Stories about Middle East & North Africa from January, 2014
Egyptian Blogger Nawara Negm Calls it Quits
Outspoken Egyptian blogger Nawara Negm is taking a break from blogging politics. On her blog, Tahyyes, she writes a long post explaining her position [ar]: انا مش لاقية طرف مش متعاص كاكا… حتى اللي عاملين ثوار واصحاب مبادئ… طبعا مش لانهم عملا وجواسيس، بس لانهم متلخبطين، والواحد لما يتلخبط يعتزل…...
Facebook Teams Up with Russia's Top Search Engine
Scholars and researchers of the Russian Internet can rejoice this week, for Russia's leading search engine, Yandex.ru, is now the second website in the world, after Bing in the United States, to gain access to Facebook firehose data [ru]. This means that Yandex can now search Facebook's streaming API and provide live...
Young Egyptian Journalist Uses Indiegogo for Help
Menna Alaa, Egyptian journalist who was assaulted by angry mob earlier in 2013 losing her camera during her reporting, is using Indiegogo calling for help to buy equipment to help her document the ongoing events in Egypt. The appeal reads: Menna Alaa is a Cairo based freelance journalist and student...
Hockey, Diving for Crosses and Other Christmas-in-January Traditions
While Christians in the Western hemisphere celebrate Christmas in December, most Orthodox and Coptic Christians mark the birth of Christ in early January, from Eastern Europe to North Africa.
Iran: Tech Bloggers in Jail
Jadi remembered and tweeted on Saturday, 11th of January, about jailed tech bloggers in Kerman province.The technology news website Narenji.ir in Kerman reported on December 3, 2013 that seven of their writers and technical staff were suddenly arrested with no information about where they were taken. Today is 40th day...
Iran: “City Councillor Lost Post Over Facebook Account”
Azamolsadat Hosseini says she lost her post in Behshahr‘s City Council over her Facebook account. Several Iranian officials use Facebook and Twitter to communicate their message but these sites and many other ones are filtered in country.
Iran: Jailed Blogger Needs Specialized Medical Treatment
Amnesty International says “the health of jailed Iranian blogger Mohammad Reza Pourshajari,a prisoner of conscience,is worsening. He is in urgent need of specialized medical treatment.” Mohammad Reza Pourshajari(aka Siamak Mehr) was arrested in September 2010.In his blog, Iran Land's Report, he would criticize the Islamic Republic and Islam with strong...
Iran Voices: New Site Polls Citizens on Local Government
What do citizens expect from their city officials? A new site polls Iranians about their views and shares results with decision-makers.
How Should Middle Eastern Women Dress in Public?
This question, posed by a University of Michigan study, is drawing laughs – and criticism online.
Dreams of Yemen
Yemeni blogger Noon Arabia shares her dreams of Yemen in this post. She writes: I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a roof on top of their head I dream of a Yemen where everyone has a meal on their table I dream of a Yemen where poverty is...
A Call for African Leaders to Stand with the Central African Republic
As the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) drastically worsens [fr] (935 000 IDPs as of today), Thione Niang, the Senegalese head of the GIVE1Project and Mehdi Bensaid, a Moroccan MP, calls from the African continent to stand up and show support to the victims of the conflict in CAR [fr]: Nous ne...
A Year of Campaigns for Iran
Hope is alive in Iran for improving the situation for fellow citizens. Here are some of the campaigns we followed in 2013.
Egypt: The Muppets Intelligence Agency
In Egypt, a Muppet-like character is being accused of sending coded messages to terrorists. Amr Tarek explains why this puppet is on trial.
Iran: What is the Next Stage of Filtering?
Milad tweeted with irony that the next stage of filtering in Iran is cutting the electricity to prevent everyone from using any technology. فاز بعدی فیلترینگ قطع برق هست. که دیگه کلاً نتونیم از هیچ تکنولوژی ای استفاده کنیم :))) — Milad (@miladsafarzadeh) January 2, 2014
PHOTOS: Tunisia in 2013: A Rough Year
2013 was a rough year for Tunisia: two political assassinations, protests, military and security forces targeted by armed groups and a never ending political crisis.
Lebanon: I Am Not A Martyr
Lebanon's #NotaMartyr campaign pays tribute to innocent victims of violence and to show that the Lebanese want change.
About our Middle East & North Africa coverage
