14 min read Share Poetry is ubiquitous in Iran: It is on tombstones, human skin, walls, cars, shirts and social media biographies. Carpet makers weave couplets into rugs, and artisans etch them into jewelry. Weddings, funerals and religious services would not be complete without a poetry recitation, and much of Iran’s popular music is classical poetry set to traditional and modern instrumentals. Nearly every home has at least one dīvān (collection of poetry), placed next to the Quran to signal its significance. Iran lives and dies by poetry.Notwithstanding their educational attainments,...…14 min read Share Poetry is ubiquitous in Iran: It is on tombstones, human skin, walls, cars, shirts and social media biographies. Carpet makers weave couplets into rugs, and artisans etch them into jewelry. Weddings, funerals and religious services would not be complete without a poetry recitation, and much of Iran’s popular music is classical poetry set to traditional and modern instrumentals. Nearly every home has at least one dīvān (collection of poetry), placed next to the Quran to signal its significance. Iran lives and dies by poetry.Notwithstanding their educational attainments,...WW…

I was driving west out of Kyiv on the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2022, headed for my in-laws’ home in Lutsk, near the Polish border, when my American journalist friend, riding shotgun, asked how I thought the world would respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the massive invasion U.S. officials had been warning of for weeks. Some years before, I was the director of photography on a documentary that screened at major festivals around the world. I’d done enough traveling and talking to outsiders to have a decent idea how Ukraine was viewed internationally. When foreigners think of...…I was driving west out of Kyiv on the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2022, headed for my in-laws’ home in Lutsk, near the Polish border, when my American journalist friend, riding shotgun, asked how I thought the world would respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the massive invasion U.S. officials had been warning of for weeks. Some years before, I was the director of photography on a documentary that screened at major festivals around the world. I’d done enough traveling and talking to outsiders to have a decent idea how Ukraine was viewed internationally. When foreigners think of...WW…

6 min read Share Spotlight is a newsletter about underreported cultural trends and news from around the world, emailed to subscribers every Monday. Sign up .I loathe Pride month. Before you jump to any conclusions, I’m not some conspiratorial right-wing reactionary. I’m queer, nonbinary, Iraqi-Egyptian and am firmly on the left when it comes to my political positions. But I really do hate Pride.It’s not just the fact that even Udon noodle brands pretend to be bastions of gay rights for the month of June or that meaningless political platitudes like “being you is worth it” are blasted...…6 min read Share Spotlight is a newsletter about underreported cultural trends and news from around the world, emailed to subscribers every Monday. Sign up .I loathe Pride month. Before you jump to any conclusions, I’m not some conspiratorial right-wing reactionary. I’m queer, nonbinary, Iraqi-Egyptian and am firmly on the left when it comes to my political positions. But I really do hate Pride.It’s not just the fact that even Udon noodle brands pretend to be bastions of gay rights for the month of June or that meaningless political platitudes like “being you is worth it” are blasted...WW…

10 min read Share On a hot, humid July night in 2018, I flew into Beirut airport, grateful for the driver meeting me and his air-conditioned car. A young, pious Shiite from the Lebanese south, he wouldn’t shake my hand, but he was friendly, if earnest. As we drove down the airport road, we talked about his life in Lebanon, including his recent move to Beirut from his family’s village and his hopes for the future now he’d moved to the big city. But his next question surprised me.“Have you heard of a Canadian psychologist called Jordan Peterson?”I had indeed, mostly from the publicity — or...…10 min read Share On a hot, humid July night in 2018, I flew into Beirut airport, grateful for the driver meeting me and his air-conditioned car. A young, pious Shiite from the Lebanese south, he wouldn’t shake my hand, but he was friendly, if earnest. As we drove down the airport road, we talked about his life in Lebanon, including his recent move to Beirut from his family’s village and his hopes for the future now he’d moved to the big city. But his next question surprised me.“Have you heard of a Canadian psychologist called Jordan Peterson?”I had indeed, mostly from the publicity — or...WW…

8 min read Share President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle East started with a faux pas. For a trip aimed at rapprochement with a state he wanted to cast as a “pariah,” optics were going to matter. Biden was determined to avoid a photo-op with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist and a U.S. resident, hacked to death. To avoid shaking the bloodied hand of a tyrant, Biden used pandemic-era precautions as an excuse to fist-bump his way to the kingdom’s capital.But he lost his nerve at the very first stop. Faced with Israel’s intransigent former prime...…8 min read Share President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle East started with a faux pas. For a trip aimed at rapprochement with a state he wanted to cast as a “pariah,” optics were going to matter. Biden was determined to avoid a photo-op with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist and a U.S. resident, hacked to death. To avoid shaking the bloodied hand of a tyrant, Biden used pandemic-era precautions as an excuse to fist-bump his way to the kingdom’s capital.But he lost his nerve at the very first stop. Faced with Israel’s intransigent former prime...WW…

