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By Iqbal Tamimi

Women on Arab TV can attract a lot of attention, but this is often focused on their appearance, which would not be the case with male presenters. These female figureheads are often not good role models, because they are not chosen for their journalistic skills, while there are many Arab female journalists who are very professional but do not get the same opportunities or recognition. This attention was noticeable during the 2011 uprisings of the Middle East.

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The news that media giant Wadah Khanfar has quit Al Jazeera has been celebrated and mourned in equal measures

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I've been meaning to work on my writing for while now, so stumbling on this high recommendation of William Zinsser's guide to writing non-fiction gave me the push to actually find time to – you know – improve my writing. Zinsser's guide which is titled 'On Writing Well' is an absolute pleasure to read and full of great writing anecdotes and practical advice. The only tiny, little problem is that is appears to be full of sexist examples and language.

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The Roma women of Iraq from dancing and prostitution before the USA invasion of Iraq to harassment and begging on the streets afterwards

By Iqbal Tamimi

"Before 2003, everyone used to come to us, state officials, senior staff and ordinary people, seeking to spend red nights and have fun with us. But after they take their pleasures from us, they swear at us, curse us and distant themselves from us. They do not want us living among them. We are despised on popular and official levels. Some would not even sell us things because we are Roma. We live like dogs” says Raghad, an Iraqi Roma woman who was describing the deterioration of their living standards following the USA invasion of Iraq.