Shahira Amin, the number two at Nile television, explains why she resigned from Egyptian state television When I got into the car to drive to work on Thursday 3 February, I had no conscious plans to quit my job. I took the same route I take every...
I watched President Hosni Mubarak’s speech Thursday night from Tahrir Square, where a live broadcast of Al Jazeera was being projected onto a sheet hanging from some lamp-posts. The sound was terrible, so it was hard to hear too much of what he was...
Amid the constant Egyptian government promises these days that it is committed to reform, growth and dialogue with all opposition forces, it’s worth noting that the campaign of harassment, detention and arrest of activists and journalists has never...
If Wednesday was the day that the protesters occupying Cairo’s Tahrir Square were besieged by armed pro-government thugs, then Thursday was the journalists’ turn for a little terrifying mob violence. All through the day, came steadily increasing...
The internet suddenly came back up this morning, which means that flood of amateur video uploads I predicted should really start flowing today. But anybody who thought the return of the net meant some sort of softening of President Hosni Mubarak’s...
Last night at around 11pm local time Egypt's last remaining ISP was taken offline. There are also unconfirmed rumours that mobile network services are to be cut today. The Noor Group ISP served the Egyptian stock exchange and a number of hotels...
As Egypt enters a seventh day of open revolt against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, the country’s internet access continues to be largely shut down. That extended closure is one of the clearest signs that Mubarak still sees this as a fight he...
The cell phones started working this morning again, although I’m not sure they’ll stay that way. The internet (as of 7pm local time) was still blocked. The fact that one but not the other has been restored perhaps indicates that the government...
I started today the Giza side of the river, across the Nile from Tahrir Square. Started from Moustafa Mahmoud mosque, a major landmark in the district of Mohandessin. The protest was large from the beginning --- at least 5,000 people, and probably...
As Egyptian protestors gather for a fourth day of mass demonstrations on Friday, the government appears to be making a major push to restrict communications. Almost every internet service provider in the country stopped working Thursday evening and...