Women march in Cairo to protest against the Egyptian military’s use of violence

 Women march in Cairo

As we can see in this footage filmed in Cairo, thousands of women took to the streets of the Egyptian capital on Tuesday to protest against the military’s use of violence against protesters, and more specifically female protesters, at anti-military demonstrations across the country in recent weeks. Reports of this unprecedented mobilization are being relayed on the web.

At the root of this latest rally is this shocking video which has been circulated all over the web, and met with outrage and condemnation. It was filmed last week during a demonstration to protest against continued military rule since Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power. The footage is extremely hard to stomach, we see soldiers drag a woman across the ground and beat her up.

This disgusting act has prompted Egyptian women to openly voice outrage over the army’s treatment of protesters. An anger that has been relayed on Twitter where users have been sharing the slogans chanted by female activists on Tuesday, expressing solidarity with victims of the army’s brutality and calling for an end to military rule.

And a lot of men joined the women on the streets to protest against the authorities; as we can see in numerous pieces of amateur footage posted online, they formed giant human chains around the women to protect them from soldiers and potential beatings.

North Korea’s online propaganda

Although residents of North Korea do not have access to the Internet as it has been blocked by the authorities, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is making great use of the net for propaganda purposes, to improve its reputation abroad. An official Twitter account has been set up, it is regularly updated and has over 10 000 followers. 

The information is often geared towards North Koreans living abroad, like on this YouTube channel which hosts over 2400 propaganda and official state television videos. The channel often airs reports highlighting the quality of life in North Korea, or the nation’s sadness over the death of its dictator Kim Jong-Il.

Another online tool used by the dictatorship: photo sharing platform Flickr. The authorities regularly post photos on the site to show off the beautiful landscapes for example, or demonstrate how happy factory workers are … 

There are also some media outlets available in foreign languages. In addition to the official press agency which communicates in English, there’s also this page which describes itself as a place for “Friends of North Korea”. It’s available in a number of languages including French, Arabic and Spanish, and portrays the same image of an idyllic, prosperous and booming land.

And finally the People’s Republic Facebook page is also available in English. It has less than 200 friends and does not appear to be updated on a regular basis. The most recent message was posted on the 4th of October and makes mention of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the abuses of capitalism. There are a number of posts criticizing the regime, showing there is no official monitoring of the page, proving North Korea’s online communication still needs a bit of fine tuning.

Find and steal a Banksy print

A hotel group in Australia has come up with a rather original marketing ploy; it has organized a treasure hunt around all of its establishments. A print by one of the most famous street artists in the world, Banksy, is being moved from hotel to hotel over the next month, and if you can find it, and steal it, before the 15th of January, without getting caught, then the picture, which is worth 15 000 euros, is yours!

 Now trending on social networks

Social networks have been abuzz with the news that British superstar David Beckham will soon be joining the French capital’s Paris Saint Germain club. PSG fans are generally thrilled, but there are few questions flying around. Some are wondering if at 37 years old, he is perhaps a little old to be playing in the French championships or if with a huge gross salary of 800 000 euros per month, he is not a little overpaid.

Video of the day

This video is called “Snow Globe Los Angeles”. It is beautiful to watch and was made by Colin Mika to capture the famous City of Angels during the holiday season…