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Stories about West Asia & North Africa from November, 2018
Syrian prisoners of conscience announce a hunger strike in Hama Central Prison, leaked footage reveals
"I had no political or partisan background. I just had a dream of a different Syria, so I joined my fellow Syrians who took to the streets in peaceful protests."
Meet the women's rights activists behind bars in Saudi Arabia
On International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, human rights organisations continue to call for the release of jailed Saudi women activists.
Activists in Lebanon are taking on the country's stray bullet problem
Farha Taysheh is one campaign among many that attempt to fight the inevitable violence resulting from the possession of guns — whether intentional or not.
Crossing the Syrian-Turkish border: risks by the hour
"They sprinted over the 50-meter stretch between the asphalt road and the mountain... 30 minutes later, the guide stopped and told them that they had just crossed the danger zone."
Egypt hosts the first UN Biodiversity Convention held in the Middle East
it is now evident that most of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets — to address some of the biggest environmental challenges and due in 2020 — will not be achieved.
Welcome to the ‘New Turkey': Five years after Gezi park, protesters face new threats of arrest
What seemed like a spike in repression against civil society advocates and intellectuals may actually be the new normal.
Saudi Arabia's execution of another migrant worker angers Indonesians and strains an already fraught diplomatic relationship
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 103 Indonesians were handed death sentences in Saudi Arabia between 2011 and 2018.
Mauritania keeps anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid in prison — and far away from parliament
Biram Dah Abeid, who is also an elected government official, is accused of slandering and threatening a journalist with close ties to the Mauritanian government.
Lebanese health practitioners condemn anti-LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy”
The group's HINAD campaign follows multiple reports of gay people being subjected to various forms of conversion therapy, and a urologist's 2017 call for electroshock therapy to be used.
The Litani River, Lebanon's main artery, is facing an environmental crisis
"A study has shown that the water extracted from the Litani for irrigation during the drier summer months is basically sewage."
Algerian TV network director files defamation case against independent journalists
"When we denounce corruption and favouritism, it’s an act of patriotism....we are an actor of stability, seeking to drive the country in the right direction".
Western Saharan media activist Bashir Khadda suspends 45-day hunger strike in Moroccan prison
Khadda is among 25 activists prosecuted and jailed by Moroccan authorities for their roles in the 2010 Gdeim Izik protest movement.
A conversation with Nicky Nodjoumi on the power and politics of his art
"Choosing power as one of the main topics of my work is rooted in the desire to drag it down to the ground and make fun of it."
Eastern Ghouta's displaced residents are stuck between a rock and a hard place
The displaced masses of Ghouta arrive in northern Syria tired, broken and burdened by unbearable memories and the pressure to begin their migratory lives with difficult choices.
Jordan reclaims lands ‘rented to the Israelis’ under 1994 peace treaty
Baqoura and Ghumar, long believed to be “Jordanian lands rented to the Israelis” under the 1994 peace treaty, were revealed to be “privately-owned Israeli lands under Jordanian sovereignty”.
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