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Egyptian Ahmad Khalil tweets [ar]:
الكهرباء قطعت من الساعة 9.5 وبالتالى النت قطع ، لعلك سعيد يا ريس مرسى ؟؟ نحن نعيش فى العتمه والقادم اسؤأ
@ahmad_khalil:The electricity has been out since 9.50am and as a result there has been no Internet. Are you happy President Morsi? We are living in darkness and the future looks worse.
Cairo Urban Initiatives Platform. Image from Cairobserver facebook page.
Supported by Ford Foundation and the British Council, Cluster has recently launched the Cairo Urban Initiatives Platform (CUIP), the first resource of its kind in Egypt.
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Arabic hashtags finally trending worldwide on Twitter
Kuwaiti Hamad Al Sabah tweets:
@hmalsabah: Twitter is finally allowing Arabic hashtags to trend worldwide #كلام_مصري_مترجم pic.twitter.com/tb84Nkrk94
Netizens are using the hashtag, which translates to Egyptian Talk Translated, to translate Egyptian expressions and idioms.
Carmen Weinstein, Egypt's Jewish community leader, has died at the age of 82. Zeinobia, at Egyptian Chronicles, collects reactions from the funeral service, which gathered a lot of media attention:
There is a huge surprising media presence as well security presence where those invited to the funeral have to show their IDs. I am surprised to see such media presence as I knew from a friend who is attending the funeral it was private event.
Hesham Qandil, Egypt's Prime Minister, is an illustruous expert in healthcare issues as attested by, e.g. his insightful comments about ‘dirty boobs breastfeeding’. The Prime Minister delivered another priceless advice to Twitter users, this time about a healthy diet:
“Doctor Smurf prescribes cakes, pies and smurfberries as part of a healthy diet.” Screenshot from Qandil's tweet
Satirist Bassem Youssef tweets:
A new investigation started against me accusing me of: insulting Islam(again), spreading atheism & insulting Pakistan #LOL
He was recently accused of insulting Islam and Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in his TV programme El Bernameg [The Programme]. The court rejected the lawsuit.
Music for a better future. Screenshot from Mideast Tunes’ Indiego campaign video.
On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]:
“A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to Italy, by way of South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bolivia. From authoritarian regimes to democratic countries, none are exempt from criticism on the topic. In 2013, torture remains as endemic, omnipresent and multi-faceted as ever”.
A YouTube video of an armed robbery of a mobile phone shop in Egypt is making the rounds online. On Twitter, Ahmed Atia Aboshosha writes [ar]:
سطو مسلح..المتهمون وجوههم واضحة جدا..إذا لم يقبض عليهم فليتقدم وزير الداخلية بالاستقالة..أعتذرعن ألفاظ خارجة بالفيديو
@AD_Shosha: An armed robbery. The faces of the culprits is clear. If they are not arrested, the Minister of Interior should submit his resignation. I apologise for the vile language in the video.
The Muslim Brotherhood will soon confuse the world, if it decides to go ahead with a name change. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains:
@Bassem_Sabry: My friend @HaniSabra has just noticed the new name being considered by the MB, “The Comprehensive Islamic Authority,” has the acronym “CIA.”
Pennsylvania-made tear gas fired at Egyptians in Mansoura. Photograph shared on Twitter by @simonjhanna
On Egyptian Chronicles, blogger Zeinobia talks about how the police continue to torture people. She shares the story of Ayman Mehana, who was attacked, arrested and allegedly sexually abused at the hands of police.
She reminds her readers about why Egyptians took to the streets on January 25, 2011:
This revolution began as a protest against police brutality claiming for human dignity , people tend to forget this especially the police and the current ruling regime.
A protester saying “No Harassment” by “Mauritania Today” on Facebook.
YouTube user Masr Madaneya publishes a short video of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's speech subtitled in English. The declaration sparked outcry and mockery in the last days after the Prime Minister claimed that breastfeeding mothers cause diarrhea to their babies with their unclean breasts.
Amira Abd El-Khalek, an Egyptian blogger who studied English literature and anthropology in Egypt and UK, wrote on the Arabic Literature blog about an evening of Palestinian poets, Asma’a Azaizeh and Marwan Makhoul, which was hosted by Banipal magazine and the Mosaic Rooms in London. During discussions that followed the poetry readings, both poets were asked about reading their work in Israel, their relationship to their work, and more.
Graffiti in Egypt which reads: “Graffiti is making our walls dirty but the garbage is making our streets glow.” Photograph by Samir Wahid, shared on Facebook
The Egyptians are back on the streets today [January 25], calling for a continuation of their revolution, which started two years ago and saw the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Violence marred today's second anniversary of the revolution, with at least eight people reported dead so far, and 370 injured.
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M. Lynx Qualey, blogger, who is interested in Arab and Arabic literature, wrote a series of posts introducing acclaimed Arab poets, novelists, and short-story writers’ favorite Arab reads of 2012. She started with a list of nonfiction books, then followed by a list for poetry [En] and fiction [En].
In Inanities, Sarah Carr blogs:
I am anxious about the future, but there was an inevitability about Muslim Brotherhood rule at some point in Egypt’s history and unfortunately, I am alive to experience it. The only positive thing about the Muslim Brotherhood in power is that they are spectacularly shit at it. Just like the Egyptian army and their foray into direct rule they have used up almost all their store of good credit with non-MBers in an incredibly short amount of time.
![A protestor carries a sign which reads [ar]: Name: Mohammed Mursi; Profession: Mohammed Hosni](http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/59602_479189638799698_2047912004_n-375x281.jpg "A protestor carries a sign which reads [ar]: Name: Mohammed Mursi; Profession: Mohammed Hosni")
A protestor carries a sign which reads [ar]: Name: Mohammed Mursi; Profession: Mohammed Hosni. Photograph from the We are all April 6 Facebook group
Thousands of Egyptians at Tahrir Square today. Photograph shared by Zeinobia on flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Thousands protesting at Tahrir Square in Cairo now. Photograph shared by Nazly Hussein (@nazlyhussein) on Twitter
On Facebook, Ayman Monged shares this photograph of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi
Egyptian Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei has called on Egyptians to hold their ground in protest squares across the country – on Twitter.
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Greek blogger Asteris Masouras uses Storify to compile reactions to protests against president Mohamed Morsi in Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square.
Sheikh Rihan mural around Tahrir Square. Photograph by Mosaab Elshamy, used under (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Egyptians outside Al Shifaa Hospital in Gaza today. Photograph shared by @moneimpress on Twitter
Studio 75, a London-based “100% independent, not part of any school, trend, fashion or directive” artist space is hosting ‘The Orientophobia Sessions’ this weekend. In the program of the Out Of The Deep East, Bulgarian artists Krum and Desi engage into an ink duel with Egyptian artist Naz:
A screenshot of Studio75′s blog
What should the role of Egypt's local councils be? Screen shot from the second episode of Right to Housing series.
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