
In the latest atrocity perpetrated by the Islamic State, members of the militant group have beheaded the renowned retired director of antiquities in the Syrian city of Palmyra, the Guardian reports.
A new report suggests that all sides in the conflict in Yemen have indiscriminately killed civilians and may have committed war crimes. The report, issued by Amnesty International, notes the routine use of indiscriminate weapons in the conflict and points to a series of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition that appeared to target civilian areas without nearby military targets.
Yesterday, as many as 100 people were killed by Syrian government airstrikes on a market in a suburb of Damascus, the Washington Post reports. The suburb, Douma, has been under rebel control for much of the Syrian conflict.