Cyclone Shaheen hits Oman with ferocious winds, killing three
Dubai, United Arab EmiratesReuters Tropical Cyclone Shaheen killed at least three people as it slammed into Oman on Sunday with ferocious winds and heavy rain, flooding streets, prompting evacuations from coastal areas and delaying flights to and from the capital, Muscat. As the cyclone approached, a child who had been swept away by water was […]
Essay: A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom
Archaeologist CHRISTOPHER R MOORE, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at what archaeological evidence reveals about the fate of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam…
Ethiopia’s migrants turn to sex work as pandemic sends them home
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThomson Reuters Foundation As an Ethiopian working as a maid in Dubai, life was far from easy for Yemisrach. But when the coronavirus pandemic struck, forcing her to return home and take up sex work, things got a whole lot worse. Hiding her bruised face behind dark glasses, Yemisrach said she had been […]
Essay: The Pope’s Iraq visit will make headlines. Can it make life better for religious minorities?
In an article first published on Religion News Service, KNOX THAMES, a former special adviser for religious minorities at the US Department of State, looks at the hopes of religious minorities around Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Iraq…
Essay: The US can help Israel and Palestinians reach a just peace
Rev ELIZABETH A EATON, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Rev Dr MAE ELISE CANNON, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, says American lawmakers have a role to play in helping to build peace in the Middle East…
Essay: How much longer will the Middle East celebrate Christmas?
In an article first published on Religion News Service, KNOX THAMES, a former special adviser for religious minorities at the US Department of State, says that many Christians in the Middle East face a Hobson’s choice – align with a brutal dictator or face discrimination and destruction…
“We have lowered our dreams”: After Arab Spring, a decade of upheaval and lost hopes
LEE KEATH, of Associated Press, reports on the situation in the Middle East 10 years after uprisings first began in Tunisia…
Middle East: In ruins, Syria marks 50 years of Assad family rule
ZEINA KARAM reports for The Associated Press on a tumultuous five decades in Syria…
In depth: Trump’s Mideast deals tout “peace” where there was never war
Jerusalem, IsraelAP For the first time in more than a quarter-century, a US President will host a signing ceremony between Israelis and Arabs at the White House, billing it as an “historic breakthrough” in a region long known for its stubborn conflicts. But while the optics of Tuesday’s event will evoke the groundbreaking agreements that […]
Migrant workers: South Asians seek justice as wage theft worsens under coronavirus
ANURADHA NAGARAJ, NAIMUL KARIM and BAN BARKAWI, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted migrant workers amid an ongoing struggle over their rights…