· January, 2013

Stories about West Asia & North Africa from January, 2013

Egypt Silent on Sinai Flooding

Sinai is being ravished by flooding, after heavy rains in the region. Very little information is available on online media, amid total silence on mainstream media. Netizens report that up to 1,400 families could be caught up in the flooding, without electricity and access to food.

31 January 2013

Morsi Courts Merkel while Unrest Continues in Egypt

A Photoshopped picture of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi kissing German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral, drawing ridicule from netizens, who criticised Morsi for traveling abroad at a time when his country was facing unrest. Online, Egyptians were quick to dismiss the photograph as unreal but were also dismissive of Morsi and his policies.

31 January 2013

Children Crisis in Syria: How You Can Help

An estimated 4,355 Syrian children have been killed so far in the on-going conflict in Syria. Earlier this week, we reported on the steep price Syrian children are paying in this war tearing their country apart. Today, we look at ways in which individuals could help alleviate some of their suffering.

31 January 2013

Saudi Arabia: 36 Days in Jail for a Human Rights Sign

Saudi Mohammad al-Olayan was detained for 36 days for having a sign against arbitrary detainment on his car. Although he denied the charge, saying he found the sign on his car, he was held in inhumane conditions. al-Olayan shares his experience on Twitter.

30 January 2013

Syrian Children Pay the Steep Price of War

Syrian children are the forgotten victims for the last 22 months of conflict. An estimated 4,000 Syrian children have lost their lives while hundreds of thousands are refugees without homes. International humanitarian communities and Syrian activists have no choice but to report the bad news to the world.

27 January 2013

Kurds Caught Between Islamists and the PKK in Syria

The Turkey-based Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), and its Syrian political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), have stumbled into a precarious situation. They are now administering a string of towns and cities along the Turkish border after the Syrian army handed the U.S. and the PKK control of the territory last summer. What should have been a dream come true for Kurds—who have long been discriminated against in Baathist Syria and aspired to have an independent state—quickly devolved into an even more oppressive replica of their lives in Assad’s Syria.

25 January 2013

Blogging for UAE Detainees

“UAE Detainees” [ar] sheds light on the plight of more 68 Emirati political detainees who demanded reforms in their country. By doing so, the blog tries to attract solidarity with...

25 January 2013

Mauritania: Workers March 700km for Justice

On January 5, a group of illegal or "Journalia" workers (temporary or seasonal), started a long march from the city of Zouerat in order to reach the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. In total, these workers would have walked 700km in order to protest against the injustice they are being subjected to and the deceit of president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who had promised to solve their problems and put and end to their suffering.

25 January 2013

Egypt: Why Open Source Software?

After introducing to Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) in the previous article, one might still wonder why corporates and governments need to adoption it or encourage its adoption. Tarek Amr elaborates in this second post of a two-part series in the argument for F/OSS

24 January 2013

About our West Asia & North Africa coverage

Walid El Houri
Walid El Houri is the West Asia and North Africa Editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.