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19th January 2010
As Saudi Arabia moves to set a minimum age for females to marry, the Jeddah-based Arab News reports that and 80-year-old man in Buraidah has married a 12-year-old girl.
The child's mother, who is divorced from the father, is seeking to have the marriage annulled.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 19… Read more
18th January 2010
The US State Department has criticised the arrest of a group of activists and bloggers in Egypt who attempted to visit the town of Naga Hammadi and offer condolences over the killing of six Christians and a Muslim security guard. It said in a statementissued on Saturday:
The United States is deeply… Read more
16th January 2010
A group of religious leaders and other prominent figures in Mauritania have issued a fatwa against female genital mutilation (FGM).
The fatwa says FGM "has been proven by experts to be detrimental, immediately or subsequently. Hence, such a practice, as is performed domestically, is hereby… Read more
16th January 2010
At least 18 activists, including some of Egypt's most prominent bloggers, were arrested yesterday when they attempted to visit the town of Naga Hammadi and offer condolences over the killing of six Christians and a Muslim security guard last week.
They were intercepted on arrival, as they stepped… Read more
16th January 2010
The Saudi authorities – who operate one of the world's most sophisticated internet filtering systems – receive on average 850 requests per day from members of the public to block access to websites, Asharq Alwsat reports. Requests to unblock websites are running at around 200 a day.
This is a… Read more
15th January 2010
An email received from Yemen suggests the widely-reported killingof Adbullah Mehdar (or Mihdar) may not have been the victory against al-Qaeda that it was made out to be.
My correspondent writes: "The informed thinking down here is that Mehdar was not al-Qaeda but a senior tribes-type guy, who the… Read more
14th January 2010
Mohammed al-Alwani, managing editor of the Yemeni websitesahwa.net (linked to the Islah Party) has received a telephoneddeath threat from a man claiming to work for the government's Political Security Organisation.
Harassment of Yemen's non-governmental media has been stepped up considerably in… Read more
14th January 2010
Attempts to stop female students wearing the niqab (face veil) continue to meet resistance in Egypt. Al-Masry al-Youm reports:
Arguments broke out between professors and students at Zagazig University's faculty of education, after professors insisted on female students removing their niqabs before… Read more
13th January 2010
The humanitarian crisis caused by the Houthi conflict in northern Yemen is rapidly getting worse. Yesterday the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Andrej Mahecic, announced revised estimates for the number of people displaced by the fighting – putting the total at 200,000. This is an increase of 25… Read more
13th January 2010
Saudi Arabia is preparing to outlaw the much-criticised practice of child marriage. According to the Saudi Gazette, the justice ministry is considering a proposal to set 18 as the minimum age for females to marry.
However, the move is likely to meet stiff resistance from religious and… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
