Moroccan ladies vulnerable to exploitation, Libyan journalists coordinating on the bottom – right here’s the Center East this week.The Qatar-brokered, Iran-US prisoner swap | Moroccan ladies vulnerable to being exploited post-quake | Libyan journalists coordinating assistance on the bottom. Right here’s the Center East this week:
Spies vs hostages
One man’s spies are one other man’s hostages – is that how the saying goes? Within the case of Tehran and Washington, that appears true.
The 2 nations accomplished a long-awaited prisoner swap and in Iran the response was predictably smug: “America Kneels Earlier than Iran” learn one newspaper headline.
Prisoner swap or not, it’s actually not wanting like sunshine and rainbows between the pair anytime quickly.
Moroccan ladies focused
Girls who put on tight garments, spend an excessive amount of, and don’t elevate their kids proper – some Moroccan males say they’d quite marry an underage lady from quake-stricken villages than marry these so-called “metropolis ladies”.
As if Moroccan ladies and ladies aren’t already reeling from this month’s highly effective earthquake, now there’s a surge of on-line chatter urging males to marry and in any other case exploit feminine kids orphaned by the quake.
It doesn’t finish there. Considerations are additionally rife about sexual assault, trafficking, menstrual hygiene, and securing protected childbirth.
Libyan journalists on the entrance line
Burdened and nervous about household and pals, Zainab Jibril suffered a miscarriage after the lethal floods in Libya, however that didn’t cease her from reporting on the catastrophe alongside her husband, fellow journalist, Mohammed Elgrj.
Within the midst of tragedy, they’re an influence couple of types among the many few unbiased Libyan journalists reporting from the bottom regardless of the challenges of bodily entry and censorship by Libya’s japanese administration.
Dissidents of a costume code
“Lady, life, freedom”: The response to the Iranian individuals’s name to finish the necessary hijab legislation appears to have been a doubling down.
A 12 months in the past, the loss of life of Mahsa Amini within the custody of Iran’s morality police led to months of protests, in Iran and globally.
It appears the protesters’ calls for solely ushered in a extra restrictive period.
Now, sensible cameras scan for violators, the morality police have been redeployed, and a shiny new hijab legislation is predicted to quickly be unveiled.
And now, one thing totally different
UNESCO has named Jericho’s Inform es-Sultan within the occupied West Financial institution a World Heritage Website within the State of Palestine. Notice the placement.
It’s a call that “strengthens Palestinian identification and worldwide recognition”, in line with Palestinian officers.
Predictably, Israeli officers decried it as a “cynical ploy”.
The Inform (mound) close to historic Jericho comprises proof of prehistoric people.
Jericho’s Inform as-Sultan added to UNESCO World Heritage listing [Ayman Nobani/Al Jazeera]
Briefly
Quote of the Week
“I obtained the our bodies of my greatest pals and personally took them to the morgue … I didn’t have time to cry or be weak, so I couldn’t even mourn them.” | Tahani al-Zani, a surgeon who heads an emergency division in flood-ravaged Susa, Libya.