Syrian refugees
This website offers a snapshot of the repercussions of this refugee crisis for both Syria’s neighbours and the European Union. It is a project of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, based on a series of studies conducted by local researchers on behalf of the MPC at the end of 2012 and an update carried out in 2014. This website is the result of close collaboration between a team of journalists and these local researchers, under the auspices of the MPC, to paint a broad picture of the worst refugee crisis to affect the region in years.
This website also examines the role played by the European Union, both as a provider of humanitarian aid and as a home for refugees. While it is true that the EU is a leading contributor of humanitarian aid to the region, the amount donated by each of its 28 member states has varied greatly. Furthermore, while the EU has accepted the vast majority of Syrians who have applied for asylum, it has to date received relatively few requests. Its response to a UNHCR call for more than 130,000 resettlement spots for Syrian refugees between 2013-2016 has also been tepid.
In contrast, absorbing the influx of refugees has been an enormous challenge for Syria’s neighbours, with strong implications for the stability of the entire region. We hope this website is an accessible way to better understand the crisis .
American football
merican football (referred to as football in the United States and Canada, also known as gridiron elsewhere) is a sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with control of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing
the ball, while the team without control of the ball, the defense, aims
to stop their advance and take control of the ball for themselves. The
offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over
the football to the opposing team; if they succeed, they are given a
new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball
into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sport of rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under rules resembling a mix of rugby and soccer. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football," established the snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football.
American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States; professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually. The National Football League, the most popular American football league, has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world; its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events in the world, and the league has an annual revenue of around US$10 billion.
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sport of rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under rules resembling a mix of rugby and soccer. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football," established the snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football.
American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States; professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually. The National Football League, the most popular American football league, has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world; its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events in the world, and the league has an annual revenue of around US$10 billion.
The European Refugee Crisis and Syria and iraq Explained
The meaning of the phrase "refugee crisis" can be hard to grasp — until you see the photographs.
A Syrian toddler, dead on a Turkish beach, after the boat in which his family was attempting to flee to Europe capsized at sea. Desperate families crowding a Hungarian train station, their children sleeping on floors and sidewalks, fearing Hungary will intern them in sinister-sounding "camps." Greek tourism towns filling with tents and with humanitarian workers, to accommodate the rickety boats of refugees that arrive daily at the shores.
Today, more than 19 million people have been forced to flee their home countries because of war, persecution, and oppression, and every day an estimated 42,500 more join them. Many, though far from all, of them head for Europe, which is why the crisis there can appear most acute.
There are two layers to this crisis and why it has grown so dire. The first is the sometimes-overlapping web of wars and crises that has forced millions of people from their homes in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere — and that has opened, ever so slightly, a previously closed route to Europe.
The second, and less-discussed, is the increasingly anti-refugee politics in Western and other wealthy countries that are best suited to take them. People in those countries, insecure and fearful over the effects of immigration, preoccupied with vague but long-held ideas about national identity, are driving nativist, populist politics, and thus policies that contribute to the crisis.
The result is that at a time when more people than ever need help, wealthy countries are more reluctant to help them — putting thousands or millions of innocent refugee families in peril.
A Syrian toddler, dead on a Turkish beach, after the boat in which his family was attempting to flee to Europe capsized at sea. Desperate families crowding a Hungarian train station, their children sleeping on floors and sidewalks, fearing Hungary will intern them in sinister-sounding "camps." Greek tourism towns filling with tents and with humanitarian workers, to accommodate the rickety boats of refugees that arrive daily at the shores.
Today, more than 19 million people have been forced to flee their home countries because of war, persecution, and oppression, and every day an estimated 42,500 more join them. Many, though far from all, of them head for Europe, which is why the crisis there can appear most acute.
There are two layers to this crisis and why it has grown so dire. The first is the sometimes-overlapping web of wars and crises that has forced millions of people from their homes in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere — and that has opened, ever so slightly, a previously closed route to Europe.
The second, and less-discussed, is the increasingly anti-refugee politics in Western and other wealthy countries that are best suited to take them. People in those countries, insecure and fearful over the effects of immigration, preoccupied with vague but long-held ideas about national identity, are driving nativist, populist politics, and thus policies that contribute to the crisis.
The result is that at a time when more people than ever need help, wealthy countries are more reluctant to help them — putting thousands or millions of innocent refugee families in peril.
Cristiano Ronaldo Comes out with Syrian Refugee Before Real Madrid Match
The Syrian refugee tripped by a camerawoman while carrying his son as he ran from police on the Hungarian border is finding a new life in Spain.
