Organizations around the world are sending money and equipment to people affected by a recent earthquake.
Tag: middle east
Canada Sends Troops To Middle East
Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien doesn’t often speak out publicly, these days.
Recently, however, he wrote a newspaper column suggesting that Canada should send help, not fighters, to the Middle East.
The World Is Watching Syria
Countries around the world are trying to figure out what, if anything, to do about the situation in Syria.
The Middle Eastern country has been waging a civil war since 2011.
That’s when Syrians staged protests against the country’s leader, Bashar al-Assad.
al-Assad and his supporters fought violently against the protesters.
The two groups have been fighting ever since.
Riots In Turkey Getting Worse
In Turkey, a country in eastern Europe, a huge protest has been taking place in the largest city, Istanbul.
It started last week when the government wanted to make over a main square, taking away trees and building a shopping mall.
It also planned to rebuild a historical building, a former Ottoman army barracks.
The Ottoman Empire was very strong in Turkey in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Unlike Arab Spring, when many Middle East countries erupted with protests against the government, Turkey’s government has always been seen around the world as more tolerant than many of those countries.
So when cause of the protests seemed to be a local problem, people thought is must be a very different kind of protest.
Ikea Criticized For Airbrushing Women From Its Saudi Arabia Catalogue
Ikea is a large chain of stores around the world that sells furniture and home accessories.
Recently the company came under fire for removing all of the images of women from the pictures in the Saudi Arabia edition of their catalogue.
In the Ikea catalogue, families are shown using and enjoying Ikea’s products. In the Saudi Arabia version of the book, none of the families show women in them.
In other editions of the catalogue, women are featured in the photos.
The images of women were digitally removed from the pictures in the catalogue. This is known as airbrushing or photoshopping.
Ikea said they shouldn’t have removed the images; they regret having done it.
Ikea prints more than 60 versions of its catalogue and sends them all over the world.
Arab Spring – What’s Happening Now? An Update
Almost a year later, the effects of Arab Spring are still being felt.
Last December, the people of North Africa started what is being called “Arab Spring.”
Arab Spring refers to a series of uprisings by the people in a number of Arab countries.
The citizens rebelled when they could no longer put up with dictators and their cruelty.
They forced the President of Tunisia to flee to Saudi Arabia and the President of Egypt to quit his job and move away.
Saudi Woman Protests Ban On Women Driving
A woman in Saudi Arabia was arrested last Saturday because she put a video on YouTube video of herself driving a car.
She was eventually released.
Manal al-Sharif was protesting the rule in her country that only men can drive. She was filmed by another woman writer who supports women’s rights.
In Saudi Arabia it isn’t clear whether it’s illegal for a woman to drive, or simply a traditional or religious custom. But Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women drivers. Many people in the country would like to see women driving but it must be approved by the King first.
Because there are strict rules that prohibit men and women from being around each other in public, women cannot take public transport like buses. So they must rely on male relative or chauffeurs to drive them anywhere they need to go.
