France's former culture minister Audrey Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar's frontrunner Hamad bin Abdoulaziz Al-Kawari to become UNESCO's first-ever Jewish director general. Her election came a day after the United States and Israel pulled out of the UN culture and education body, alleging anti-Israel bias. Azoulay grew up in Morocco and has family in Israel, writes The Israel Times.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley drew a hard line in announcing the US withdrawal from UNESCO on Thursday: “Its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment,” she said, citing a “long line of foolish actions” including designating the Israeli-occupied ancient city of Hebron as a Palestinian world heritage site. Haley also criticized the organization for keeping Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee.

“U.S. taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense,” Haley said. The US currently is in arrears to the organization of about $500 million.

UNESCO's outgoing director genera, Irina Bokova,commented to Foreign Policy in advance of Azoulay's election.

“While I’m not entirely surprised by this move, I always thought something more was at stake,” Bokova said about the U.S. departure. She acknowledged that the U.S. departure, coupled with that of Israel, is “a blow to the organization. It will certainly take its toll.”

Rejecting the claim that UNESCO is anti-Israel, Bokova acknowledged that the US departure, with Israel, is "a blow to the organization. It will certainly take its toll."

A woman driving a car in Saudi Arabia in 2013. CreditFaisal Al Nasser/Reuters

There are few greater symbols of women's oppression worldwide than the prohibition against women driving in Saudi Arabia. AOC has lobbied against this absurd law for nearly a decade. The New York Times reminds us:

Some said that it was inappropriate in Saudi culture for women to drive, or that male drivers would not know how to handle women in cars next to them. Others argued that allowing women to drive would lead to promiscuity and the collapse of the Saudi family. One cleric claimed — with no evidence — that driving harmed women’s ovaries.

Pure economics is part of the change promoted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the king's young son charged with overhauling the kingdom's economy and society. Low oil prices have limited the government's ability to fund unneeded jobs. Women's incomes are critical in expanding economic demand in the kingdom.

Saudi women are expected to legally hit the road in June 2018, after a period of training male police officers how to interact with women and teaching women how to drive.

Earlier in 2017 King Salman bin Abdulaziz Saud issued an order allowing women to benefit from government services including education and healthcare without getting the permission of a male guardian. The decision came after spring 2017 outrage over the the election of Saudi Arabia to the UN's women's commission, whose role is to shape "global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women".