Eurovision’s Missing Arab Entries
The controversy around Israel’s participation in Eurovision extends well beyond the atrocities committed in Gaza. In the contest’s 70-year history, only one of the seven Arab nations that are members of the body that runs it has ever competed — in the year Israel did not.
Drones Are Reshaping Sudan’s Civil War
Drones from Egypt, Turkey, Iran and the UAE have reshaped Sudan’s civil war, expanded its geographic range and made it nearly impossible to assign blame for civilian deaths. The U.N. attributes three-quarters of such deaths in the war-torn country this year to drones.
Inside the Double Life of a Syrian Hairdresser Accused of Torture in Assad’s Prisons
Hala Mounir Mohammad was a popular Syrian hairdresser who taught styling and posted blowouts and bridal looks to thousands of online followers. She was also, according to five former detainees, a guard inside Assad's Air Force Intelligence prison who beat women with green plastic pipes and boasted of sniping at civilians.
‘South Africa First’ Hits the Streets
Xenophobia in South Africa has taken a new form, as vigilante groups set up checkpoints at clinics and schools, stopping people and demanding identification. Foreign nationals are often turned away or singled out, while the response from police and government is inconsistent.
Profit, War and Russia’s Growing Prosthetics Sector
The war in Ukraine has vastly increased the need for prosthetics in Russia. The result is an industry that is visibly expanding — financially and statistically — while the system meant to serve amputees becomes more strained, less flexible and increasingly unequal.