Minister of National Education Ismet Yılmaz said, "We have made it our goal to give our students all the knowledge that the century has made imperative. But we aim to give the essence of education effectively, without shortening the education time, in the vacation time we gave... We will continue working to reach better standards. We will continue using the system of the 1930's.

On the 15th of February 2017, the Syria Direct reported on the raid of al-Orouba School for Girls in the Syrian city of Idlib by members of the religious police, al-Hisba. “The all-male patrol gathered together the women—schoolchildren, teachers and administrators—and began an impromptu inspection of their clothing.....traditionally a conservative city, the women all wore long, loose-fitting attire.

Leaders of Libya's rival factions met on Tuesday 14 February in Cairo for joint talks on a political settlement in the country. The Egypt-brokered talks were led by head of UN-brokered Government of National Accord, Fayez Al-Serraj and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

When President Trump took a phone call from the leader of Taiwan in December and asserted that the United States might no longer be bound by the “One China” policy, his defenders hailed it as a show of strength — the latest delicate issue on which Mr. Trump was willing to challenge decades of diplomatic orthodoxy.