When the next truck is ready to head out into the desert, the containers will be filled with water and given to the dozen migrants.Each has paid up to $400 (£270) for the uncertain ride to Algeria.
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Syria conflict: UN expects 'substantive' peace talks - BBC News - 0 views
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Tunisia Backs Plan to Host German Troops to Train Libyan Army - 1 views
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Regional partners and allies are going to be crucial for success in Libya, especially with the lack of one stable government and infighting between the various factions. Tunisia is becoming crucial in not only the fight against ISIS in Libya but also to the success of the Libyan government. This article looks at Tunisia allowing for the training of Libyan military forces by the Germans, inside of Tunisia, effectively giving the Libyan military forces a safe place to train.
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Inside Mali's human-trafficking underworld in Gao - BBC News - 0 views
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I reckon the migrants have a 10% chance of reaching where they want to go. But the way I see it, it's their choice,'' says Moussa, a 26-year-old ''coaxer''.
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"He was given $800 or $1,000. And now he is facing going back without a penny. It's shameful. It's enough to drive you mad."
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The Brotherhood and Mubarak - Al Jazeera English - 0 views
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Qatar asks senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders to leave country - 0 views
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This article discusses Qatar's reasons for asking the Muslim Brotherhood to leave the country. According to this article, many leaders of the Brotherhood have agreed to leave the Gulf state for the time being.
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That is a huge surprise, as Qatar become something like a foreign sponsor for Morsi's presidency and floated a lot of loan offers to Egypt to ensure the success of his administration. (It didn't work, but that's another story.)
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Islamists Aren't the Obstacle | Foreign Affairs - 0 views
www.foreignaffairs.com/...islamists-arent-the-obstacle
middle east democracy Islamists institutions egypt politics tunisia
shared by allieggg on 28 Sep 14
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A minority of the population -- 26 percent of Tunisians and 28 percent of Egyptians -- believes that Islam should play a large role in government.
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Islamist parties received considerable support in both countries' recent elections -- not only because there is a broad ideological affinity for Islamism among the population but also because of Islamist parties' effective campaigning.
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When asked about the most important feature of a democracy, 69 percent of Egyptians and 32 percent of Tunisians put providing people with basic necessities or narrowing the gap between rich and poor at the top of their lists.
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Tunisia has fared better than Egypt so far in the post-Arab Spring transition, with less violence, fewer demonstrations, and greater political stability. This is in part because challenges are easier to confront in a country of only 11 million, 98 percent of whom are Sunni Muslim, compared to the more diverse and populous Egypt. But Tunisia's success is primarily a result of its stronger institutions, which provide a conduit for political debate.
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Many onlookers claim that Egypt's more tumultuous post-revolution trajectory is because of the country's legacy of religiosity and Islamism.
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Egypt's institutions are weak and have been routinely undermined by entrenched interests. The countries' different geopolitical situations play a role here. Tunisia's minimal strategic importance means that foreign countries have less reason to intervene. But Egypt's proximity to Israel and the Palestinian territories, its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and its role as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas make its political developments important to Israel and the United States. Consequently, Egypt is vulnerable to foreign interference, particularly to attempts to prop up its military. Furthermore, beyond serving as a pillar to Egypt's authoritarian regimes, the Egyptian military has significant business interests and accounts for ten to 30 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product.
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Egypt's judicial branch, which is also more powerful than Tunisia's, has at times undermined democratic processes.
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Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-dominated parliament and the Constituent Assembly it elected were unconstitutional, because Islamist parties contested seats intended for independent candidates. The move polarized the country and pushed the executive branch to take extreme measures.
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Egyptian democracy is undermined by the inability of institutions to address citizens' demands and the impulse of powerful actors to interfere, not by the divide between Islamists and secularists. Institutions in Egypt fail to provide a meaningful forum for debate. As a result, violent street protesters and extremist sheiks are gaining power.
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U.S. policy must support institutions rather than actors, and processes rather than outcomes, in order to help Egypt and Tunisia achieve their democratic potential.
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The Council on Foreign Relations published an article about democratization in the middle east and the major obstacles that are present in the process. While most assume Islamists and Islamic embedded institutions are the root of the delayed democratic transition, the problems are much bigger than that. While Islamist regimes do indeed stunt the growth of democratic progress in terms of creating a stable government, Arab countries struggle with economic and social factors as well. The Arab Spring Revolutions have caused economic and social degradation across the region, resulting in a road block of political leadership. Without a reliable and capable government structure, the states are unable to progress economically. However, in order to have a stable government, social and economic institutions must be in place to create this capitalist economy that they strive for. Because most wealth resides in oil, the revenue that the states bring in isn't distributed properly throughout society and is concentrated within few business elites. The article stresses that instead of foreign aid going into the hands of an unstable leader or regime, it should be invested in institutions in order to spur economic growth and eliminate corruption. Rather than focusing on the Islamist-secularist divide, the world should be working towards the strengthening of institutions to create a stable foundation for governance.
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Egypt's post-Morsi constitution gets almost total voters' approval - RT News - 0 views
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Now that God has supported us in legalizing our constitution, we ask for his aid in achieving the remaining two stages of the road map: the presidential and parliamentary elections," Salib
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Egyptian Christians and liberals on the constitutional committee attempted to remove all mentions of Sharia law from the constitutio
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eliminates various articles that gave legal and political authority to Egypt’s highest Islamic Institution, the Al-Azhar University.
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allows a presidential election to be held before parliamentary vote in a change to the transition plan announced by the army in July.
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55 percent, was still higher than in the 2012 referendum on the constitution, which was drafted while Mohamed Morsi was in powe
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uslim Brotherhood boycotted the poll, saying it was illegitimate, as did several revolutionary groups and there were reports of low youth turnout in general.
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Efua Dorkenoo fought against female genital cutting - The Globe and Mail - 0 views
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Dorkenoo started organizations to battle genital cutting and co-ordinated the effort more broadly as acting director of women’s health at the World Health Organization in the late 1990s.
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“She inspired a generation of feminists across the world to take up the cause of banning the procedure,
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Last year, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to recognize female genital cutting as a human-rights violation.
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African-led organization she helped found, The Girl Generation: Together to End FGM, began work this month.
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teenage girls were less likely to have been cut than older women in half of the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated.
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In Egypt, where more women have been cut than in any other country, surveys showed that 81 per cent of 15- to 19-year-olds had undergone the practice, compared with 96 per cent of women in their late 40s.
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Female genital cutting involves pricking, piercing or amputating some or all of the external genitalia
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The World Health Organization says female genital cutting has no health benefits and can cause severe bleeding, problems urinating and, later in life, cysts, infections and infertility.
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125 million women living today in the countries where it is concentrated have experienced such cutting.
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The mother was so badly scarred, she said, that she could not deliver her baby through natural childbirth.
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Foundation for Women’s Health and Development to promote the health of African women and girls, with a focus on abolishing female genital cutting
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co-ordinated national action plans against female genital cutting in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan.
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In 1994, Queen Elizabeth II named Ms. Dorkenoo an honorary officer in the Order of the British Empire.
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The Isis economy: Meet the new boss - FT.com - 0 views
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Iraq’s second city of Mosul looks like a model of success for its new rulers from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
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But in the back alleys, litter fills the streets. The lights stay on, but only because locals rigged up generators themselves. And under the blare of café televisions, old men grumble about life under Isis’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
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Sunni Muslims in both countries have long felt discriminated against by regimes dominated by rival sects
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without an economy that gives people a chance to make a living, many say Isis has little more to offer
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“Compared to past rulers, Isis is a lot easier to deal with. Just don’t piss them off and they leave you alone,” says Mohammed, a trader from Mosul. “If they could only maintain services — then people would support them until the last second.”
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“They’re operating like something between a mafia, an insurgency and a terror group. Maybe they thought six months ago they were going to function as a state. But they don’t have the personnel or manpower.”
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volunteers handing out sacks of wheat stamped with their black and white seal. They even announced plans to issue a currency,
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In some cases they say Isis takes credit for systems in place before it seized power. In others, locals say it is stealing the resources of the region it seeks to rule
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Travellers must stock up on Iraqi dinars to use in Iraq, US dollars for the road and Syrian pounds once they arrive.
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services continue to function because of the money Baghdad still pays to former civil servants in Mosul. Isis taxes those employees at up to 50 per cent of their salaries.
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It is as if Isis is financing itself partly through a pyramid scheme, and this has begun to falter.”
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Though many now question Isis’s economic management, its military prowess and organisational skills are clear.
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Isis allows easy movement through its territories to facilitate trade. Trucks passing through are taxed about 10 per cent of the value of their cargo.
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Russia to host Syria talks in April | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR - 0 views
www.dailystar.com.lb/...host-syria-talks-in-april.ashx
russia syria talks middle east ISIS politics war
shared by fcastro2 on 06 Mar 15
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MOSCOW: Moscow said Thursday it would host talks between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and opposition figures in April, three months after a meeting between the parties which ended without any concrete results.
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Moscow - one of Assad's few remaining allies - is trying to kickstart dialogue between the warring parties in a bid to end nearly four years of civil war that has claimed more than 200,000 lives since 2011
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The document stipulates that a solution to the conflict should be found "politically and peacefully," rejects foreign interference and calls for sanctions to be lifted.
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The Key to Countering Violent Extremism | Alaa Murabit - 0 views
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ushes for the increased participation of women in conflict mediation and peace processes by shifting the paradigm around the role of women in society at both the grassroots and policy levels.
