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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Photos of Two Iranian Space Monkeys Were a Mix-up, an Official Says

A senior official at Iran’s space agency confirmed on Saturday that state media reports on the launching of a monkey into the thermosphere had used images of two different monkeys. The official insisted, however, that the monkey had survived the journey and that Iran was not trying to cover up a failed flight.

As The Lede explained on Friday, doubts about Iran’s claim that the monkey had survived the journey spread after journalists noticed that the monkey pictured in the first reports from state-run news organizations had a prominent mole over its right eye, before the launch, but had clear skin when it showed up at postflight celebrations broadcast on Iranian televiion the next day.

Video from Iranian television of the monkey that Iran says it launched into space.

The space agency official, Mohammad Ebrahimi, told The Associated Press in Tehran that the first images provided to Iran’s official news outlets to illustrate their reports had mistakenly shown another of the five monkeys that trained for the flight at the space agency â€" the one with the mole â€" and not the one that had actually taken part.

A report from Press TV, Iran’s English-language satellite news channel, broadcast on Monday used the still images of the first monkey.

A report on simian space travel broadcast on Monday on Press TV, Iran’s state-run news channel.

The second monkey was featured in a Press TV report broadcast on Tuesday.

A report on Iran’s space monkey broadcast on Tuesday by Press TV.

In his interview with The A.P., Mr. Ebrahimi insisted that the monkey that had made the flight was in good health and said that of several monkeys that had been trained for the flight, the one that seems least stressed for the journey had been chosen at the last moment. One of the photographs of the monkey with the mole over its eye did appear to show the monkey in distress while strapped into a launch seat.

The space agency did not, apparently, offer to disprove rumors that one of the monkeys had died by showing them both to the A.P. reporter on Saturday.



Frank Video of Mass Sexual Assault in Tahrir Released by Anti-Harassment Activists

Egyptian activists released a brutally frank video on Friday, using images recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman last week in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to urge volunteers to join their campaign against attacks during demonstrations.

The video, created by the filmmakers Aida Elkashef and Salam Yousry, uses disturbing overhead images of a crowd of men swarming around a woman being assaulted just out of view to explain the work of Op Anti-SH, one of two new initiatives to combat the sexual harassment and rape of female protesters.

A video produced by Egyptian activists uses imags recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman in Cairo’s Tarhrir Square last week, on the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

While the video includes no graphic images, and shows that volunteers did eventually manage to help the woman to a safe location â€" near the KFC, where there was a field hospital for injured protesters during the 18-day sit-in in 2011 â€" its detailed description of the woman’s assault stunned some viewers. Activists argued that the events described in the video are depressingly routine, two years after the Egyptian revolution began.

Despite th! at reality, the Op Anti-SH activists vow to continue their struggle.

In a video interview on the initiative published on Saturday, one of the women involved in Op Anti-SH, Engy Ghozlan, said: “This is our country and we will not be silent about sexual harassment, not the type that happens to us every day, nor tat of Tahrir. It will end, it cannot continue because we believe Egypt deserves better.”

In Egypt there is no revolution without the participation of women or without their security.

A video report by the journalist Simon Hanna on Op Anti-SH for the news site Ahram Online.



Frank Video of Mass Sexual Assault in Tahrir Released by Anti-Harassment Activists

Egyptian activists released a brutally frank video on Friday, using images recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman last week in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to urge volunteers to join their campaign against attacks during demonstrations.

The video, created by the filmmakers Aida Elkashef and Salam Yousry, uses disturbing overhead images of a crowd of men swarming around a woman being assaulted just out of view to explain the work of Op Anti-SH, one of two new initiatives to combat the sexual harassment and rape of female protesters.

A video produced by Egyptian activists uses imags recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman in Cairo’s Tarhrir Square last week, on the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

While the video includes no graphic images, and shows that volunteers did eventually manage to help the woman to a safe location â€" near the KFC, where there was a field hospital for injured protesters during the 18-day sit-in in 2011 â€" its detailed description of the woman’s assault stunned some viewers. Activists argued that the events described in the video are depressingly routine, two years after the Egyptian revolution began.

Despite th! at reality, the Op Anti-SH activists vow to continue their struggle.

In a video interview on the initiative published on Saturday, one of the women involved in Op Anti-SH, Engy Ghozlan, said: “This is our country and we will not be silent about sexual harassment, not the type that happens to us every day, nor tat of Tahrir. It will end, it cannot continue because we believe Egypt deserves better.”

In Egypt there is no revolution without the participation of women or without their security.

A video report by the journalist Simon Hanna on Op Anti-SH for the news site Ahram Online.