Syma Mohammed

1 day ago | middleeasteye.net | Syma Mohammed

The US State Department has been advised to cut nearly $1.3bn in grants for global pro-democracy initiatives, according to a report in The Guardian on Thursday. The move would cut approximately 80 percent of programmes that sit under the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour (DRL), except for two programmes that operate in China and Yemen. The State Department oversees the DRL.

2 days ago | middleeasteye.net | Syma Mohammed |Maysa Mustafa

When news broke on Tuesday that former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who was thought to be a favourite in the New York City mayoral primary, had conceded the race, the announcement was met with disbelief. The idea that an underdog pro-Palestinian Democratic Socialist state lawmaker had secured the Democratic nomination seemed too good to be true for Zohran Mamdani's supporters, after being smeared as an antisemite and "communist" by some of the most powerful politicians in the US.

4 days ago | middleeasteye.net | Syma Mohammed

Mamdani has thrilled many with his campaign promising a more affordable NYC, but his policies have often taken a backseat to his identity New York mayoral candidate and State Rep. Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) holds up a campaign shirt as he prepares to board the subway on 24 March 2025 in New York City. Mamdani announced that he is halting fundraising efforts after his campaign raised over $8m, the spending cap for the upcoming June primary (Michael M.

1 week ago | middleeasteye.net | Syma Mohammed |Joe Gill

Friday, 20 June, marks International Refugee Day, but celebrations across the US have been muted since the Trump administration’s 20 January refugee ban remains firmly in place. Since the ban was implemented, around 12,000 refugees who had security screenings and were booked for travel to the US had their flights cancelled. Another approximately 108,000 remaining refugees who had been “conditionally approved” to come to the US remain stranded in precarious situations overseas.

1 week ago | middleeasteye.net | Syma Mohammed

After the US special envoy for Syria warned Hezbollah against becoming involved in the exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said that the Lebanese movement would "act as it sees fit". In a statement, Qassem said Hezbollah was "not neutral" in the conflict between the two countries and that the Shia group "would act as it sees fit in the face of this brutal Israeli American aggression".