The fifteenth of December marked the start of #OccupyBudaiya. Bahrainis have taken to Budaiya Street in Manama, the capital city, to express discontent with the government's actions following the reading of the Bahrain Independent Commission of...
CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Egypt’s military denies the obvious
On Monday General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, held a nationally televised press conference to address accusations of army misconduct in the most recent series of clashes between security forces and...
“Angry Arabiya” arrest belies Bahrain government commitment to reform
A few weeks ago, I traveled as a part of a delegation to Bahrain to investigate the state of free expression and attend the presentation of the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was commissioned to investigate what...

Bahrain: Blogger Zainab Alkhawaja (Angry Arabia) arrested
Bahraini activist Zainab Al-Khawaja has been arrested today while protesting on Budaiya street, according to local reports. Shortly before being arrested, Al-Khawaja, who tweets from the account @angryarabiya, tweeted a message saying, "Sitting in...
Egyptian blogger Maikel sentenced to two years in prison
Detained Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil has reportedly been sentenced to two years in prison for insulting SCAF. View the story "Maikel Nabil sentenced to two years in prison" on Storify]
New Egyptian film tackles HIV stigma
Until a little over a year ago, 29-year-old Karim (not his real name ) was happy and carefree. He had a good job, a stable income and many caring friends. Then he discovered he was HIV positive and his life changed entirely. "It is as if I am...
Egyptian blogger denied release misses birth of child
Detained blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah (@alaa) was denied a request to be released from detention by the High State Security Court on 5 December, preventing him from being present for the birth of his son the next day. A Cairo-based media collective...

Egypt: self-censorship and the military hinder press freedom
A crisis at a new Egyptian newspaper over an academic’s critique of the country’s military leadership led to does not bode well for the future of independent media

Egypt: self-censorship and the military hinder press freedom
The life of a two-week old English-language newspaper, Egypt Independent, was abruptly put on hold last week after its Editor-in-Chief, Magdi El-Gallad, decided to censor an opinion piece by US historian and author Dr Robert Springborg that was...
Iran: foreign media banned from anti-British rallies
Foreign media have been banned from covering rallies in front of British diplomatic missions in Iran. The ban, which began on Thursday is the latest fallout following last week's storming of Britain's embassy in Tehran by pro-government...