If America wants to strengthen its relationship with the Arab world, connecting with the next generation of Arab leaders is key. As President Obama's special representative to Muslim communities, Farah Pandith, once explained, "These youth are keen to be connected to others, to share ideas and to take part in building stronger communities."

The government has continued to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Libya due to increasing tension against Muammar Qadhafi. From 875 Indonesians in Libya, 130 are students. Despite the political turmoil, however, many students have chosen to stay in the country.

The priest said he feared young people will "turn their backs on the church" and say, "You never stood with us ... you never taught us to stand up for our rights."

Eleven Tufts students with the New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) spent two weeks in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on a fact-finding mission in January. Participants met with several local leaders, including Kurdistan's regional president Massoud Barzani.

Inspired by the recent upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, a group of online activists in Syria has started a Facebook group that's calling for a peaceful "2011 Syrian Revolution."

What began as a popular uprising that toppled the Tunisian government before spreading into Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and, of course, Egypt, may now be headed for Syria.

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago Thursday, under the auspices of furthering cultural exchanges between the two countries. Hu is scheduled to visit a local Confucius institute today before attending a ceremony of business-contract signings.