More troubling news…

Interesting article by Anne Alexander on the 1956 war, the rising nationalist movement and Arab Communism…

From Al-Masry Al-Youm…
الأمن ينهي اعتصام ١١٦ عاملا في «ترسانة أرمنت» قبل زيارة مبارك الأقصر
كتب: علي زلط ومحمد حمدي
علق ١١٦ عاملاً في شركة «القناة للترسانة النهرية» في أرمنت إضرابهم عن العمل بعد تعرضهم لضغوط أمنية شديدة،
وقالت مصادر عمالية من الشركة لـ «المصري اليوم» إن مأمور مركز أرمنت العميد، محمد سلامة، توجه لمقر الشركة التي تقع في [...]

From the Daily Star…
A popular Egyptian adage says “El Masry met-han gowa we bara” — the Egyptian is demeaned inside and out [of their country].
This may explain why the desire du jour for many Egyptians is to possess a second, foreign passport.
Whether giving you a way around Egyptian laws or giving you preferential treatment, a [...]

Very alarming…
Eighth Egyptian dies of bird flu - WHO
by Aziz El-Kaissouni
CAIRO, Dec 24 (Reuter) - An Egyptian woman died of bird flu on Sunday, hours after tests confirmed she and two other members of her extended family had been suffering from the highly pathogenic virus, a World Health Organization official said.
WHO regional adviser for communicable [...]

Seven hundred workers from the railways technical worksops demonstrated yesterday, blocking the Torbini 917 train, at Abu Wafia region, on its way to Alexandria. The workers demanded the presence of Transportation Minister Mohamed Mansour to listen personally to their complaints about work conditions.
The minister did not show up, but moved quickly to contain the workers’ [...]

استلمت الرســالة التالية من الزميل محمد طعيمة، المنسق الإعلامي السابق لحـركة كفاية

إلى من يهمه الأمر
من محمد طعيمة، صحفي بجريدة العربي، كارنيه نقابة الصحفيين رقم 6378
فوجئت الخميس الماضي 21-12-2006، بخطاب مؤرخ 26-11- 2006 موقع من أمين عام الحزب الناصري ومدير عام الجريدة في نفس الوقت، يخطرني فيه بفصلي لتغيبي الدائم، ومرفق به إستمارة 6 تم [...]

Mubarak’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood continues. Five businessmen belonging to the group were detained by State Security, and had their businesses raided in Cairo…

Meanwhile, the State Security Prosecutor renewed today the detention of Khairat el-Shatter, the group’s third-in-command, together with 15 other senior members for another 15 days…
Here’s a report in Arabic on the [...]

The Tora Cement workers strike enters its fifth day, as negotiations continue with union leaders on their hospital beds. Mohamed Abdel Monsef, the union leader at the factory, together with his deputy Mohamed Ramzi, and two other union officials, Shaaban Ezzat Abdel Qader and Karam el-Sayyed Allam–all have been on a hungerstrike since 1,000 workers [...]

يمكنكم تتزيل العدد الأخير من جريدة “الإشـتـراكي” بالمجان بالضغط على الصورة أدناه. يحتوي العدد على تغطية موسـعة للإضراب العمالي الأخير بغزل المحلة، بالإضافة لقضايا ساخنة أخرى بالساحة السياسية المصرية والعالمية

هكذا كان إضراب عمال غزل المحلة الـ 27 ألف كافيا لكي ينتبه الجميع، فالطبقة العاملة قررت أن توقف جميع أشكال المهاترات السياسية وأن تعلن عن حقيقتها… [...]

The security crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood leaders and student activists is the beginning for a wider crackdown on all forms of dissent in Egypt, Kefaya said today in a statement. The movement extended its solidarity to the Islamist opposition, warning the country’s political forces not to get distracted by sidebattles. “No matter what was said [...]

Egyptian police raided today the office of a NGO in Shoubra el-Kheima, and tried to seal it with red wax, acting on orders from the Qalyoubiya governor who accused the NGO, Ahalina, of “inciting riots.”
Ahalina has been lobbying the governorate to introduce basic facilities like sewage and clean water to the slum dwellers and squatter [...]

[Above: Photo of child laborer in the pottery workshops in Old Cairo, by Nasser Nouri]