GCHQ’s bulk interception of communications data, including data about telephone calls and emails of UK citizens unlawfully breached privacy rights of UK citizens, the European Court of Human Rights ruled today. The court found that the UK’s regime for interception bulk communications data and for obtaining data from phone and internet companies breached citizens rights to privacy. The decision follows an eight-year legal battle by 11 NGOs, including Liberty, Privacy International and Amnesty. They brought the case in the wake of revelations of the UK’s involvement in mass surveillance following the leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.
Egypt
Monday 24 May 2021, by Joel Beinin
CALLING THE OCCUPATION of Tahrir and other urban squares in Egypt and the January-February 2011 ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak a “revolution” as is common is not a helpful characterization of the events. The terms Arab Spring and Arab Winter are even less helpful because they obscure the social struggles of the decade preceding Mubarak’s ouster, which continue today.
According to the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, in the last quarter of 2020 there were 73 labor (33) and social (40) protests, including 11 strikes. [1] This is considerably fewer than the pace of collective action from 2004 to 2016, and many protests suffered severe repression. But it’s a much higher level of social struggle than during the Nasser, Sadat or the first two decades of the Mubarak eras.
Sine the outbreak of the latest, 11-day war, Egypt worked to provide a framework that both sides could agree on, according to diplomatic officials. It was not immediately clear what the terms of the cease-fire were, but its success is likely to bolster the country s diplomatic credentials.
“By virtue of geography and its ties to all parties, Egypt is unique in this matter,” said Michael Hanna, the U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group. “And of course, it seeks to demonstrate its regional relevance and influence to all parties concerned, including the United States.”
The role Egypt played in mediating the conflict could help improve the strained ties between President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi s government and the new U.S. administration. President Joe Biden spoke for the first time on Thursday with the Egyptian president since being elected, according to el-Sissi s office, hours before news that Israel had agreed to the Egyptian proposal.