On an unprecedented scale, the feminist-led Iranian uprisings have galvanised Iranian public opinion like never before. To ensure that the protests continue in momentum, artists in Iran and in the diaspora are using their pens to take down the sword. As protests sweep across Iran for more than four weeks, Iranian artists are …
The death of Jina ‘Mahsa’ Amini at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s morality police sparked nationwide protests and has put a spotlight on the plight of Iran’s long-oppressed Kurdish minority. Dozens of Iranian cities and towns have been gripped by a relentless wave of anger since 16 September, when 22-year-old Iranian …
SULAYMANIYAH, Iraqi Kurdistan—Standing outside his home in Chaqlawa village, a half-hour drive from the city of Sulaymaniyah, Latif Karim Ismael, wearing black baggy trousers and a light-blue shirt, greeted us and hinted we sit in his backyard. Accustomed to working a thriving land, the 75-year-old farm worker has to face up to …
TUNIS, Tunisia—Tunisia has approved a new draft constitution that enshrines in law Kais Saied’s centralisation of sweeping powers with 94.6 percent (or some 2.6 million voters) voting in favour amid 30.5 percent turnout, according to preliminary results announced by Tunisia’s election commission ISIE on Tuesday. Over nine million eligible voters were called …
DUHOK, Iraqi Kurdistan—On a warm afternoon, 30-year-old Vian Ramo walked along an unpaved road inside an informal housing settlement in Sharya, a town in the Duhok province. Wearing a denim shirt, black T-shirt and pants, alongwith a little smile on her face, her wide-open hazel eyes had her looking alert and slightly …
SHARYA, Iraq – On a warm weekday, Hilwa Ibrahim, 50, was sitting patiently alongside a few other Yazidi women in the office of the NGO Emma Organization for Human Development, in the town of Sharya, approximately 15km (9 miles) south of Duhok. Wearing a full-body dark purple garment and sandals, and a …
TUNIS, Tunisia -Tunisian students caught up in the Russia-Ukraine war have given harrowing accounts of fleeing the fighting while leaving behind the lives they worked hard to build for years. A flight to bring home 73 members of the Tunisian expatriate community in Ukraine returned this week. Operated by Tunisair, it was …
Few were surprised when Libya’s elections, scheduled to take place on December 24 of last year, were postponed indefinitely. The period leading up to the voting had been marred by months-long disputes between rival Libyan factions and political bodies over the ground rules for holding the vote, how the polls should be …
After playing a key role in the 2011 revolution, most young Tunisians have grown fed up with politicians in their country as a result of successive political, economic and social failures that marred the democratic transition. Since the mass protests on 25 July 2021 that preceded President Saied’s power grab, a popular youth movement has reawakened to demand …
SFAX, Tunisia—Until the first week of December, mountains of garbage littered the center of the coastal city of Sfax. For more than two months, locals put up with thousands of tons of rotten household trash and hazardous medical waste left uncollected in public areas. The crisis began after Sfax governorate authorities closed …