Female war correspondents are no longer a novelty. The legendary 20th century author and journalist Martha Gellhorn broke that mold around 80 years ago, and in recent times many of our most accomplished journalists and chroniclers of war zones — among them CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the BBC’s formidable Kate Adie, Alex Crawford from Sky News and others — just happened to be women. Male news executives like to think we have become more enlightened over the years as we made decisions about who should cover wars and who was not suited and should stay at home. As I made judgments, as head of Newsgathering at the BBC and then president and managing director of CNN International, about whom to assign to the hellholes around the globe, the gender of a war correspondent was always under the surface. Was the story suitable for a woman? Would she prove a distraction? Was her hair too long or too blonde? Did her flak jacket fit? Crucially: Was she at greater risk of harassment, sexual assault and rape than her male colleagues? Read more: On the front line with female war reporters
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Female war correspondents are no longer a novelty. The legendary 20th century author and journalist Martha Gellhorn broke that mold around 80 years ago, and in recent times many of our most accomplished journalists and chroniclers of war zones — among them CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the BBC’s formidable Kate Adie, Alex Crawford from Sky News and others — just happened to be women.

Male news executives like to think we have become more enlightened over the years as we made decisions about who should cover wars and who was not suited and should stay at home.

As I made judgments, as head of Newsgathering at the BBC and then president and managing director of CNN International, about whom to assign to the hellholes around the globe, the gender of a war correspondent was always under the surface. Was the story suitable for a woman? Would she prove a distraction? Was her hair too long or too blonde? Did her flak jacket fit? Crucially: Was she at greater risk of harassment, sexual assault and rape than her male colleagues?

Read more: On the front line with female war reporters

The White House announced plans on Monday to help “Arab Spring” countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt. In his annual budget message to Congress, President Barack Obama asked that military aid to Egypt be kept at the level of recent years — $1.3 billion — despite a crisis triggered by an Egyptian probe targeting American democracy activists. Obama proposed $51.6 billion in funding for the U.S. State Department and foreign aid overall, when $8.2 billion in assistance to war zones is included. The “core budget” for the category would increase by 1.6 percent, officials said. Most of the economic aid for the Arab Spring countries — $770 million — would go to establish a new “Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund,” the president said in his budget plan. Read more: Obama proposes $800 million in aid for ‘Arab Spring’
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The White House announced plans on Monday to help “Arab Spring” countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt.

In his annual budget message to Congress, President Barack Obama asked that military aid to Egypt be kept at the level of recent years — $1.3 billion — despite a crisis triggered by an Egyptian probe targeting American democracy activists.

Obama proposed $51.6 billion in funding for the U.S. State Department and foreign aid overall, when $8.2 billion in assistance to war zones is included. The “core budget” for the category would increase by 1.6 percent, officials said.

Most of the economic aid for the Arab Spring countries — $770 million — would go to establish a new “Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund,” the president said in his budget plan.

Read more: Obama proposes $800 million in aid for ‘Arab Spring’

A man sits outside a shop that was damaged during clashes between protesters and security forces near the Interior Ministry in Cairo February 7, 2012. [REUTERS/Suhaib Salem]
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A man sits outside a shop that was damaged during clashes between protesters and security forces near the Interior Ministry in Cairo February 7, 2012. [REUTERS/Suhaib Salem]

Protesters chant anti-government slogans during a protest condemning the death of soccer fans at Port Said stadium, near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, February 2, 2012. Egyptians incensed by the deaths of 74 people in soccer violence staged protests in central Cairo on Thursday as the army-led government came under fire for failing to prevent the deadliest incident since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. [REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih] Read more: Egyptians incensed after 74 die in soccer tragedy
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Protesters chant anti-government slogans during a protest condemning the death of soccer fans at Port Said stadium, near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, February 2, 2012.

Egyptians incensed by the deaths of 74 people in soccer violence staged protests in central Cairo on Thursday as the army-led government came under fire for failing to prevent the deadliest incident since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. [REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih]

Read more: Egyptians incensed after 74 die in soccer tragedy

VIDEO: At least 73 people are dead, with hundreds injured after fans stormed a soccer field in Port Said while another stadium in Cairo was set on fire.

Read more: 70 die, hundreds injured in Egypt soccer melee

UPDATE: Egypt’s Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the country’s ruling military council, ordered two helicopters be sent to Port Said, the scene of violent soccer clashes, to fly out some of the visiting Al Ahli soccer team and its fans, military sources said. “This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt’s soccer history,” deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha told state television. [Photo: REUTERS/Stringer] Read more: More than 70 dead in Egyptian soccer pitch invasion
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UPDATE: Egypt’s Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the country’s ruling military council, ordered two helicopters be sent to Port Said, the scene of violent soccer clashes, to fly out some of the visiting Al Ahli soccer team and its fans, military sources said.

“This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt’s soccer history,” deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha told state television. [Photo: REUTERS/Stringer]

Read more: More than 70 dead in Egyptian soccer pitch invasion

Seventy-three people were killed and at least 1,000 injured on Wednesday after a soccer pitch invasion in the Egyptian city of Port Said, a health ministry official said, in an incident that one player described as “a war, not football.” [Photo: REUTERS/Stringer] Read more: Dozens die in Egypt soccer pitch invasion
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Seventy-three people were killed and at least 1,000 injured on Wednesday after a soccer pitch invasion in the Egyptian city of Port Said, a health ministry official said, in an incident that one player described as “a war, not football.” [Photo: REUTERS/Stringer]

Read more: Dozens die in Egypt soccer pitch invasion

A demonstrator takes part in a protest demanding the army hand power to civilians, in front of the state television building in Cairo January 30, 2012. [REUTERS/Suhaib Salem] Read more: U.S. Embassy shelters Americans amid Egypt NGO crackdown
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A demonstrator takes part in a protest demanding the army hand power to civilians, in front of the state television building in Cairo January 30, 2012. [REUTERS/Suhaib Salem]

Read more: U.S. Embassy shelters Americans amid Egypt NGO crackdown

A boy holds an Egyptian flag during a protest marking the first anniversary of Egypt’s uprising at Tahrir square during in Cairo January 25, 2012. [REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany] Read: Rift on show a year after Egypt’s uprising
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A boy holds an Egyptian flag during a protest marking the first anniversary of Egypt’s uprising at Tahrir square during in Cairo January 25, 2012. [REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany]

Read: Rift on show a year after Egypt’s uprising

Wael Ghonim doesn’t like being called an activist. The 31-year-old Google employee says he’s no different than other Egyptians who took part in the 2011 protests spurred by a Facebook page he created that forced then-president Hosni Mubarak to step down. Read: “How one Egyptian sold a revolution on the Web”
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Wael Ghonim doesn’t like being called an activist. The 31-year-old Google employee says he’s no different than other Egyptians who took part in the 2011 protests spurred by a Facebook page he created that forced then-president Hosni Mubarak to step down.

Read: “How one Egyptian sold a revolution on the Web”

Source: reuters.com