Amid a stunning vista of desert mountains, a Bedouin woman, Umm Yasser, paused to point out a local plant, and she began to explain how it was used in medicine to the group of foreign tourists she was guiding. Umm Yasser is breaking new ground among the deeply conservative Bedouin of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Women among the Bedouin almost never work outside the home, and even more rarely do they interact with outsiders. But Umm Yasser is one of four women from the community who for the first time are …

Amid a stunning vista of desert mountains, a Bedouin woman, Umm Yasser, paused to point out a local plant, and she began to explain how it was used in medicine to the group of foreign tourists she was guiding. Umm Yasser is breaking new ground among the deeply conservative Bedouin of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Women among the Bedouin almost never work outside the home, and even more rarely do they interact with outsiders. But Umm Yasser is one of four women from the community who for the first time are …

Small, independent bookstores in neighborhoods across the United States are places to discover new books and make new friendships. But about 20 years ago they were rapidly closing because of competition from big box chain bookstores and on-line book sales. Then about 10 years ago something remarkable happened as indie bookstores came back to life, many thriving and growing every year. At One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC, customer Cheryl Moore likes the personalized service that she does not get at large corporate-owned bookstores. …

Small, independent bookstores in neighborhoods across the United States are places to discover new books and make new friendships. But about 20 years ago they were rapidly closing because of competition from big box chain bookstores and on-line book sales. Then about 10 years ago something remarkable happened as indie bookstores came back to life, many thriving and growing every year. At One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC, customer Cheryl Moore likes the personalized service that she does not get at large corporate-owned bookstores. …

Twenty-year-old Sana Tajik managed to convince her parents to allow her to follow her childhood dreams and become a singer, but she realizes the dangers of being a woman, let alone a woman entertainer, in tribal northwest Pakistan. The Pashtun singer grew up in Lower Dir, once a Taliban stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where performing arts were widely considered to be un-Islamic. She realized early on that violence against female artists was common. In 2018, five female singers were killed in the northwest and in March this year, a …