Worldcrunch
Egypt is one of the few countries where leprosy persists. But with effective treatment methods and cases declining, some say Cairo wants to close the country’s last leprosy colony, Abu Zaabal, rehouse its patients and transform the land into medical facilities — an idea that concerns patients and their families, many of whom remain in the colony out of fear of social stigmas.
Palestinians in Gaza complain that they don’t receive enough aid to feed their children even after a surge of aid trucks entering the strip as part of the Hamas-Israel cease-fire deal.
Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected Hamas’ latest counter-proposal to Israel’s offer for a ceasefire. Still, a new round of negotiations has begun in Cairo — and it’s ever more clear that the first question that must be resolved is the if, how, when and who of the 140 Israeli hostages will be released. Hamas knows they are its best bargaining chip.