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Yemeni entrepreneur Obeid al-Bakri launched a ridesharing app to provide safe transport in the southern city of Aden, but his plans quickly ran into trouble – the internet was so slow, no one could get online to book a ride.
Facebook’s ‘double standard’ on hate speech against Russians
[Produced with my colleague Rina Chandran and published here on March 17, 2022]
Ukraine war ripples to Yemen where no funds mean no food
[Published here March 17, 2022]
ADEN, March 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Ali’s brittle legs stuck out awkwardly from a gray onesie that hung off him, although it was meant for his age. At three months old, the Yemeni infant has already spent a third of his life fighting to keep it.
Yemeni city looks to ancient past to survive climate change
March 16, 2022March 17, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
ADEN, March 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For thousands of years, a network of aqueducts and basins helped Yemen’s port city of Aden cope with both floods and drought. Today, plastic bags, drinks cans and makeshift shacks clog the ancient channels.
Arab women entrepreneurs defy odds with leap into sportswear
March 8, 2022March 10, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Published here on March 8, 2022]
BEIRUT, March 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Nathaly Daou zigzags through an underground fabric store in Beirut, pulling out bolts of neon Lycra and patterned polyester before settling on a roll of white cotton.
Sentenced for a selfie: Middle East police target LGBTQ+ phones
March 7, 2022March 9, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Produced with my colleague Avi Asher-Schapiro and published here on March 7, 2022]
BEIRUT/LOS ANGELES, March 7 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Before Omar leaves home in the morning, he carefully uninstalls the apps on his phone one by one – no WhatsApp, no Facebook, no Grindr.
Ukraine war threatens to make bread a luxury in the Middle East
February 28, 2022March 9, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Produced with my colleagues Tala Ramadan in Beirut and Menna Farouk in Cairo, and published here on February 28, 2022]
ADEN/CAIRO, Feb 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The war in Ukraine may be unfolding several thousand miles away, but 32-year-old Ilham fears her family will feel its consequences on their dinner table in Yemen.
Iraq Yazidis want Big Tech held to account for Islamic State crimes
February 17, 2022March 9, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Published here on February 17, 2022]
BEIRUT, Feb 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Wahhab Hassoo’s family had to pay $80,000 to buy the release of his niece from the Islamic State (IS) militants who abducted her in 2014, and then offered her “for sale” in a WhatsApp group.
Now, Hassoo’s family and dozens of others from Iraq’s minority Yazidi community want social media companies to be held to account, accusing them of having facilitated the trafficking of Yazidi women and girls by the jihadists.
Pilots say Qatar Airways monitors and muzzles staff online
January 28, 2022January 28, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Published here January 28, 2022]
Staff at Qatar Airways who vent work worries online say the state carrier is retaliating with legal threats and job cuts – part of a growing corporate trend to monitor and muzzle employees who dare speak out.
Advocates say the carrier’s attempts to silence employees and delete critical posts – be it in private or public forums – contravenes staff rights to privacy and free expression.
Pilots raise alarm at Qatar Airways for doctored hours, hidden fatigue
January 27, 2022January 28, 2022 / Maya Gebeily / Leave a comment
[Published here January 27, 2022]
Pilots at Qatar Airways say the state-owned airline is under-counting their work hours and ignoring complaints of fatigue – a safety breach that hurts staff health and risks passenger lives.
The testimony demonstrates how worker abuse extends even to the Gulf nation’s high-skill industries, as Qatar Airways (QA) tries to minimise crew downtime.
Lilian Cheaito has lived in silent suffering at a Beirut hospital from the moment she was admitted on August 4, 2020, bruised and bleeding from the Beirut blast.
Noel Musanga works as a cleaner and volunteers as a migrant advocate in Lebanon - where a mark-up in telecoms prices will make both of those roles much harder for her.
Take it to the mountain.
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