Egypt - Muslim scholars join rare anti-female circumcision conference

As one reader put it "an example of the hurdles in dragging primitive tribal societies into the modern world".

CAIRO, Egypt: Prominent Muslim scholars from around the world, including conservative religious leaders from Egypt and Africa, met Wednesday to speak out against female genital mutilation at a rare high-level conference on the age-old practice.

On the other hand...

Egypt minors sold for prostitution.

CAIRO - Hanadi was a teenager when she was sold into a short-term marriage by her father. “When I was 14, my father told me I was to be married to a man from Saudi Arabia,” said Hanadi, who did not want to use her real name.

“Later on, I discovered that my father and the man had agreed I would stay with him for a month, until he returned home [to Saudi Arabia] at the end of the summer. There was never any intention for us to remain together any longer than his holiday in Egypt.”