Osama Abdul Mohsen and his two sons Zaid and Muhammad visited the Real Madrid training facility and got to meet some of the stars of the team. The family also got to watch Real Madrid play Grenada CF Saturday.
L'organisation de l'Etat islamique
Plus de 50 analystes au Commandement central américain ont récemment déclaré que les revendications de la faiblesse que l'on appelle de l'État islamique ont été grandement exagérées. Si les allégations des analystes sont corrects, peut-être il est temps de commencer à poser la question tout le monde semble vouloir éviter: Qu'advient-il si l'on ne peut pas être vaincu? Devons-nous alors de reconnaître la possibilité d'une victoire est?
Nous ne parlons pas d'un type global "convertir ou mourir» de la victoire qui verrait le monde consommés par les ambitions de leadership apocalyptiques mégalomane de IS. Au lieu de cela, ce serait une sorte plus plausible de «convenir d'être en désaccord» ou au moins «accepter d'être des ennemis mortels" victoire de regard comme pour IS? Peut-être quelque chose de beaucoup plus pragmatique, comme être capable de gouverner efficacement les territoires qu'ils contrôlent déjà et avec succès protéger les frontières de leur soi-disant califat.
D'un certain point de vue IS est déjà faire juste cela. Ils effectuent déjà au jour le jour-essentiel demande de tout Etat: le paiement des salaires municipaux, la délivrance de documents de voyage, et de la gestion des écoles et des hôpitaux. Cependant, une fois ce genre d'administration devient le statu quo, en battant IS devient moins sur le ciblage de dirigeants ou à l'éclatement des réseaux terroristes que de détruire tout un système de gouvernance politique et militaire: pas une mince tâche.
"Ils [EST] construisent des licenciements dans le système," Will McCants, auteur d'ISIS Apocalypse et directeur du projet des États-Unis sur les relations américaines avec le monde islamique à la Brookings Institution, a dit VICE Nouvelles. "Ils donnent les commandants et les gouverneurs beaucoup plus de liberté et de marge de manœuvre sur le terrain, de sorte que même si vous perdez le calife [Abou Bakr al Baghdadi] vous ne perdent pas nécessairement le califat."
La plupart des observateurs conviennent maintenant que la défaite IS sera plus difficile -et moins susceptibles -comme les mois et (maintenant) ans sur moudre. Le plus le groupe survit contre la coalition internationale qui a si visiblement formé contre eux, plus ils peuvent construire la crédibilité en tant que mouvement, et plus leur capacité à attirer des combattants étrangers, les idéologues radicaux, et les auxiliaires locaux.
Connexes: la Syrie et l'Irak se désintègrent, la défense américain Intel chef Says
Nick Heras, chercheur associé à la Fondation Jamestown et chercheur Moyen-Orient au Centre pour une nouvelle sécurité en Amérique, dit VICE Nouvelles, "fondamentalement parlant, [IS] a déjà atteint la première phase de la victoire, survivre pendant plus d'un an une coalition multinationale intense menée par les USA contre elle. Ils ont tenu à la plupart de leurs gains territoriaux en Irak et élargi leur territoire en Syrie. "
Nous ne parlons pas d'un type global "convertir ou mourir» de la victoire qui verrait le monde consommés par les ambitions de leadership apocalyptiques mégalomane de IS. Au lieu de cela, ce serait une sorte plus plausible de «convenir d'être en désaccord» ou au moins «accepter d'être des ennemis mortels" victoire de regard comme pour IS? Peut-être quelque chose de beaucoup plus pragmatique, comme être capable de gouverner efficacement les territoires qu'ils contrôlent déjà et avec succès protéger les frontières de leur soi-disant califat.
D'un certain point de vue IS est déjà faire juste cela. Ils effectuent déjà au jour le jour-essentiel demande de tout Etat: le paiement des salaires municipaux, la délivrance de documents de voyage, et de la gestion des écoles et des hôpitaux. Cependant, une fois ce genre d'administration devient le statu quo, en battant IS devient moins sur le ciblage de dirigeants ou à l'éclatement des réseaux terroristes que de détruire tout un système de gouvernance politique et militaire: pas une mince tâche.
"Ils [EST] construisent des licenciements dans le système," Will McCants, auteur d'ISIS Apocalypse et directeur du projet des États-Unis sur les relations américaines avec le monde islamique à la Brookings Institution, a dit VICE Nouvelles. "Ils donnent les commandants et les gouverneurs beaucoup plus de liberté et de marge de manœuvre sur le terrain, de sorte que même si vous perdez le calife [Abou Bakr al Baghdadi] vous ne perdent pas nécessairement le califat."
