Egypt: activists tackle sexual harassment in Tahrir Square

Egypt: activists tackle sexual harassment in Tahrir Square

With the Egyptian opposition in fresh protests against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his draft constitution, activists are trying to tackle the all too frequent cases of sexual harassment of women across the country, and more specifically during demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

This mini-news report posted online by Mosireen, a group of film makers and citizen journalists, takes a closer look at the phenomenon, with activists explaining that the majority of attacks follow the same pattern: a crowd of men encircle the victim so as to isolate her from other protesters; a tactic they suggest is to deter women from joining the protests in Tahrir Square.

To stop these assaults becoming increasingly prevalent, one group of activists has set up the “Tahrir Bodyguard” Twitter account to collate reports of any incidents and recruit volunteers to act as bodyguards for female demonstrators.

And as we can see in these photos which have been posted to social networks, the volunteers have even erected a watchtower on Tahrir Square to monitor the movements of suspicious looking crowds, so they can intervene as quickly as possible when required.

One of these watchmen, Mahmoud Othman, has written a post on his blog, saying he prevented ten or so attacks in just one day, and hopes his contribution will help stamp out the problem of sexual harassment in Tahrir square and also across the rest of Egypt.

Spy agency employees caught oversharing on social networks

Spy film enthusiasts will tell you: working for state security or intelligence agencies requires a certain level of discretion. But not all spy agency employees seem to respect this golden rule, and some have shown astonishing naivety by posting all sorts of details on their social network profiles.

Well this is what Belgian daily "De Standaard" is claiming in its online edition. Whilst perusing the LinkedIn social network for professionals it found that the names and posts held by members of the country’s state security agency were available for all to see.

And according to the site "Naked Security", this phenomenon is not exclusive to Belgium, claiming there are around 200 LinkedIn members promoting themselves as employees of the CIA. The site condemns their actions as foolhardy, saying these people could, for example, find themselves victims of highly sophisticated cyber-attacks carried out by terrorist organizations looking to infiltrate the organization they are working for.

And so to avoid this kind of eventuality, most of the world’s security agencies are now trying to set out and implement guidelines for employees using social networks. The FBI for example has published a manual online with advice for its agents on how to safely use these sites, detailing a list of possible threats they may encounter whilst browsing the web. The guide reminds them that human beings are a weak link when it comes to cyber security and they should be particularly wary when it comes to online activity.

Google explores Canadian Arctic

Visit the Canadian Arctic or hit the slopes in over 90 winter sports resorts around the world, from the comfort of your own home… it’s now possible with Google Street View. The web giant has recently enriched its mapping service with a host of panoramic views, so web users can discover the great Canadian North without having to brave the cold. 

Now trending on social networks

Last week the Chinese army successfully completed a series of test runs on the country’s very first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. The military exercises received a great deal of media coverage, and two officers at the fighter jets’ take off appear to have been a great source of inspiration for Chinese web users. In these photos posted to social networks, countless netizens have imitated the officers ‘move’ in all sorts of unlikely scenarios, each one as wacky as the next. And as we can see firemen and police officers have also got in on the act.

Video of the day

Jamie Scott selected 15 spots around Central Park and filmed them twice a week over a six month period to put together this magnificent time lapse video entitled "Fall", showing us the change of seasons and the arrival of autumn to the heart of New York City. An explosion of colours, that will be a sure fit hit with nature lovers everywhere.