Screenshots of the Reuters livestream currently showing the pro-Morsi protests at Cairo University.
Top: the streets were already full by 11:30 am.
Bottom: pro-Islamist protesters (mostly male), wave banners and signs with pictures of current President Morsi at 3:00 pm.
We’ve mentioned this before, but by all means keep some globally relevant livestreams bookmarked. They’re a phenomenal resource in our modern media world, and you never know when you’ll be glad you had them on hand.
Their faces showed up on state television on Tuesday: These three study-abroad students, studying at American University in Cairo, were arrested for reportedly taking part in the mass demonstrations that have caused much unrest in the past few days. “The three boys were throwing molotov cocktails and had no passports on them when they were picked up,” claimed Adel Saeed, a spokesperson for the Egyptian general prosecutor’s office. Protesters have flooded Tahrir Square on Tuesday in reaction to a call for a “million-man” march. source
Egyptian military pledges to hand power over by July 1: You guys buying this? Here’s a Reuters report; will put AP on here once we get it.
At least 24 people have been killed and more 200 injured in the centre of Cairo after a protest over an attack on a church erupted into the worst violence since the 18-day uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt in February.
Trouble began when a demonstration against the attack in southern Egypt was reportedly met by gunfire close to the state television building.
Fighting spread to Tahrir Square and surrounding streets. Hospitals where the wounded were being treated also came under attack.
State television announced that a curfew was being imposed on the city’s downtown area and Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the February uprising that overthrew the former president. The curfew would last from 2am to 7am (midnight to 5am GMT) on Monday.
Appealing for calm after more than 1,000 security force personnel were deployed, interim prime minister Essam Sharaf said: “What is taking place are not clashes between Muslims and Christians but attempts to provoke chaos and dissent.”
“The only beneficiary of these events and acts of violence are the enemies of the January revolution and the enemies of the Egyptian people, both Muslim and Christian”
A good roundup of the Egypt situation from the Guardian, via Newsflick.
Both sides blame the military for the escalation: While protests had roots in a conflict around a Christian church, the violence reached unprecedented heights, with at least 24 killed and 213 injured, and gruesome photos (which are on AP, but we won’t publish) telling the story of a devastating scene. “What happened today is unprecedented in Egypt. 17 corpses crushed by military tanks,” tweeted human rights activist Hossam Bahgat. “I saw bodies missing hands and legs, heads twisted away or plastered to the ground.” This Al Jazeera English clip above does a pretty decent job of explaining what led to the protests — the worst since the fall of Mubarak. source
Cairo, Egypt. Anger erupted today as the former dictator returned to court. His appearances, at the order of the judge, are no longer televised. Fighting broke out outside between loyalists and families of those killed in the 18-day revolution while inside lawyers punched one another. Lawyers sent from Kuwait to help defend Mubarak were not allowed to enter the courtroom. During the proceedings, Gen. Hussein Saied Moussa testified that Gen. Ahmed Ramzy of Central Command “gave his orders to prevent protesters from reaching Tahrir Square. The direct order was for each general to deal with protesters according to his own vision of the situation.” Photo Credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Read the news story at the LA Times.
Badass flagman of the day: In protest of the Israeli military killing five Egyptians on Thursday, the Israeli embassy has been the scene of a passionate protest today — one with a particularly amazing daredevil moment. See, a man named Ahmed El-Shahat climbed up the Israeli embassy in Cairo and replaced the Israeli flag with an Egyptian one. Which (obviously) met with strong reaction from the crowd. Shine on, you crazy flag man. Shine on.
Thousands of Egyptian protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in the evening hours of July 8, 2011. The nationwide demonstrations were called to defend the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and to show anger at the new military rulers’ slow pace of reforms. (Mohamed Hossam)
The roots of Egypt’s sectarian violence: When Hosni Mubarak was in power, his influence repressed the salafis, a hard-line but influential Islamic sect in the country, ensuring they would not hold strong influence over the country’s militant Sunni Muslims. But with Mubarak out of power, they’re taking advantage of the opporutunity, most recently during the sectarian violence that engulfed two churches near Cairo. “There is no security in Egypt,” said Rober, a member of one of the churches that was destroyed in the conflict. “This is only the beginning. I’m afraid for my sister, for my mother, from the salafis.” Yasmine El Rashidi, a Cairo-based columnist for the New York Review of Books, recently described the scene as a counterrevolution, which might be a little strong, but nonetheless underlines the severity of what’s happening right now. Keep an eye on this. It could be bad. source
A round of sectarian violence: After a set of rumors suggested a woman was being held against her will in a Coptic Christian church in a suburb of Cairo, Muslims reacted by causing violence around the church in question — and setting fire to a nearby church. Around ten people were killed, with another 186 injured; the Egyptian government plans to try 190 people detained for the violence, which a couple of people in this video suggest was an attempt by the old regime to flare up tensions between Muslims and the Coptic Christian minority. source
VIDEO: Birds Point Levee Blast: Here’s a clip of the levee blast we mentioned earlier. The uploader says they slowed down the original video so you can see each individual blast.
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