Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Egypt: children swept up in crackdown on anti-Sisi protests

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Security forces stop minors at checkpoints and check phones for ‘political’ material

More than 100 children are among thousands of people detained in Egypt in an effort to prevent further protests against the rule of Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi.

At least 3,120 people have been arrested since hundreds of people took to the streets on 20 September, according to the Cairo-based NGO the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Amnesty International said at least 111 children were arrested in the crackdown, “some as young as 11, with several detained on their way home from school”.

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Spread the word: the Iraqis translating the internet into Arabic

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Ameen al-Jaleeli and a team of student translators are working to empower people with knowledge

When Islamic State overran the Iraqi city of Mosul, human life was not the only thing in peril. Knowledge was, too.

Fortunately, Ameen al-Jaleeli understood this. He used a friend’s wifi to transfer a vast batch of Wikipedia files for offline usage. When the militants cut the cables in July 2016, he was ready.

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‘There will be chaos once again’: Kurds respond to Trump’s Syria decision

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Kurdish-held territories of north-eastern Syria prepare for assault by Turkish forces – and insist they will resist

Across the Kurdish-held territories of north-eastern Syria, people are steeling themselves for a long-threatened assault by Turkish forces – which now seems imminent after Donald Trump withdrew US forces from the area.

The Kurds took advantage of the chaos which has reigned in Syria since 2011, fighting off the Damascus regime to build their own autonomous statelet, known as Rojava.

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Latest betrayal of Kurds risks undermining defeat of Isis

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It is unclear whether Turkey has the will or capacity to take over detention camps

In early 2015, as Islamic State trampled over armies of the Middle East and menaced the west, the US turned to the Kurds for help. It was a familiar call, having been repeated over the decades whenever Washington needed a friend in the region. The outcome has been similar too.

Four years on, the people who helped safeguard the global order have been abandoned by the US on the eve of a Turkish push into Kurdish lands across north-eastern Syria. Betrayal has been an enduring theme whenever the US and the Kurds have partnered, but never before as nakedly as this.

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Sudden deaths of hundreds of migrant workers in Qatar not investigated

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Exclusive: in majority of cases, authorities do not perform postmortems, despite recommendations from regime’s lawyers

Qatar is failing to investigate the sudden deaths of hundreds of migrant works, the Guardian can reveal.

Hundreds of labourers in the World Cup host nation die each year, with the majority of the fatalities attributed to heart attacks or “natural causes” by the Qatari authorities. Many are young men who die in their sleep – a phenomenon locally dubbed “sudden death syndrome”.

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US to let Turkish forces move into Syria, dumping Kurdish allies

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White House reveals policy shift following conversation between Trump and Erdoğan

The White House has given the green light to a Turkish offensive into northern Syria, moving US forces out of the area in an abrupt foreign policy change that will in effect abandon the Kurds, Washington’s longtime military partner.

Kurdish forces have spearheaded the campaign against Islamic State in the region, but the policy swerve, after a phone conversation between Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday, means Turkey would take custody of captured Isis fighters, the White House said.

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Saudi Arabia to allow unmarried foreign couples in hotel rooms

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Kingdom relaxes rules as it turns to tourism to bolster economy for post-oil era

Saudi Arabia has announced it is to allow unmarried foreign couples to rent hotel rooms together as the ultra-conservative kingdom begins offering tourist visas for the first time.

The tourism authority said in a statement on Twitter on Sunday that Saudi women travelling alone would also be able to check into a hotel by presenting valid ID. In the past, couples wanting to stay in a hotel had to prove they were married.

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In Iraq, religious ‘pleasure marriages’ are a front for child prostitution

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BBC investigation exposes Shia clerics in Baghdad advising men on how to abuse girls

I’m walking through the security cordon that leads into Kadhimiyah, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites. I’m in a queue, along with dozens of pilgrims who have come from all over the world to pay their respects to the shrine of Imam Kadhim. At the gate, a female security guard pats me down and looks into my handbag, a reminder that the story I’m reporting on here isn’t going to be easy.

As I walk around the market stalls surrounding the shrine, I notice the many “marriage offices” dotted around the mosque, which are licensed to perform Sharia marriages. I’d received tips that some clerics here were performing short-term mutaa [pleasure] marriages, a practice – illegal under Iraqi law – whereby a men can pay for a temporary wife, with the officiating cleric receiving a cut.

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Iraq protests: police open fire on demonstrators as death toll rises – video

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Security forces in Iraq opened fire on protesters in Baghdad despite the prime minister's plea for calm and promise of reform. The protests, which have been fuelled by rage over poor living standards and alleged corruption, have escalated by the day since they first erupted on 1 October. 

On Friday, hundreds of people, including members of the security forces as well as demonstrators, were wounded when police opened fire on protesters. The death toll has now risen to more than 40 dead

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Human trafficker was at meeting in Italy to discuss Libya migration

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Abd al-Rahman Milad attended 2017 talks between intelligence officials and Libyan coastguard

One of the world’s most notorious human traffickers attended a meeting in Sicily with Italian intelligence officials to discuss controls on migrant flows from Libya.

Abd al-Rahman Milad, known as Bija, took part in a meeting with Italian officials and a delegation from the Libyan coastguard at Cara di Mineo, in Catania, one of the biggest migrant reception centres in Europe, on 11 May 2017.

