Mutilation

Take a look at this remarkably disturbing sentence from a recent AP article: “More than 90 percent of women in Egypt are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation.” That’s process, currently carried out in 29 countries, and which “generally involves the cutting off of all or part of the clitoris and sometimes the labia. It is performed on both Muslims and Christians and is believed to control a young woman’s sexual appetite.”

+ During a brief visit to Saudi Arabia, Michelle Obama did not wear a headscarf. That, it turns out, is enough to stir an international debate.

+ Authorities in Jordan are reportedly attempting to trade an Iraqi prisoner for a Jordanian pilot held by Islamic State.

+ At least 2 Israeli soldiers and one UN peacekeeper were killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah.