Mauritania
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Al-Hafiz Tarjok's "Friday of Death"A survivor's account of the Melilla massacre
In "Friday of Death", Sudanese activist al-Hafiz Tarjok recounts his survival of the deadly 2022 events at the Melilla border between Morocco and Spain. His book sheds light on the tragedy faced by thousands of Sudanese risking their lives to cross the desert in search of safety in Europe.
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Aziza Brahim's "Mawja"The voice of Western Sahara
Aziza Brahim's childhood as a Sahrawi refugee in Algeria naturally shaped her music, but as her latest album, "Mawja" shows, while she has not forgotten where she comes from, she has long since tuned her ears to a world beyond the camp perimeters
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The ancient archives of Chinguetti
In northwestern Mauritania lies Chinguetti, a historic trading post and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city still has several libraries with Arabic manuscripts – many of them from the late Middle Ages.
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Climate change in the MENAWill North Africa's beaches disappear?
The southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea are losing sand faster than almost anywhere else. The ecological and economic damage is immense. The good news is, there are ways to cope. By Cathrin Schaer and Tarak Guizani
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Execution for a Facebook post?Why blasphemy is a capital offence in some Muslim countries
The Prophet Muhammad never executed anyone for apostasy, nor encouraged his followers to do so. Nor is criminalising sacrilege based on Islam’s main sacred text, the Koran. In this essay, Ahmet Kuru exposes the political motivations for criminalising blasphemy and apostasy
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Franceʹs new Mediterranean initiativeA G10 summit marked by pragmatism
With the "Sommet des deux Rives de la Mediterranee" ("Summit of the Two Shores of the Mediterranean"), French President Emmanuel Macron wants to breathe new life into multilateral co-operation in the Mediterranean region, which has made little progress since 2008. Isabel Schafer has the details
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Military dictatorships in the Middle EastThe real enemies of the Arab Spring
For people in the Arab world to be able to throw off the yoke of military rule, a new balance must be struck between political and social forces and the military. Though it is now years since the Arab Spring, this goal still seems a long way off. By Ali Anouzla
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Photo essayMauritania, land of desert and contrasts
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Mauritania, land of desert and contrasts
Mauritania straddles the transition between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, its population equally divided between Africans and Arabs. By Pascal Mannaerts
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Book review: Mbarek Ould Beyroukʹs "The Desert and the Drum"One of a kind
Mbarek Ould Beyroukʹs "The Desert and the Drum" centres on a young womanʹs coming-to-political-consciousness in contemporary Mauritania. Winner of an English PEN Award, this translation, from the French by Rachael McGill, is being touted as the first-ever Mauritanian novel to be published in English. Marcia Lynx Qualey read the book
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Mauritania criminalises extra-marital relations
Human Rights Watch explains how the criminalisation of sexual relations outside marriage in Mauritania is putting rape survivors at risk. The law deters them from filing complaints because they could themselves face prosecution.
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Interview with Mauritanian artist Saleh Lo"If I can restore some of their dignity, my work will have been a success"
Self-taught artist Saleh Lo grew up in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, playing with children from different ethnic communities, among them "Haratin" kids – the children of modern-day slaves in Mauritania. Today, the visual artist portrays freed slaves and anti-slavery activists. Interview by Siri Gogelmann and Wolfgang Kuhnle
