Dubai

Children play in the surf at Kite Beach with the Burj al Arab, the Dubai Marina and a man flying a powered parachute in the background in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 8, 2016.

To beat the heat, beach lovers in Dubai head to the shores at night

Climate Change

The beaches in Dubai are equipped for the adjustment. They have floodlights, late-night dining options, games and rides. And the lifeguards remain on duty into the wee hours of the morning.

competitive camel racers pose for a picture with their camels

Women’s camel racing team takes an ancient sport back to the future

Sports
Popular Russian rapper Oxxxymiron played to a packed club in Istanbul to raise funds for Ukrainians and their fight against Russia.

The new Russian diaspora finds a home in Istanbul 

Ukraine
Soldiers are shown standing guard near a barbed-wire fence with a larger crowd of people shown standing and waiting.

Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government

Afghanistan
A woman poses in front of a Black Lives Matter mural on the street as a protest against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Brooklyn, New York, June 16, 2020.  

‘We need to talk about racism,’ these Middle Easterners say 

Identity
A long escalator is shown nearly empty with a person riding down and looking at their phone.

Coronavirus causes historic market drop, global scramble to contain ‘invisible enemy’

COVID-19

Coronavirus fears led to a historic drop in US stocks, shut borders and disrupted daily life around the world, as governments took increasingly drastic measures to try to reduce the severity of the global outbreak.

Young soldier wearing uniform raises his fist alongside other cheering soldiers

Cheap drones are changing the calculus of war in Yemen

Conflict

Cheaper and deadlier than ever, drones are now taking off around the clock in Yemen, as Houthi rebels step up their drone campaign in their fight against the Saudi-backed coalition.

Women at the Corniche in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

How rising numbers of Gulf women are escaping abuse to seek asylum

A Troubled Kingdom

Women from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are increasingly risking their lives to flee. Some plan their escapes for years, and even with so much planning, there are times when things go wrong.

Shaheen Pasha

As a woman in media, sexual harassment was the norm. I was told to keep it to myself.

Culture

Commentary: Journalist Shaheen Pasha says that sexual harassment has long been an “unfortunate and infuriating” part of doing her job.

Ayesha Albusmait, and her daughter, Reem Abdullah Rashid. Albusmait is one of the small, but growing number of single Emirati woman choosing to adopt.

When you’re a single woman in the Emirates, but you still want a child

Belief

It’s no big deal when a single woman chooses to adopt in the US. But in the United Arab Emirates? That’s something new.