Education

Iraqi displaced students, who fled clashes between pro-government forces and Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, sit in a classroom at the Hamdaniya University for internally displaced people on Jan. 31, 2016, in Arbil, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Indian teachers gravitate to Iraq's Kurdistan as New Delhi's soft power grows

While the US’ presence in the Kurdistan Region — and the Middle East more broadly — is defined by its security role, India’s approach is defined by its soft power.

Winthrop Rodgers

By Winthrop Rodgers

In Sulaymaniyah, reporting on Kurdish issues

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a tent encampment during a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on April 22, 2024, in Berkeley, California.

Over 20 US universities join in Gaza protests: What we know

A pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University has sparked similar protests throughout the United States, as well as France, eliciting both praise and condemnation as authorities in some areas attempt to disperse the crowds.

Dubai floods

Dubai floods bring travel to halt after heaviest UAE rainfall on record

The National Center of Meteorology said the downpour was the largest volume of rainfall the UAE has experienced since data collection started 75 years ago.

United Arab Emirates

Iraqi teachers and civil servants protest on Oct. 7, 2015 in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

In Iraq's Kurdistan Region, teacher strikes highlight schooling crisis

The regional government is three months behind on paying its public servants, including teachers, as part of larger budget disagreements with Iraq’s federal government.

Latest News

Analysis

How much damage will Israel’s Smotrich funding cut do to east Jerusalem, Arab towns?

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Breaking

Last Updated: July 2, 2023, 3:04 am

US return to UNESCO leaves Israel in awkward spot

ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking

Last Updated: June 30, 2023, 2:28 pm

UNESCO votes in favor of readmitting US, Israel still out

9 Middle East universities, 3 in Saudi Arabia make world’s top 300 schools

People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the heart of the Lebanese capital, on January 13, 2022. - Power shortages and soaring petrol prices mean many Lebanese students can neither afford to reach their classes nor study from home, a conundrum that is ravaging a generation's future. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine drone

UK launches probe into British colleges accused of helping Iran develop drones

British leader Rishi Sunak confirmed the inquiry into UK universities' cooperation with Iran in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Women walk along a mural painting behind which appears a giant billboard bearing a picture of the 'Fattah' hypersonic missile, in Tehran on July 7, 2023. Iran's Revolutionary Guards unveiled an intermediate range ballistic missile on June 6 capable of travelling at hypersonic speeds of up to 15 times the speed of sound, state television reported. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

In new purge, Iran expels independent, Reformist professors

Iran's hard-line government is forcing its own critics out of universities.

Saudi students visit booths of Canadian universities during the International Exhibition & Conference on Higher Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 19, 2011.

Analysis

What's behind Saudi Arabia’s decision to restore ties with Canada?

Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador in 2018 following Canada’s criticism of women’s rights activists in the Gulf country.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images

Negev Forum convenes in UAE with Jordan absent from Arab-Israeli meeting

Senior officials from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the United States and Israel have convened in Abu Dhabi for the third Negev Forum steering committee meeting.

Chef Mahmoud Abd El Gaid prepares a veal steak at Pipa, an Italian restaurant, in Cairo on Monday Nov. 14, 2022.

Egyptian students turn to private companies for employable skills

Many Egyptian youth are graduating from universities and colleges without the skill sets needed to enter the current job market.

Maoz

Israeli mayors stand against anti-gay legislator on education

Mayors of liberal cities in Israel have joied the protest of outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid against anti-LGBTQ Knesset member Avi Maoz controlling the unit that decides on external education programs.

Seyit, an 8-year-old Kurdish garbage collector, carries flattened cardboard boxes in Istanbul on Sept. 12, 2022.

Deepening poverty fuels mass school dropout in Turkey

Children are dropping out of school at unprecedented rates in Turkey, activists warn, as the social toll of the country’s economic turmoil deepens.

Google invests more than $15 million in Israeli high-tech training

A volunteer serves food to needy children at a kitchen set up by charity groups in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on Dec. 7, 2019.

Economic meltdown in Lebanon leaves schoolchildren hungry

Lebanon's struggling households are finding it increasingly challenging to afford school lunches for their children due to financial constraints.

A Syrian teacher shows letters on a board at school in the village of al-Shamatiyah on the ourskirts of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Feb. 7, 2018.

Syrian Kurds ban niqab in schools in northeast Syria

The decision to ban the niqab at schools by the US-aligned Syrian group has angered some Arab constituents.

Police experts inspect a crater caused by a shell explosion following a Russian airstrike outside the National University of Urban Economy, Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 23, 2022.

Thousands of Egyptian students in Ukraine, Russia stuck in limbo amid war

The Egyptian government held a virtual meeting to address students’ challenges as those in Ukraine cope with the ongoing war and others in Russia are unable to pay tuition due to sanctions.

Tunisian students evacuated from Ukraine pose with the Ukrainian flag upon their arrival at the Tunis-Carthage airport on March 1, 2022.

Tunisian students who fled Ukraine face the unknown

Tunisian students who attended universities in Ukraine before fleeing the Russian war are currently in limbo as state universities refuse to enroll them while authorities are scrambling to resolve their situation.