12 min read Share A family discussion about what constitutes traditional Belgian and Egyptian clothing, sparked by the curiosity of our Belgian-Egyptian son, got me thinking about the relationship between fashion and identity.Iskander suggested that Egyptians and other Arabs were lucky because they still retain their own distinctive traditional dress, whereas Belgians had moved away from theirs. However, in reality, Arabs are not so different from Europeans.Every society has its traditional clothing, and almost every society has moved radically away from these traditions in recent times,...…12 min read Share A family discussion about what constitutes traditional Belgian and Egyptian clothing, sparked by the curiosity of our Belgian-Egyptian son, got me thinking about the relationship between fashion and identity.Iskander suggested that Egyptians and other Arabs were lucky because they still retain their own distinctive traditional dress, whereas Belgians had moved away from theirs. However, in reality, Arabs are not so different from Europeans.Every society has its traditional clothing, and almost every society has moved radically away from these traditions in recent times,...WW…

In the video, Faten’s ex-husband Wael plays with an unloaded gun. He spins it around his finger. He snaps the magazine in and out of place. All the while, he talks to her, speaking directly into the camera. “You are lucky because you are in Europe,” he says. “But you will be back for sure.” “I am in Syria, waiting for you,” he continues.“Europe will indeed send you back.” He places the gun against his temple and pulls the trigger: “I am going to shoot you in the head like this.” Faten and her children live in the suburbs of a Danish city. (We are not using the real names of her or her...…In the video, Faten’s ex-husband Wael plays with an unloaded gun. He spins it around his finger. He snaps the magazine in and out of place. All the while, he talks to her, speaking directly into the camera. “You are lucky because you are in Europe,” he says. “But you will be back for sure.” “I am in Syria, waiting for you,” he continues.“Europe will indeed send you back.” He places the gun against his temple and pulls the trigger: “I am going to shoot you in the head like this.” Faten and her children live in the suburbs of a Danish city. (We are not using the real names of her or her...WW…

I don’t care if Donald Trump once had the ability to launch nuclear weapons; the story is still “Queens Man Arrested.”The twice-impeached former president of the United States, who incited a mob to overthrow the government he headed, was arraigned today in a courthouse in lower Manhattan. He is accused of committing 34 felony charges, related, as per the indictment, to “falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election. ”In most other countries, fallen leaders end up in the dock for war...…I don’t care if Donald Trump once had the ability to launch nuclear weapons; the story is still “Queens Man Arrested.”The twice-impeached former president of the United States, who incited a mob to overthrow the government he headed, was arraigned today in a courthouse in lower Manhattan. He is accused of committing 34 felony charges, related, as per the indictment, to “falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election. ”In most other countries, fallen leaders end up in the dock for war...WW…

In the long afternoon light reflecting off the dark waters of the North Atlantic, fishermen shovel ice from refrigerated trucks onto stacks of sardines and sea bream at the Port of Laayoune, a bustling commercial hub in Western Sahara that has become a focal point for one of Africa’s most complex and drawn-out conflicts. The fish — caught in the abundant waters off the otherwise arid territory — are packed into trucks and shipped hundreds of miles north, to Morocco, and from there to destinations further afield, including the European Union. That trajectory, and the complex web of...…In the long afternoon light reflecting off the dark waters of the North Atlantic, fishermen shovel ice from refrigerated trucks onto stacks of sardines and sea bream at the Port of Laayoune, a bustling commercial hub in Western Sahara that has become a focal point for one of Africa’s most complex and drawn-out conflicts. The fish — caught in the abundant waters off the otherwise arid territory — are packed into trucks and shipped hundreds of miles north, to Morocco, and from there to destinations further afield, including the European Union. That trajectory, and the complex web of...WW…

In November 2016, in an op-ed in the New York Times, 92-year-old Jimmy Carter implored then-President Barack Obama that he “must” take a “vital step” before his term expired and “grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine.” With urgency, Carter expressed his conviction that “the United States can still shape the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a change in presidents, but time is very short. … I fear for the spirit of Camp David,” Carter wrote. “We must not squander this chance.” Carter wrote this open letter to Obama not only as the president who had...…In November 2016, in an op-ed in the New York Times, 92-year-old Jimmy Carter implored then-President Barack Obama that he “must” take a “vital step” before his term expired and “grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine.” With urgency, Carter expressed his conviction that “the United States can still shape the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a change in presidents, but time is very short. … I fear for the spirit of Camp David,” Carter wrote. “We must not squander this chance.” Carter wrote this open letter to Obama not only as the president who had...WW…