International media outlets shed light on several subjects about Egypt including Muslim Brotherhood protests, Chicago Field Museum started conservation efforts on 2,300 years old mummy, atheism in the country and Hosni Mubarak acquittal. Global Times "One killed, many arrested in Egypt pro-Morsi protests" In Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate more than one was killed and three were injured during clashes between security forces and protesters who support the ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi. They added that number of pro-Morsi protesters got arrested during Friday's marches in Cairo, Fayoum and Alexandria, based on Xinhua reports. Since Morsi's removal in July, his supporters have been holding weekly protests denouncing his ousting while extremist groups killed hundreds through terrorist attacks against police and military personnel and premises in the Sinai Peninsula and other provinces across the country over the past year. Read more: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/896561.shtml The Guardian "Egyptian mummy removed from coffin for first time in 2,300 years" Conservation efforts started in Chicago Field Museum on mummy of 14-year-old Minirdis, found in 19th century at Nile burial site and brought to the museum in the 1920s. Alan Yuhas added in the article that the mummy was removed this week from its coffin for the first time in 2,300 years. Conservator JP Brown and three other scientists at the Chicago Field Museum opened the coffin and pulled out the mummy after series of intense attempts, in order to work on the mummy to repair any damage and stabilize it for display and travel to an upcoming exhibition. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/12/2300-year-old-egyptian-mummy-coffin-chicago The Guardian "Egypt's atheists number 866 – precisely" Patrick Kingsley said in article on Friday, Dar al-Ifta announced that Egypt has the highest number of atheists in the Arab world, which are exactly 866 atheists, which is estimated with around 0.00001% of the entire country's population. Religiosity is very high in Egypt, and across the Arab world, but Dar al-Ifta clerics say the number of atheists in Egypt is a dangerous development that should "set alarm bells ringing." Kingsley added "but the tiny estimates nevertheless prompted high amusement among atheists and secularists in Egypt, who say atheism is slowly on the rise." Morocco came in second, with supposedly only 325 atheists. Yemen is meant to have 32. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/12/egypt-highest-number-atheists-arab-world-866 Al-Monitor "Egypt looks to roll back Islamist militias in Libya" Ayah Aman wrote "Egypt has been taking diplomatic steps to settle the armed conflict in Libya, but in the meantime, the Libyan national army has been fighting with political, military and logistical support from Cairo to regain gradual control of Benghazi from Islamist militias." The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor, "The Egyptian actions have achieved relative success in Libya, where there are legitimate bodies that can be counted on, such as the elected Libyan parliament and the interim government, which gave its vote of confidence to the Libyan national army." The source, according to the article, expressed concern over the rise of the groups controlling Tripoli, saying, "It won't be easy to take part in military confrontations now." Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/egypt-coordinate-libya-defeat-islamists.html# Open Democracy "Who cheered Mubarak's acquittal on?" Mina Fayek wrote regarding Hosni Mubarak acquittal on November 29 saying "while that some felt frustrated, others said it was expected given the current political situation in Egypt." He added that the public prosecutor decided to appeal the court decision naming legal flaws in judgment. In the article, the writer added that after two days of the verdict President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called for a meeting with young media men and stressed that January 25 was a real revolution that "should have happened 15 years ago". The President also said that he will issue a law to criminalize defamation of the revolution in an attempt to limit the continuous smearing campaigns of the 2011 revolution by media outlets and therefore contain the anger of the revolutionaries. Read more: https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/mina-fayek/who-cheered-mubarak%E2%80%99s-acquittal-on
