Stories about Arabic from October, 2012
Mauritania: Destructive Gold Mining
From Mauritania, Ahmed Jedou writes [ar] about the the abuse of multinationals of gold mining in his country. Despite having the world's second largest gold mine, he says government corruption means Mauritanians benefit very little from the operation. Jedou also highlights the environmental impact of mining.
Egypt: Two Children Detained for Blasphemy
Two Coptic children, aged nine and 10 years, are being detained in Egypt, for allegedly tearing up pages from the Holy Quran and urinating on them. The incident happened in a village in Beni Suef, in Upper Egypt, and the complaint against the children was filed by a Salafi clergyman. According to the Egyptian Penal Code, insulting Islam is considered as a crime in Egypt and the children are being held on blasphemy charges. On Twitter, netizens react to the development today.
Mauritania: Quran Teachers Turn Children to Beggars
Across the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, you will see children known as Al Mudat, aged between 4 and 14 years, begging for money. These children are not asking for themselves - instead they want the money to pay their Quran teachers.
Algeria: Petition to #FreeYacine Zaid, Human Rights Activist
Yougourthen AYAD has started an online petition [fr] to demand that Yacine Zaid, a human rights activist be set free after he was arrested by the police in Ouargla, Algeria [fr] on October, 2nd. Yacine Zaid was allegedly hit on the face and the neck when taken. He is accused of contempt and...
