Speaker of Iranian parliament says nuclear deal is off if sanctions go down
Israel’s collapse according to Nasrallah
The US is running out of time in Afghanistan
Israel’s ‘marriage of convenience’ with apartheid South Africa
Iraqi prison system ‘the perfect environment to reorganise al-Qaida’
Mordechai Vanunu back in prison for parole violations
Egyptian police launch assault on Amonsito workers, arrest several (in Arabic)
…and clear the entire area around the parliament, ending long sit-ins…
…some pictures of the clashes (in Arabic)
Israel’s nuclear policy of nods, winks, and blind eyes
Nazif suggests NDP unwillingness towards Gamal Mubarak
Football violence in Alexandria, security forces attack fans
Masked men destroy UN children’s camp in Gaza
ElBaradei is Iranian stooge, yada yada yada
Prime minister’s post will stay with State of Law, says Maliki
Struggle over Nile water sharing continues
London cabs in Mohandiseen! Definitely be on the lookout for those when I get back to Cairo
Back story to this one: I was going over 26th October bridge one night in a cab and Hakim was playing by the Nile. The driver, a duktuur type with hyuuge glasses and distinguished-looking white bushy eyebrows, became very excited – it transpired that what we were listening to on the radio was a live broadcast of the concert. He started turning the radio off and on again to further illustrate this point: ‘nafs il-shiiy, nafs il-shiiy!’ ‘wa’allah!’, I replied, trying to match his level of enthusiasm. He went on: ‘ohhh…huwa heluw ktiiiir…ya3nii…kul ish-shbaab fi masr yhibuu heda l-ragul!’ Fil haqiqah, the shabab of masr and I somewhat diverge on the subject of Hakim, but this one is enjoying a brief vogue on my Spotify, and as the YouTube summary points out there is ‘dance with some urban flavour’.
champollion st. 