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It is time we redefine "Countering Violent Extremism". I believe it should mean something else entirely: It should mean community development, education, and a heightened focus on dialogue and partnership. It should mean the full and active incl of women, at all levels.
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"quick fixes" - they may curb extremism for a day, or a week, but, ultimately, military strikes and offensive tactics will only drive for greater instability in the region. The rise of ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan's resurgence of Al Qaeda are enough evidence that this approach has not been successful.
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The Arab Spring| Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobili... - 0 views
ijoc.org/...1242
revolution egypt Facebook digital citizenship egyptian technology nytimes arab spring social
shared by sheldonmer on 20 Oct 14
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This article seeks to open dialogue about the utility of resource mobilization theory in explaining social movements and their impact by exploring the use of social media in the 2011 Egyptian revolution through a limited case study analysis. It argues that social media played an instrumental role in the success of the anti-government protests that led to the resignation of the country’s dictatorial leader, and calls for further examination of the proposed incorporation of social media as an important resource for collective action and the organization of contemporary social movements.
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This article actually talks about the professional terms associated with social media and the Egyptian Revolution. "Resource mobilization theory " It also gives real examples of tweets from Egyptian youth who kept the world updated with minute to minute statuses. "@mfatta7 Tear gas @mfatta7 I'm suffocating @mfatta7 We r trapped inside a building @mfatta7 Armored vehicles outside @mfatta7 Help we r suffocating @mfatta7 I will be arrested @mfatta7 Help !!! @mfatta7 Arrested @mfatta7 Ikve [I've] been beaten a lot "
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Syrian Opposition Groups Wary Of Russia's Invitation To Moscow : NPR - 0 views
www.npr.org/...f-russias-invitation-to-moscow
russia opposition groups syria politics peace talks war
shared by fcastro2 on 13 Feb 15
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U.N. envoy is pressing ahead on that front, while Russia tries to play peacemaker
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Russia is inviting the parties to Moscow this month, but some opposition groups won't go to a country that has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
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they provide weapons and advice to the Assad regime and they have taken an approach of cherry-picking who they talk to and who the regime talks to
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The U.S. is not pressuring the opposition groups it supports to go to Moscow. Instead it's suggesting they should think about it so that Russia can't blame the opposition for the diplomatic stalemate
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"If there are no guarantees as to the end state, that is, a movement towards a transitional government with full executive powers without Assad, then there is really no reason to go
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Russians aren't in a position to decide who will take part in future negotiations. And this has been the whole problem with their approach.
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He says the Russian job has always been to deliver the regime to the negotiating table, but the Syrian government only wants to talk about fighting terrorism, not discuss a political transition.
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We are hoping, more than expecting, that it will be a success," he says.De Mistura describes Syria as the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II
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They all agree that we need to do something to avoid that the Syrian conflict goes into a back burner and that movement towards some type of political solution should take place this year,"
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He says that's because Assad thinks he's winning — and U.S. plans to train and equip 5,000 moderate rebels a year won't help level the playing field.
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The rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and the U.S.-led airstrikes against that group in both Syria and Iraq now top the U.S. agenda.
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war in Syria has been raging for nearly four years and it's been challenging for diplomats to get warring sides to agree on even temporary truces.
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BBC News - Can Iraqi militants be kept off social media sites? - 0 views
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The Iraqi government responded by blocking social media sites and, in some provinces, barring access to the internet entirely.
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The BBC spoke to a number of social networks, all of which said they did not actively monitor their sites for content promoting terrorism, but rather responded to requests from governments and individuals to remove offending material.
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One Ask.fm account offered advice on how to join Isis fighters in Iraq, as well as what weapons one could expect to be equipped with on arrival.
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rminated any account registered by a member of a foreign terrorist organisation - as designated by the US secretary of state - and used in an official capacity to further its interests.
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How Egypt is keeping its women trapped in zombie society - Your Middle East - 0 views
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he majority of families would rather have their daughters in an unfulfilling, even miserable marriage, convinced that she will somehow find a magical way to adapt, than see her alone
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woman's marital status is mutually exclusive from her value and right to lead a healthy, fulfilling life of her own.
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he standard sequence of events for a typical Egyptian female's life, is to pursue an auspicious college degree (to improve her chances of finding a proper suitor, and assist her future children with their studies), possibly add to her assets by acquiring a mediocre job for a year or two (under the pretext of killing time and elevating her practical wisdom), and eventually fulfill her lifelong purpose of securing a
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their rights and full potential, desperately seeking approval before they reach their “expiration date.
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(should she fail to perform this role and still wishes to enjoy her life then she will have indeed committed sacrilege and is a covertly regarded as a disgrace regardless of any other achievement)