Getting started
The first place to look for a current event is in The Arab Weekly. This is a UK-based news site that has stories from all over the Middle East and the Muslim World. Remember, you're looking for a story that has plenty of substance and has an historical connection: it should have a link to the past or be rooted in what's happened before.
While it has up to date news stories, you should start by looking in the following sections which give you a much broader and more rounded idea of what's going on in Middle Eastern countries away from the headlines.
Below you will find other sources that have current event stories from the Middle East. You might find it useful to look for other stories on your topic in them. Just remember, you are writing about the Middle East not the USA or Europe.
Note: The search function doesn't work in Arab Weekly, so if you have a particular topic in mind, try Googling "site:thearabweekly.com your topic" to search your topic in AW. The results will give you specific stories in The Arab Weekly and you can look out for a result that looks like "your topic I AW - The Arab Weekly" as that will take you to a page with lots of different stories on the topic.
Middle East based English-language news sites
Be sure to establish the purpose of the news outlet - read the "About" section and/or Google it:
- Where is it based?
- Who is financing it?
- Who is it supporting?
- What is its bias?
Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Arabic, launched in 1996, claims to be the first independent news channel in the Arab world dedicated to providing comprehensive news and live debate.
Al Jazeera also has a YouTube channel with news stories and documentaries.
Al ArabiyaAl Arabiya English is the English-language service of the Al Arabiya News Channel, a 24-hour news station in the Arab world. You can filter by news/opinion and when the article was published.Middle East News and Current Affairs
A collection of very recent news articles, blog posts, and podcasts.
Middle East news from Western outlets
These Western news sources have Middle East sections on their sites.
- Who is it supporting?
- What is its bias?
- Be aware that they are reporting stories through a Western lens.
- Be aware they are reporting stories with a Western connection or interest.
CNNThis page has news stories. There is also Inside the Middle East which has more in-depth articles: scroll down to the “Around the region” section for news stories for specific countries.
Background information
If you need some background information about a country to help you make sense of a current event, try one of these websites or databases:
- CIA World FactbookContains a lot of data and background information about each country.
- Nations OnlineThis site has a country profile and many useful links. You may need to use Google Translate on some of the links.
- Encyclopedia Britannica This link opens in a new window
How to use a current events story for research
You can review the lesson about how to find and use a current event in your history research on the History 1 Research Canvas page: Module 2.
Here are some questions to think about when you're looking for a news story:
- Is it something I'm interested in?
- Does the story connect to a larger theme in history?
- Is there enough information in the story for me to analyze?
Guiding prompts
These prompts will help you get the most out of your current events articles:
- Summarize the news story
- What groups or individuals are involved in this?
- What larger topic does this relate to?
- How does this connect to a larger historical context?
- What do you need to know more about after reading this article and what search terms could you use?
- Collect the information for your bibliography.