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Queen’s Christmas message to be produced by Sky for first time
AROUND 10,000 women have marched through central Cairo demanding Egypt’s ruling military step down in an unprecedented show of outrage over soldiers who dragged women by the hair and stomped on them, and stripped one half-naked in the street during a fierce crackdown on activists the past week. The dramatic protest, which grew as the women marched from Tahrir Square through downtown, was fueled by the widely circulated images of abuses of women. Many of the marchers touted the photo of the young woman whose clothes were partially pulled off by troops, baring her down to her blue bra, as she struggled on the ground. The clashes sparked condemnation against the military among many people in Egypt, particularly after one incident in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her shirt, exposing her underwear, then clubbing and stomping on her body. One of the women at Tuesday’s protest said the country’s military council only cared about holding on to power. “The reason for the protest is the picture and the video that was published by news services around the world, and it showed us to what extent the military council has no qualms about trampling on the women of Egypt and the girls of Egypt,
and has no qualms about beating them up and stripping them naked,” Islama Thabet told the Reuters news agency. General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt’s army council that took over after Mubarak was overthrown in February, said on Monday the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident that was under investigation. The march was a rare protest by women and its numbers -about 10,000 by some estimates -- underlined the depth of anger over the images from the fierce crackdown over the past five days on protesters demanding the ruling military step down immediately. UK silent on Egyptian junta’s crackdown The British government has kept silent on the Egyptian military’s brutal crackdown on anti-junta protesters calling for transition to civilian rule. As photos and video footage circulated online showing how brutally the Egyptian military treats protesters, no official statement can be seen on the British Foreign Office’s official website condemning the junta. This comes as the British Prime Minister David Cameron seized the opportunity in February, almost one week after Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office, to ally himself with the Egyptian revolutionaries.
Festive broadcast could go 3D as it is handed to satellite service, breaking traditional BBC and ITV duopoly This year’s Queen’s Christmas message could have an added dimension after production duties were handed to Sky News for the first time. A third dimension, to be specific, with a 3D Commonwealth address by her majesty the ultimate marketing coup for the satellite broadcaster. But don’t reach for your 3D specs just yet. Sky is sure to put the suggestion to Buckingham Palace but a 3D broadcast was not part of the deal that saw the annual festive message, previously produced by either the BBC or ITN, handed to Sky News for the next two years. The address to the Commonwealth, a tradition dating back to 1932, was once the sole preserve of the BBC until its monopoly was broken by ITV News and Channel 4 News producer ITN in 1997. The BBC and ITN have taken turns to produce the Christmas message since then. Now responsibility for the broadcast will be a three-way split between the BBC, ITN and Sky, which will produce and distribute the Christmas broadcast for both TV and radio this year and again in 2012.
Britain`s Prime Minister David Cameron poses for pictures along with visiting civilians outside his official residence at 10 Downing Street in central London, after switching on the Downing Street Christmas tree lights.