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Iraqi cleric appeals for calm as forces face off with protesters

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At least 44 dead and hundreds injured after four days of anti-government demonstrations

Protesters have defied nationwide curfews in parts of Iraq, taking to the streets in increasing numbers and facing off with security forces in ever more deadly confrontations that had killed at least 44 people by Friday night.

As the country was paralysed by a fourth day of anti-government demonstrations, the country’s top Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a stark warning to both sides to end the violence “before it’s too late”.

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‘Manhattan of the desert’: civil war puts Yemen’s ancient skyscrapers at risk

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In addition to the conflict’s huge human cost, Yemen’s rich cultural heritage has been ravaged, from the Queen of Sheba’s reputed throne room to the mudbrick high-rises of Shibam

On the edge of the vast Empty Quarter desert that dominates the Arabian peninsula, white and brown towers rise together out of the valley floor like tall sandcastles. Once they welcomed weary caravans traversing the Silk Roads: now they stand as testimony to the ingenuity of a lost civilisation.

This is the ancient walled city of Shibam, nicknamed the “Manhattan of the desert” by the British explorer Freya Stark in the 1930s, in modern-day Yemen, a country also home to an untold number of other archeological treasures. The kingdom of Saba, ruled by the legendary Queen of Sheba, and many other dynasties of the ancient world rose and fell here, their fortunes linked to Yemen’s position at the crossroads of early frankincense and spice trades between Africa and Asia.

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Corruption won’t be solved by ‘wishing it away’, Iraqi government warned

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Iraq PM’s adviser claims violent protests can only be addressed by tackling corruption head-on

A head-on confrontation with institutionalised corruption among Iraqi politicians is the only way to address the protests gripping the country, a senior adviser to the country’s beleaguered prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, has warned.

But admitting that Mahdi may not have the political capital to fight the corruption, Laith Kubba said: “We have problems with those political groups who have their grip over money, banks and power, and rooted to corruption. It is a problem and there is no real answer to it.

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Iraq protests intensify amid ‘near-blackout’ of internet – video

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People have been protesting in Baghdad and southern cities over poor services, unemployment and corruption and have urged the government to resign. Hundreds of heavily armed security forces and riot police have been deployed to try to quash the unrest and internet access has been restricted. So far, 19 people have been reported killed, including one police officer

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A father’s grief and the Made in USA bomb dropped in Yemen

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Cluster bomb, a type of munition invented by the Nazis to kill as many as possible, used in coalition strike on farm that killed Raja, 14

The last day of 14-year-old Raja Hamid Yahya al-Oud’s life began like any other.

She got up early along with the rest of the family because there was always a lot of work to do on the farm in the spring planting season. White drones had intermittently circled above their cornfields for the last few weeks, but there was no sign of them that morning.

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Workers at Dubai’s Expo 2020 likely to have suffered dangerous heat stress

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Exclusive: ‘World’s greatest show’ could be linked to cardiorespiratory failures in labourers building infrastructure

Thousands of migrant construction workers employed on huge infrastructure and building projects ahead of next year’s Expo 2020 exhibition in Dubai are likely to have been exposed to dangerous levels of heat stress, a Guardian investigation has found.

Dubai will host the Expo 2020 next year, in which 190 countries will come together to celebrate themes of mobility, innovation and sustainability in a series of bespoke, themed pavilions across a 4.38 sq km site in Dubai South economic zone.

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UK stance on Khashoggi murder betrayed by unlawful arms sales to Saudis

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The UK government’s continued loyalty to Saudi Arabia is causing its ‘rigorous and robust’ arms export control regime to descend into tatters

Wednesday marked the anniversary of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Outrage at his death at the time served as a trigger for public reckoning over US and UK support for Saudi Arabia and its involvement in the war in Yemen.

At that point, the war was three and a half years old, notable for airstrike attacks on civilians and a blockade that has pushed millions into famine – violations of international law, some of which that may amount to war crimes. The murder of a prominent western-friendly journalist seemed to be the final straw.

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At least seven killed as Iraqi security forces fire on protesters

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More violence marked second day of angry rallies against unemployment and corruption

At least seven people have been killed and dozens wounded in clashes across Iraq, as security forces fired live ammunition and teargas for the second day to disperse anti-government protesters demanding jobs, improved services and an end to corruption.

The deaths brought the overall number of protesters killed in two days of violence to nine. Protests on Tuesday had left two dead – one in Baghdad and another in the city of Nasiriyah – and over 200 wounded.

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces pre-trial corruption hearing

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Leader also fighting to save political career after failing to secure election wins this year

Defence lawyers representing Benjamin Netanyahu have presented their arguments against looming bribery, fraud and breach of trust indictments as a long-awaited pre-trial hearing begins.

Wednesday’s closed-door hearing, the culmination of three years of investigations, arrives at an especially fraught time for Israel’s longest-serving leader. Netanyahu is also fighting for his political life after failing to secure a clear win in two elections this year.

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Trump to blame for failure of US-Iran nuclear talks – Rouhani

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Iranian president tells cabinet the country had been ready to accept terms of French UN plan

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, has told his cabinet that while the country had been ready to end its nuclear stand-off with the US broadly on terms set out by France at the United Nations, Donald Trump was not prepared to make public an apparent private offer to lift sanctions.

Although his account is inherently not impartial, it is the fullest version of behind-the-scenes diplomacy at the UN general assembly provided by the Iranians.

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