Femina
Femina
Do women lead, connect and share differently? Subscribe for the latest stories.

Middle East | Syria | Politics

Hoda Muthana ‘deeply regrets’ joining Isis and wants to return home

Source:
An American woman captured by Kurdish forces after fleeing the last pocket of land controlled by Islamic Statesays she “deeply regrets” travelling to Syria to join the terror group and has pleaded to be allowed to return to her family in Alabama. Once one of Isis’s most prominent online agitators who took to social media to call for the blood of Americans to be spilled, Hoda Muthana, 24, claims to have made a “big mistake” when she left the US four years ago and says she was brainwashed into doing so online. Speaking from al-Hawl refugee camp in northern Syria, while her 18-mon
Middle East | Syria | Sports

Woman coach scores wins for Syrian men’s team

Source:
On the soccer pitch, Maha Jannoud barks out instructions to the players just like any other coach, but with one difference: she is a woman in what has been very much a man’s world, says Reuters. Jannoud, 32, who previously played for the Syrian national women’s team, believes she is the first woman in the Middle East to coach a professional men’s side. Dressed in a tracksuit, with her hair tied back in a ponytail, she takes the job as assistant coach at her Damascus club in her stride.
Middle East | Syria | Leadership

US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard makes secret ‘fact-finding trip’ to Syria

Source:
A US congresswoman made a secret "fact-finding trip" to the Syrian capital Damascus days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Democratic Representative and Iraq War veteran Tulsi Gabbard visited Damascus "to meet with a number of individuals and groups including religious leaders, humanitarian workers, refugees and government and community leaders," Gabbard’s spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday. The exact dates of the trip were kept secret for security reasons, but her office said the Hawaii lawmaker was currently in the Middle East. Gabbard, a vocal opponent of the Bara
Middle East | Syria | Politics

Syria elects first female parliament speaker

Source:
A woman has for the first time been chosen as parliament speaker in Syria at the first ordinary round of the country’s new legislative term. People's Assembly of Syria held its first session on Monday after the April 13 parliamentary vote and elected Hadiyeh al-Abbas as the first female speaker in history of the Arab country's legislature, marking a historic event in the war-stricken country. The female politician, 58, holds a PhD in agricultural engineering from Aleppo University. She held positions at the National Union of Syrian Students (Dayr al-Zawr-Raqqah branch) and she was a
Middle East | Syria | Politics

After Years Of Being Sidelined, Syrian Women Aim To Make History At Peace Talks

Source:
For five years, women have protested, fought, delivered aid, brokered peace and documented atrocities on the ground in Syria. Yet, when Syrians tried to end the war, women were sidelined. They have been largely absent from the negotiating table in rounds of failed talks since 2012. Fresh United Nations-brokered peace talks kicked off in Geneva this week, and many hope that a mostly observed cessation of hostilities and partial withdrawal of Russian troops are signs that the negotiations will be more successful than those of the past. One aspect of the talks has already inspired som
Middle East | Syria | Activism

Syrian girls sing of homeland and hope

Source:
Sometimes, music speaks when words fail. That’s what a group of Syrian girls discovered through music classes run by the International Rescue Committee. “Expressing yourself through music can be more powerful than plain words,” says 13 year-old Muna,* one of 26 girls who are now budding musicians at the IRC’s women’s center in Bar Elias, Lebanon. “People can listen to you and relate to your problems more.” Muna is part of a wave of over 1.2 million Syrians who have fled to Lebanon since war broke out in 2011. Life here is tough for refugees. Families struggle to create new
Middle East | Syria | Military

Syrian Kurdish Female Fighters Expand Ranks Against IS

Source:
Syrian Kurdish female fighters are expanding their ranks on the frontlines of the fight against Islamic State militants in northeastern Syria. In a remote camp near the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria, the leadership of Women's Protection Units (YPJ) continues to recruit and train young women to prepare them for combat missions against IS. "We learn how to use weapons and we take military education classes," said Rozelin, a new recruit.  
Middle East | Syria | Crimes

Syria: Christian women in a hell-like situation owing to abduction and selling incidents

Source:
Syria has factually turned into a hellhole for Christian women. While revealing the hell like condition which the Christian women have to face on daily basis, a Syrian Sister Hatune Dogan while talking with the CBN News has disclosed horrid experiences of Christian women. Syria has happened to be an out-and-out conflagration for Christians, but predominantly so for Christian women, she said. Christian women who wander in their neighbourhood have to face whole lot more than just simple jeers and catcalls from the masses of Muslims. While sharing with CBN News what she has seen in
Middle East | Syria | Activism

How Seven Syrian Women Brought Global Attention To The Violence In Their City

Source:
Three years ago, the women in Zabadani, Syria, lived normal lives. Manal, 42, was as an activist and cared for her three children at home with her husband. Noor, 38, also lived with her two children and worked as an activist and painter. Down the road was 37-year-old Sara, a mother of five, who worked as a teacher. Momenah and Ghada were kindergarten teachers, and lived nearby with their children. Raghad, a 26-year-old engineer, and Amal, a doctor who worked in their local hospital, also lived in the area. Today the lives of these seven women are no longer ordinary. Months of regime
Middle East | Syria | Career

A New Short Documentary Shows Syrian Women Refugees’ Brave Resilience

Source:
The number of Syrian refugees is currently approaching 4 million, with UN data showing women and children make up over three-quarters of that total. Hundreds of thousands from this diaspora are living in sprawling refugee camps along Turkey's southern border, and in a new short documentary by filmmaker Aliya Naumoff, a few women are sharing a look into life in those compounds. Aided by the U.S.-Turkey relations advocacy group the Turkish Heritage Organization, Naumoff traveled to the Harran and Akcakale camps near the border with Syria, where she interviewed a number of women and girls abou
Middle East | Syria | Activism

Senior female Isis figure who helped recruit women from Europe to Syria is revealed as student from Seattle

Source:
A senior female Isis figure who reportedly helped recruit women to join the extremist group in areas under its self-declared caliphate has been exposed as a student from Seattle, who may have been living in the city up until March this year. The person behind the influential @_UmmWaqqas Twitter account has been revealed by Channel 4 as a woman in her 20s who lived and studied in the US. Her Twitter account had a following of over 8,000 before it was suspended and shows that British recruits, such as Aqsa Mahmood, and other women from Europe were in contact with her in the day
Middle East | Syria | Culture

Syrian army turns to women on Damascus front lines

Source:
Sergeant Rim, 20, and Chief Sergeant Samar, 21, belong to the First Women's Commando Brigade of the Republican Guard, an elite unit stationed on some of the most dangerous battlegrounds on the outskirts of the Syrian capital. The women commandos are new to the Syrian army. There are roughly 800 soldiers in these all-female commando brigades, who face determined and entrenched rebels to the east and southeast of Damascus. Her male commanding officer Captain Ziad says, "There's no difference between men and women. Some have a strong heart and deep courage, and others don't. It's not a qu

Read the world's local women's news


How does Femina work?

  • Step 1
    1
    Local Country Editors From Around the World
  • Step 2
    2
    Choose News Articles From Their Countries’ Local Language Papers
  • Step 3
    3
    Summarize & Contextualize The Stories In English

Got it!

Thanks for registering!

Swipe for more Top Stories


Got it!