· January, 2013

Stories about Middle East & North Africa from January, 2013

Cats, Guns and Spoils of War in Rural Idlib, Syria

  2 January 2013

Maaret Misreen, Syria–Omar, a former marketing student at a private university in Damascus, is living a life he never could have imagined. He’s originally from Idlib, one of Syria’s smaller cities in the heart of the northwest olive groves. Now he’s living in the line of fire as a media activist, documenting violence and escorting foreign journalists and human rights workers through Syrian terrain.

Sixteen Teachers Arrested in Mauritania

  2 January 2013

On December 23, Mauritanian authorities arrested 16 teachers who had heckled the Education Minister in protest against their arbitrary transfer to remote posts, for having taken part in last year's demonstrations. The police sent these teachers to its various offices in Nouakchott. Journalist Mohamed Salem comments:  يجدد نظام العقيد ولد...

TEDxSanaa: Inspiring Hope In Yemen

  2 January 2013

Despite the turbulent year Yemen experienced in 2012, a group of Yemenis worked very hard to end the year on a positive note. The TEDxSanaa team succeeded in staging, for the first time in Yemen, an inspirational TEDx event in Sanaa on December 31 under the befitting slogan “Inspiring Hope.”

Social Media Buzz: Rebels Lose a Charismatic Commander in Syria

  2 January 2013

Millions of Syrians are using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Skype to disseminate and discuss the conflict. Each week our Mohammed Sergie monitors the online conversation in English and Arabic, pulling out the highlights in a feature called the Social Media Buzz.

Iran's Supreme Leader Behind Enemy Lines with New Facebook Page

  1 January 2013

Despite condemnation of social media, it appears that Ayatollah Khamenei now has his own Facebook page. Censorship is as active on Facebook as any other media in Iran -- critical comments come down as fast as they go up. Read more to find out what kind of response there has been to the Supreme Leader's new Facebook presence in Iran.

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Mariam A.
Mariam A. is the editor for the Middle East & North Africa. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.