A New Saudi Show Challenges ‘Halal’ Sex Rings
The provocative plot of the newly released show “Dahaya Halal” (Halal Victims) — an allusion to the operation’s apparent compliance with religious law, since none of the victims was committing adultery or fornication — has stirred drama, with people from across the Arab world going as far as calling for it to be pulled off the air. It was already taken off when it first began airing in 2020, but it returned this month.
Water War Brings Iran Into Conflict With the Taliban
While drought has been a problem in Afghanistan and Iran for a long time, it has worsened over recent years. The Taliban claim that water levels are too low due to climate change, and that even if they open Kajaki dam, nothing will reach Iran.
Foreign Aid Was Supposed To Help Nations In Need. It Has Instead Enriched Western Contractors
USAID and the U.S. private sector have grown together since the agency’s founding, integrating a profit motive in much of USAID’s programming that sustains its longevity. USAID’s reliance on Western contractors has cemented the private sector’s control over development, rendering it almost indistinguishable from the government agency that it serves.
How Disgruntled Farmers Uprooted Dutch Politics
More than anything, the Farmer-Citizen Movement has the potential to seriously obstruct the country’s battle against climate change. Even if the party proves willing and able to engage in productive conversation with the political establishment, this won’t change the fact that — ultimately — you cannot fight global warming without also cutting down on agriculture.
A Fetih Accompli: How Erdogan Married Religion and Nationalism
Where observers focused on the divide between religion and nationalism, Erdogan grasped how effectively they could be wielded together. And he proceeded to fuse these overlapping traditions through a series of real and imagined battles against such common enemies as Western imperialism, Greeks and left-wing Kurds. The result is a potent ideological current that will continue to bedevil Turkey’s democratic aspirations and relations with the West long after Erdogan exits the scene.