A Game-Changer: How the Women’s World Cup is Powering Feminism in Jordan
For the first time ever, the country of Jordan is hosting and competing in a Women's World Cup--a move that will hopefully power feminism forward, both on and off the field. Marie Claire
Schooling Judy: Falling Through the Gaps in Jordan's Education System
Jordan has committed to education for all, but some Syrian refugees still struggle in the country's public school system. We meet Judy, who has been to four schools in the past four years. NewsDeeply
Jordan's Female Taxi Drivers Crash Through Stereotypes
A group of women in Jordan are defying gender roles for a career on the road. While it’s not easy working in a male-dominated sector, the country’s female taxi drivers are willing to challenge the naysayers in order to do the job they love. NewsDeeply
As Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia End 'Marry-Your-Rapist' Laws, Where Next?
Activists are hopeful that other countries will follow Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia in abolishing the laws that let rapists walk free by marrying their victims. But they say more needs to be done to end the practice for good. NewsDeeply
Confidence With a Kick: Helping Jordanian Women Defend Against Abuse
The first self-defense academy for women in Jordan, SheFighter gives women and girls the confidence to stand up against harassment and domestic abuse in a country where gender-based violence often goes unpunished. NewsDeeply
From Child Bride to Beauty Expert: One Jordanian Woman's Story
On most weekday afternoons, you can find 22-year-old Hiba* working at a salon in Amman. But what few of her clients know is that she was once a child bride – an experience that haunted her for years. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Yanar Mohammed: Freeing Mosul Could Be Death Sentence for Iraqi Women
Yanar Mohammed's organization has sheltered sex-trafficking survivors in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But with the arrival of ISIS two years ago--and the battle for Mosul underway--the country's women and girls need her help now more than ever. NewsDeeply
Among Syrian Refugees, Dispelling Myths About Contraceptives
“I don’t want more kids and I’m afraid to get pregnant,” said Fatima*, a 37-year-old Syrian refugee and mother of six. But for years she was not able to use contraception. Her husband feared, incorrectly, it would lead to infertility. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Veiled and Undercover: Exposing Harassment of Muslim Women in the U.K.
Hate-crime expert Irene Zempi wore Islamic clothing in public to research harassment against visibly Muslim women in the U.K. The disdain and abuse she experienced was so bad, she says, she didn't want to leave the house. NewsDeeply
Duke of Mukheibeh
'All the people that come and admire what I'm doing or listen to what I have to say, they're all my children somehow,' says the Duke of Mukheibeh, 78-year-old Mamdouh Bisharat, as he lifts a cigarette to his lips. Brownbook
Tea Shop Founded by Indian Immigrants is Bridging Cultural Divides in Tanzania
After Tanzania gained independence, many Indian families fled the country when resentment towards them grew. But the family behind the beloved K.T. Shop refused to leave their adopted home, where they had already spent decades planting their roots. VICE
Searching For Danger
Along Jordan's Northern border, a team of women is doing one of the most dangerous jobs in the country--clearing land mines. They're the first all-female de-mining squad in the Middle East. JO magazine, 2011
Failed rainy season gives 12M São Paulo residents a 'very critical' water crisis
In São Paulo, Brazil, 33-year-old computer engineer Camila Menezello Lucena was both thirsty and perspiring by the time she arrived home from work. Normally, she would have gulped down several glasses of water before taking a leisurely shower, but it was Tuesday and water was limited. ClimateWire, 2014
Can Harvard be on the wrong side of history?
On Thursday, May 1, at seven in the morning, 20-year-old college student Brett Roche was placed in handcuffs. He didn't hurt anyone, steal or damage anything. His crime: standing in front of a door. ClimateWire, 2014
Inside Jordan's Pet Trade
As more Jordanians purchase pets, supposedly purebred dogs and cats are being turned into commodities to make a profit by unregulated breeders, makeshift vet clinics, and anyone, really. Living Well magazine, 2012
As World Cup Kicks Off, Can Brazil Keep Lights On and Mosquitos Out?
When German soccer enthusiast Katzn Barga touched down in Brazil on Sunday, after 18 long months of anticipation, authorities across the nation were scrambling to make final preparations for the start of one of the largest and most widely televised sporting events on the globe. Scientific American, 2014
How Climate Change Spurred a 10,000-Year Ice Age Journey
The climate 25,000 years ago was cold, very cold. It was the height of the last ice age, and survival required desperate measures--especially from those in Eurasia, where food and wood fuel ran low. Some chose to migrate, but distances and directions among groups varied. Scientific American, 2014
Global Warming Hurts Rural Communities Most
From Kenyan subsistence farmers, to indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Andes and Brazil's Amazon rainforest, a new report aims to put a human face on what it says are some of the communities hardest hit by global climate change, whose effects will be highlighted in the forthcoming IPCC findings. Scientific American, 2014
Kerry calls climate change 'one of the greatest threats' to world's oceans
Speaking yesterday at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State John Kerry called on global leaders to "push harder" for a U.N. agreement to fight carbon pollution and reduce the impact of climate change on the world's oceans. ClimateWire, 2014
Why do male climate experts hog the media spotlight?
While women are more likely to be affected by extreme weather, it's men who are largely dominating the discussion of climate change in the media. That's according to Media Matters for America, which found that more than 85 percent of those quoted in the media about climate change are men. ClimateWire, 2014
Okla. could reject new teaching standards due to climate change science
It seems Oklahoma may be following in Wyoming's bold footsteps after a committee in the state's House of Representatives rejected a set of new teaching standards, mainly due to their framing of climate change. ClimateWire, 2014
Weather Triggers Searches for Global Warming
Americans have differing perceptions on which weather events are being triggered by climate change, according to a new study that looked at people's Google searches over a nine-year period. Scientific American, 2014
Strokes of a Painful Past
Exiled Syrian artist Khaled Al Khani uses art as an outlet through which to purge himself of pain and shed light on the atrocities that took place during the deadliest month of his life. Home magazine, 2012
Breaking Stereotypes One Laugh at a Time
Tima Shomali is the writer, star, and co-producer of Jordan's leading online comedy show, Fe-Male. She sat down to talk about why it's sometimes hard being the country's funniest girl. Living Well magazine, 2012
Now Age Sounds
Nimai Larson -- sisters, bandmates, and Hare Krishna devotees -- are anything but typical. Incorporating Eastern-Indian melodies, chanting, primitive drumming, and fantastical getups, their brainchild and two-part band, Prince Rama, is out of this world. Living Well magazine, 2012