Stories about Egypt from January, 2010
Egypt: The Right to Speak Up
Egyptian bloggers and activists held a conference on January 22 in defense of their right to speak up after more than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady where the Coptic massacre took place. Marwa Rakha sums up their reactions to their detention in this post.
Palestine: The Commodification Of Gaza
Exiled is a blogger who recently left Gaza - and he is in no hurry to return. In this translation of a recent post of his, we hear his opinions about political propaganda and self-interest, the tunnels to Egypt and the planned steel fence, and the nature of the outside world's concern for the Gaza Strip.
Egypt: Engulfed by Floods!
Over the past few days, several Egyptian governorates and cities have been engulfed by a severe wave of flash floods and heavy rains. Bloggers react to the calamity.
Egypt: Portraits of Egyptians
Tabsir.net published (here and here) few portraits of ordinary Egyptians, by the English artist Frederick Goodall (1822-1904), in the mid to late 19th century. Goodall's work is famous for providing a meticulous “ethnographic” view of Egypt at the time.
Egypt: Farewell Jean Simmons
Egyptian famous director, Mohamed Khan, and blogger Zeinobia mourned the death of their favorite American actress Jean Simmons (1929 – January 22, 2010).
Egypt: Severe criticism for the human rights situation
Alaa Kamal discusses [Ar] the upcoming Human Rights Watch (HRW) annual report, that will be published over the next days. He says that the Arab countries received the biggest share of criticism. Also, the report clearly focused on the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt.
Egypt: America and Israel get to choose the new president
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Egyptian Parliament, Dr Mostafa El Feki, in his article in Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper, stated that America and Israel have to approve of President Mubarak's successor. Zeinobia blogs the Presidency's disapproval.
Egypt: How to cross a street
Christopher Gibson demonstrated in pictures how to cross a street in Egypt.
Egypt: Detained Bloggers Tell their Tales
More than 20 Egyptian bloggers, who were on their way to pay their respects to the families of the victims of the Coptic massacre, were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt. They were released shortly afterwards and they are now telling us their side of the story.
MENA: Does Rain Bring Happiness or Misery?
Many bloggers and Twitter users from Egypt and different parts in MENA region reported rain and some dusty storms today. Depending on their circumstances, some welcomed the drops of rain with joy while others braced themselves for the storms, flooding and heartbreak.
MENA: A bad weekend for ME bloggers
Michael Collins, the Middle East Institute blog editor, thinks that the past weekend was bad for bloggers and social networkers in the Middle East, specifically in Egypt, Jordan and Iran.
Egypt: Rain in Luxor
Jane Akshar, a British expatriate living in Egypt, comments on having rain in Luxor for the first time since 2007.
Egypt: Natural Disasters and the NDP
Alkhan posted a new comic strip which compares the catastrophic impact of natural disasters to the effect of being governed by the National Democratic Party ruling Egypt.
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Elects New Head
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has elected a new leader - Mr Muhammad Bedei. Egyptian bloggers reaction to the new appointment in this post.
Egypt: I quit my job so I can blog!
Blogger Isis announced that she finally resigned from her job so she can live a better life, with one goal in her mind: a better future.
Egypt: New online design magazine
Loksha is a new online magazine, that has been recently launched by Zeinab Samir, who is interested in covering news related to the latest in the field of web design and development, as well as introducing Drupal to Arab readers.
Egypt: Best movies for Oscar
Egyptian director, Amr Salama, discusses [Ar] some foreign movies screened in 2009. In his opinion, the Oscars committee will face difficulties in deciding the best movies, because -as he says- he has not seen one good movie that deserves the award.
Egypt: Stuff Younger Generations Won't Know
JessyZ – Chocolate Mints in a Jar – created a list of the things younger generations won't know.
Egypt: Bloggers arrested over Naga Hammady Visit
Egypt today arrested 20 bloggers who were visiting Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt to pass their respects to those killed in a sectarian outburst on January 7. Seven people were shot dead and several injured when an assailant gunned down Christian Copts leaving a church after the Christmas mass. The bloggers visit was to show a united front against sectarianism.
Africa: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Starts: What Do We Expect?
This year Africa’s in the sports arena for all the right reasons. First to shine the spotlight is definitely the Confederation of Africa's (CAF) African Cup of Nations being held in Angola which is just a stone’s throw away from South Africa, which hosts the World Cup in June later on this year.
Egypt: English Loan Words
"Egyptian" Arabised English is taking the Twittersphere by storm. Tarek Amr collects reactions from #EgyEnglish in this post which explains how bilingual Egyptians have included English words in their dialect.
