Newsweek 1/15/2016

Tehran, Iran—Women gather on January 4 during a protest at Imam Hossein Square condemning Saudi Arabia for the execution of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s ruling royal family who was among 47 prisoners executed on terrorism charges. Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Gulf allies cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and set it on fire. The Saudis responded by giving Iran’s ambassador 48 hours to leave the country.…

Ramadi, Iraq—Members of Iraq’s elite counterterrorism service wave their flag during patrol on December 27 in the capital of Anbar province. Iraqi security forces drove Islamic State militant group (ISIS) militants from the city in a December offensive. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi flew to Ramadi to plant the national flag and declared a national holiday to celebrate the recapturing of the city, which had been under ISIS control since May. The Iraqi government, with the backing of U.S. airstrikes, is hoping to use the momentum of its victory to recapture another strategically important city, Mosul, which ISIS seized in 2014.…

Pacific, Missouri—After days of downpours in the Mississippi and Ohio rivers region, numerous homes were overtaken by floodwaters on December 29. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon had declared a state of emergency two days earlier, evacuating thousands. As of January 4, 31 people had died across Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and flooding was expected to spread farther south. Officials in Tennessee and Louisiana strengthened levees and placed sandbags in anticipation of overflow from the Mississippi River. In Memphis, Tennessee, Exxon Mobil decided to shut its 340,571-barrels-per-day refined products terminal, just south of the city’s downtown.…

PREDICTING a coming Russian revolution has been a favorite hobby of Russia watchers for years now. But since President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the doomsaying has intensified, as plunging oil prices and Western economic sanctions wreak havoc on the Russian economy. Yet even though the ruble has lost over half its value, inflation has risen from 5 percent to 16 percent and Russians’ purchasing power has dropped to 1990s levels, Putin’s approval ratings have so far remained close to a near-miraculous 80 percent thanks to a heady mix of military adventures and a barrage of patriotic propaganda. There are signs, though, that the Kremlin is bracing for a possible end to this period of national togetherness and is preparing for a possible wave of unrest. “If 2014…

AT THE NYARUGUSU refugee camp on Tanzania’s western border, Faith Umukunzi sits on a stone with her baby safe and comfortable in her arms and talks on her cellphone with her husband. She hasn’t seen him for five months. “My husband says his life is in danger,” says the mother of five after ending the call. “They want to kill him for supporting the opposition party. He has been hiding since the coup, and he can’t travel to this camp. I know they will kill him.” Umukunzi and her children are among around 110,000 Burundian refugees who have fled to neighboring Tanzania since April, when Burundi descended into violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he was running for a third term. After a failed coup in May, Nkurunziza was re-elected in…

Percentage of new U.S. gym memberships sold in JANUARY Percentage of new U.S. gym memberships sold in JULY For years, health clubs have profited off our best intentions to lose weight and get fit in the new year. Come January, throngs of fitness-phobes try to make good on their resolutions by plunking down checks for health club memberships. Most gyms offer some sort of “new year, new you” deal to encourage even the most sedentary to step on a treadmill. There are 54 million people in the U.S.— approximately 17 percent of the population—who are members of some type of gym or fitness center. A disproportionate number of them join shortly after the guilt of a gluttonous December sets in. According to a survey conducted by the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association…