Middle East

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Environment
REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

A Holy River at Risk

by Zoe H. Robbin, Jack Bavaria Pearson, Timothy Purvis

The iconic Jordan River is threatened by pollution, overuse, and climate change, but efforts are underway to save it

Poverty
A boy stands in a garbage dump—where his family collects food to eat—near the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, Yemen on January 13, 2018. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad

The War on Childhood in Yemen

by Arwa Mokdad

Halcyon summers have given way to famine, conflict, and loss

An Ebola survivor plays with a boy suspected of being infected with Ebola virus in a transit centre in Beni, North Kivu Province of Democratic Republic of Congo, December 15, 2018.
Governance

How Congo's 2018 Ebola Outbreak Can Inform the Middle East's Response to COVID-19

by Serena Tohme

Countries in the MENA region can learn from both the successes and failures of past outbreaks in conflict zones

Where policy meets health: European Union leaders take part in the first face-to-face EU summit since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak began, in Brussels, Belgium, on July 17, 2020. The photo shows a large round table from above with various leaders seated far apart from one another. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Governance

A New Era for Health Policy and Systems Research

by Mohammed AlKhaldi, Hamza Meghari, Sara Ahmed

It is now time to boost and embed health policy and systems research to handle crucial questions related to COVID-19

People ride a motorbike amidst smoke from fumigation during a fumigation campaign while the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, on the outskirts of Sanaa, Yemen, on April 13, 2020. This is a powerful photo showing two men on one motorbike driving through a thick cloud of disinfectant mist. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Migration

Coronavirus, War, and Yemen in Between: A Recipe for Disaster

by Walid A. Al-Soneidar, Nezar N. Al-Hebshi

Without a collective effort to suppress COVID-19 in conflict zones, people in those areas will pay the highest price

A worker in protective suit sprays disinfectants in front of a dress shop at popular market following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Basra, Iraq on March 10, 2020. This is an interesting photo showing a colorful dress shop with a worker walking by outside in protective gear spraying disinfectant. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
Governance

Coronavirus in the Middle East

by Steven A. Cook

A look at COVID-19 in seven countries, some fragile or failed, which illustrates many of the problems the region faces

A man looks at parliamentary election campaign posters in Tehran, Iran on February 19, 2020. The photo shows the man standing in front of a board that is placarded with multiple political campaign posters, many of them identical and pasted over and over. The predominant colors are green, white, and red—like the Iranian flag. WANA/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS.
Trade

Coronavirus in Iran—An Isolated Response?

by Ray Takeyh

As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, will Tehran wean itself off suspicions and collaborate in efforts to control the virus?

Factories emit smoke in Jilin province, China, across the Songhua River from where an elderly man exercises on the morning of Feb 24, 2013, after Chinese authorities announced plans to curb pollution. The photo shows the man in the foreground, back to the camera, with buildings on the other side of the river pouring out smoke. REUTERS/Stringer
Environment

What to do About Type 2

by Katherine Leach-Kemon, Theo Vos

Aging, obesity, and poor diet are driving the diabetes epidemic worldwide—and so is air pollution

Peter Salama visits a makeshift school at Kule Camp in the Gambella region of Ethiopia on August 12, 2014, when he was the Country Representative of UNICEF Ethiopia. Picture shows Dr. Salama wearing a blue hat talking to several boys in a classroom. They are all smiling. UNICEF/Jiro Ose/UNI170605
Poverty

A Tribute to Peter Salama, a Champion of People in Fragile States and War-Torn Places

by Richard Brennan, David Nabarro

Original director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, he fought against Ebola and for Universal Health Coverage worldwide

Zhang Changchun shows a lung CT of his mother—53-year old Yang Zhongyi—a suspected case of coronavirus in Wuhan, China on Jan. 25, 2020. The case was unconfirmed at the time of the photo, said her son. The photo shows a hand holding a blue-tinted piece of X-ray film with lots of images of sections of lung scanned by the CT instrument. REUTERS/Zhang Changchun Handout.
Food

The Market, the Clinic, the Lung, and the Lab

by Jason Socrates Bardi

An interview with University of Iowa expert Stanley Perlman on what we know and what we don’t about the new coronavirus

A boy dives into a crater filled with water in Aleppo's al-Shaar district on July 10, 2014. Activists said the crater was caused by barrel bombs dropped by forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. The photo shows a boy leaping in mid-air into a water-filled hole. The water is muddy brown, and two other boys can be seen swimming in the hole with their heads bobbing out. Surrounding them is rubble. This is a powerful image. REUTERS/Hosam Katan
Gender

Baby in a Bomb Shelter

by Jason Socrates Bardi

Oscar nominated documentary “For Sama” gives powerful if gruesome glimpse of what it’s like to raise a kid in a war zone