Poverty
All topics-
EU-Egypt agreement
Dubious deal with Cairo
The EU's planned aid for Egypt will primarily serve to prop up authoritarian rule rather than contribute to the country's long-term stability. Additionally, the EU Commission's procedural approach is highly problematic
-
Lebanon's Tripoli
Old wounds and new problems on "Syria Street"
Syria Street in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, was a microcosm of the Syrian Civil War for many years. Nowadays, a fragile calm hides the complexities of Lebanon's past and the resilience of its people
-
Afghanistan
In the land of the hopeless
More than two years after the Taliban seized power, Afghans are battling psychological problems in response to the apparent hopelessness of the situation in their country. A report from Kabul
-
Elections in Indonesia
World's third largest democracy at a crossroads
On 14 February 2024, some 205 million Indonesians are going to the polls to choose a new president as well as new national and regional parliaments. Over the past 25 years, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population has evolved into a stable democracy. Yet observers now fear autocratic tendencies
-
Pakistan election
Why are rural women more willing to vote?
During Pakistan's last election in 2018, women from five remote areas of the country were more likely to vote than anywhere else in the country, including big cities
-
Egypt's hundred-year-old whodunnit revisited
Murder in the brothel – Raya, Sakina and the 17 female corpses
A century ago, two sisters in the red-light district of Alexandria became icons of evil as serial killers. But did they really kill prostitutes for a few gold bracelets?
-
Germany's policy on Egypt
Neither value-driven nor feminist
Germany's policy on Egypt is based on economic interests and a fear the country may collapse. As a result it contributes to stabilising Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's brutal regime
-
Canada: "Manufacturing the Threat"
The sting that bit back
Islamophobic incidents are once again on the rise across the Western world following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. "Manufacturing the Threat" reminds us what lengths governments will go to to achieve the results they believe people want to see
-
Afghans expelled from Pakistan
Deportations damage the economy and the environment
The deportation of Afghan refugees is taking a massive toll on Pakistan's recycling and plastics industry, which relies heavily on Afghan labourers
-
Life in Lebanon
Fighting sectarianism with cheap groceries
Two women in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, have founded a non-profit grocery store that offers goods at affordable prices. But their bigger vision is to break down political and religious segregation
-
Bangladesh's low-wage textile industry
Microcredits – no silver bullet against poverty
While Grameen Bank, the great role model for the microfinance industry, is celebrating its fortieth birthday in 2023, tens of thousands of textile workers in Bangladesh are taking to the streets and striking for better wages
-
Human rights in Asia
Tajik women turn to polygamy to survive
Dire economic conditions are spurring an increasing number of women in Tajikistan to enter polygamous marriages. But it comes at a price. With few rights to underpin their existence, they bear a burden of social stigma that taints not only their lives but those of their children too. Madina Shogunbekova reports