The El Gaara sisters, who live in Rabat, Morocco, are athletic champions who compete in Paralympics against other athletes with dwarfism. Their story came to the attention of Moroccan filmmaker Reda Fakhar, who used it as a window to explore the life of short people in his country.
Middle East
At home with Moroccan champions
Moroccan hip-hop group fuses traditional music with rap
During a reporting trip to Morocco last year, Worldfocus' Hoda Osman, Rebecca Haggerty and Megan Thompson met the members of hip-hop group H-Kayne. In this brief interview, the rap trio discuss their musical influences, including Moroccan traditional music such as Aissawa and Gnawa.
Migrants stranded en route to Europe
Last year, during a trip to Morocco, Worldfocus correspondent Hoda Osman, producer Rebecca Haggerty, and cameraperson Megan Thompson visited the autonomous city of Melilla. There they met migrants desperate to get to Europe but stranded in limbo.
In Middle East, leaders on religious left offer reconciliation
Religious politicians are usually considered to be on the right of the ideological spectrum. However, we look at three figures -- Iyad Jamal Al-Din in Iraq, Menachem Froman in Israel and Mehdi Karroubi in Iran -- who advocate pacifism and pluralism yet are grounded in traditional spirituality.
Arab world experiences rapid population explosion
Compared to other regions, the Arab world has been experiencing one of the fastest population growth rates -- over 2% per year -- which has led to more than its doubling within the last 30 years. Worldfocus discusses Middle Eastern demographics with Patrick Gerland, a demographer at the United Nations Population Division.
South Yemeni separatists continue agitating for secession
In southern Yemen, opposition to the central government is growing. Some fear that the rebellion may be turning more violent and that increasing instability in the fragile nation could create room for Al-Qaeda to grow. Supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, freelance reporter Paul Stephens reports on the latest developments from Sana'a, Yemen.
Week in Review: Middle East peace process
Israel today tightened security in Jerusalem and sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours to prevent a repeat of last Friday's clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, but there were nonetheless more scuffles. To discuss the tension in the region, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks with James Rubin and Ian Bremmer in our weekly roundtable.
Worldfocus Radio: Demographics of the Arab World
The Arab world has over 350 million people and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Most of its countries also share a set of demographic issues, including a youth population explosion and gender inequality. Martin Savidge hosts Magda Abu-Fadil and Bernard Haykel to discuss Arab demography.
Jordanian advocate fights against puppy mills
In a Worldfocus signature story, we turn to the issue of animal rights. While such protections are well-established in the U.S., in many parts of the world, they are all but nonexistent. Special correspondent Kristen Gillespie looks at an unusual effort in Jordan, where an unlikely champion of animal rights is trying to end widespread abuse and help her canine friends.
Tentative talks resume in the Middle East
After 14 months of silence, Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set to hold indirect peace talks. For more, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks to Ghassan Shabaneh, assistant professor of international studies at Marymount Manhattan College, and Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.