La plupart des observateurs conviennent maintenant que la défaite IS sera plus difficile -et moins susceptibles -comme les mois et (maintenant) ans sur moudre. Le plus le groupe survit contre la coalition internationale qui a si visiblement formé contre eux, plus ils peuvent construire la crédibilité en tant que mouvement, et plus leur capacité à attirer des combattants étrangers, les idéologues radicaux, et les auxiliaires locaux.
Connexes: la Syrie et l'Irak se désintègrent, la défense américain Intel chef Says
Nick Heras, chercheur associé à la Fondation Jamestown et chercheur Moyen-Orient au Centre pour une nouvelle sécurité en Amérique, dit VICE Nouvelles, "fondamentalement parlant, [IS] a déjà atteint la première phase de la victoire, survivre pendant plus d'un an une coalition multinationale intense menée par les USA contre elle. Ils ont tenu à la plupart de leurs gains territoriaux en Irak et élargi leur territoire en Syrie. "
The organization of the Islamic State
More than 50 analysts
at US Central Command have recently said that claims of the so-called
Islamic State's weakness have been greatly exaggerated. If analysts'
allegations are correct, maybe it's time to start asking the question
everyone seems intent on avoiding: What happens if IS can't be defeated?
Do we then have to acknowledge the possibility of an IS victory?
We're not talking about a global "convert or die" type of victory that would see the world consumed by the apocalyptic ambitions of IS's megalomaniacal leadership. Instead, what would a more plausible kind of "agree to disagree" or at least "agree to be mortal enemies" victory look like for IS? Perhaps something much more pragmatic, like being able to effectively govern the territories they already control and successfully protect the borders of their so-called caliphate.
From a certain perspective IS is already doing just that. They already carry out the essential day-to-day asks of any state: paying municipal salaries, issuing travel documents, and running schools and hospitals. However, once this kind of administration becomes the status quo, defeating IS becomes less about targeting leaders or shattering terror networks than about destroying an entire system of political and military governance: no small task.
"They [IS] are building redundancies into the system," Will McCants, author of ISIS Apocalypse and director of the US Project on US Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, told VICE News. "They are giving field commanders and governors much more freedom and leeway, so even if you lose the caliph [Abu Bakr al Baghdadi] you don't necessarily lose the caliphate."
Most observers now agree that defeating IS will be more challenging —and less likely —as the months and (now) years grind on. The longer the group survives against the international coalition that has so visibly formed against them, the more credibility they can build as a movement, and the greater their ability to attract foreign fighters, radical ideologues, and local auxiliaries.
Nick Heras, an associate fellow at the Jamestown Foundation and a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New America Security, told VICE News, "fundamentally speaking, [IS] has already achieved the first phase of victory, surviving for over a year with an intense multi-national US-led coalition against it. They held on to most of their territorial gains in Iraq and expanded their territory in Syria."
We're not talking about a global "convert or die" type of victory that would see the world consumed by the apocalyptic ambitions of IS's megalomaniacal leadership. Instead, what would a more plausible kind of "agree to disagree" or at least "agree to be mortal enemies" victory look like for IS? Perhaps something much more pragmatic, like being able to effectively govern the territories they already control and successfully protect the borders of their so-called caliphate.
From a certain perspective IS is already doing just that. They already carry out the essential day-to-day asks of any state: paying municipal salaries, issuing travel documents, and running schools and hospitals. However, once this kind of administration becomes the status quo, defeating IS becomes less about targeting leaders or shattering terror networks than about destroying an entire system of political and military governance: no small task.
"They [IS] are building redundancies into the system," Will McCants, author of ISIS Apocalypse and director of the US Project on US Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, told VICE News. "They are giving field commanders and governors much more freedom and leeway, so even if you lose the caliph [Abu Bakr al Baghdadi] you don't necessarily lose the caliphate."
Most observers now agree that defeating IS will be more challenging —and less likely —as the months and (now) years grind on. The longer the group survives against the international coalition that has so visibly formed against them, the more credibility they can build as a movement, and the greater their ability to attract foreign fighters, radical ideologues, and local auxiliaries.
Nick Heras, an associate fellow at the Jamestown Foundation and a Middle East researcher at the Center for a New America Security, told VICE News, "fundamentally speaking, [IS] has already achieved the first phase of victory, surviving for over a year with an intense multi-national US-led coalition against it. They held on to most of their territorial gains in Iraq and expanded their territory in Syria."