Last update: 2022-04-22 09:54:20
A Ballerina’s Story, Once Upon a Time in Egypt. In an East-meets-West Cold War tale, Magda Saleh danced “Giselle” with the Bolshoi and at home in Cairo, where calling a woman a dancer was an insult (the New York Times).
Saudi Arabia’s bootleg music shops. The IBaghdad-born journalist Arwa Haider moved to Saudi Arabia when she was 13. She recalls what it was like to be a teenage pop fan in a place where music was frowned on (BBC).
The war in Iraq, which began 15 years ago this month, was spurred on by misleading claims about Saddam’s Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction and his regime’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda. But there was another key element of the George W. Bush administration’s sales pitch for the war — the notion that it would be cheap and easy (the Hill).
Indonesia and Malaysia have political contests coming - and religious votes could make the difference. Political Islam will be a big factor in upcoming elections in Malaysia and Indonesia. Candidates are aligning with fundamentalist parties in order to win over conservative voters (Cnbc).