Moustafa Ahmed, an Egyptian profiled last month by The Times after he was seriously injured during the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, has died.

On Saturday, crowds of protesters carried Ahmed’s body in a white coffin from Kasr El Aini Hospital where he had been treated, to Tahrir Square, where tens of thousands of protesters have been rallying, calling on the new government to prosecute officials accused of crimes, including police suspected of shooting protesters such as Ahmed.

No one has been charged in connection with Ahmed’s shooting, relatives said.

Egypt is seeing a post-revolution media renaissance, including in print and on television stations. The growth of coverage has posed a challenge to the transitional military government, which activists and some media have accused of slipping back into the censorship of the previous regime.

Among the upstarts is TV 25, a 24-hour satellite news channel with more than a dozen original programs. The channel is staffed by about 42 newly-trained journalists charged with covering the aftermath of the Jan. 25 revolution from the perspective of the people, not the oft-quoted experts seen on mainstream television.

The station has a Facebook following, broadcasts and streams live video online from the sleek offices of Video Cairo, a 40-year-old satellite broadcast network overlooking the Nile. One day last week, the TV 25 news broadcast—  delivered by a young presenter in short sleeves and jeans — included reports about the latest sectarian tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians attempting to build churches, a strike by electrical workers and spending limits for the presidential election next fall.

"Our main rule is to be a reflection of the street," one young anchor said. "We are fed up with experts who didn’t expect the revolution."

Another host, Miral Brinjy, 26, is a blogger who now has her own social media show, "Hashtag." She has reported about recent government censorship, including the arrest and sentencing of an Egyptian blogger to three years in prison after a military trial.

The chess encounter in Tripoli between Moammar Kadafi and the president of the World Chess Federation has caused a stir in both the Russian and Libyan news media.

Libyan state television on Monday was showing over and over Monday the odd scene of Kadafi squaring off a day earlier against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the international chess czar from Russia.

The somewhat surreal scene of Kadafi mulling his next move as NATO bombers soared overhead and rebels battled government troops close to Tripoli resonated widely among Libya-watchers.

The Libyan leader appeared contemplative in his signature shades, black cap and black cloak as he moved the pieces in what appeared to be a ceremonial room untouched by recent bombing raids.

"Very calm," is how Ilyumzhinov described his opponent, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

Egyptian authorities have arrested an American-born law student, who reportedly is doing an internship at a nonprofit organization in Cairo, on charges of being an Israeli spy.

Ilan Chaim Grapel, 27, was detained Sunday in Cairo on “suspicion of espionage and spying on Egypt with the aim to harm its economic and political interest,” according to a statement released by the Egyptian General Prosecution office. Grapel will be held for 15 days pending interrogation, a spokesman for the office said in a statement.

Egyptian intelligence officials believe Grapel, a former Israeli soldier, was sent to Cairo by the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, to provide military and political intelligence and recruit Egyptian agents, according to the spokesman’s statement.

The spokesman noted that Grapel participated in a number of anti-government protests during the revolution, and accused him of attempting to disrupt the demonstrations by provoking attacks on protesters.

Timeline: Revolution in Egypt

A video of images Egyptian security authorities released to Al Masry Al Youm newspaper’s website shows Grapel at protests and standing outside a police station made famous when it was stormed by anti-government protesters.

The caption says, "Egyptian security authorities released a video that allegedly shows an Israeli spy as he is being monitored by security," while the subtitles, paired with sinister music, say, "Israeli spy on Cairo streets."

Egyptian state television reported that Grapel posed as a foreign correspondent and was monitored for months by Egyptian authorities before his arrest.

On Monday, however, an American law student who says he is a former classmate of Grapel’s disputed the spying allegations.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, besieged by rebels and Western-led bombing runs, took time Sunday to play some chess with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of the World Chess Federation, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

Kadafi told Ilyumzhinov that he had no intention of stepping down as leader of Libya, Interfax said.

“I am neither premier nor president nor king,” Interfax quoted Kadafi as saying during the meeting. “I do not hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position that I should give up.”

Human-rights advocates on Tuesday demanded Egypt’s transitional military government end military trials and the country’s emergency law, release and retry imprisoned protesters and investigate the alleged torture of those in custody.

Over the last three days, Egyptian government officials meeting with representatives from New York-based Human Rights Watch promised to review the country’s civil-rights laws but also defended military trials and refused to acknowledge that security forces tortured those in custody, defending so-called virginity tests of female protesters.

“They justified the use of military tribunals by saying they used them in a very narrow way,” including “against thugs,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, after the meetings ended in Cairo. “They denied they had been using military tribunals against protesters.”

Timeline: Revolution in Egypt

At least 5,600 civilians have been sentenced by military courts since former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Feb. 11 and the military took over, according to Human Rights Watch. The group has been tracking the cases of at least five protesters sentenced by military courts and imprisoned. Scores more were jailed and released with suspended sentences, human-rights advocates said.

“In none of these cases were military trials justified,” Roth said, adding that military trials were “staining” the new government’s human-rights record.

Police brutality was part of what motivated people to take to the streets and protest during Egypt’s revolution, which culminated in the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11.

Among the most famous cases was that of 28-year-old Khaled Said, who died a year ago Monday, after allegedly being dragged out of an Internet café and beaten in the street by plainclothes police in Alexandria. At first, a medical examiner reported that Said choked to death, but when images of Said’s bloodied face surfaced on the Internet, outraged youth organized on Facebook and called for demonstrations. Said’s name became a rallying cry for protesters across the country, with many chanting, "We are all Khaled Said!"

One of the coordinators of the Facebook group, Google executive Wael Ghonim, became a target for security forces when he was arrested Jan. 28 during protests in Cairo. His televised speech upon his release from detention transformed him, too, into a symbol of the youth revolution.

Anti-government protests against Morocco's monarchy in the North African country's two largest cities were allowed to proceed and ended without violence Sunday.

About 60,000 protesters gathered in a main square in Casablanca, activists said, but no riot police showed up to limit the crowd, as they have at previous demonstrations.

Riot police were also absent at protests in the capital of Rabat, where videos posted online showed thousands marching down a main road leading to parliament, chanting, “The people want to overthrow tyranny! The people want to overthrow corruption!”

According to a poll released Sunday, a minority of Egyptians support the Muslim Brotherhood, the once outlawed Islamist movement, and less than 1% favor an Iran-style Islamic theocracy.

The Gallup poll conducted after former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted Feb. 11 found 69% of Egyptians want religious leaders to have an "advisory role" in creating the country's new legislation, but a majority do not want a theocratic government. Only 15% said they support the Muslim Brotherhood. More than 60% reported no political preference.

Timeline: Revolution in Egypt

Gallup researchers surveyed 1,000 Egyptians ages 15 and older between late March and early April. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The results run counter to what many political analysts have observed: that the Muslim Brotherhood has been consolidating support and is likely to sweep parliamentary elections in September.

The first six months of this year have not been easy for the Egyptian economy. The political unrest that ousted the president and uncertainty over the country’s direction triggered a drop in tourism revenues, low levels of domestic and foreign investments and scarce employment opportunities in the formal private sector.

Economic growth is expected to drop from an early forecast of 5.5% to a maximum of 2% for the 2010-11 fiscal year, the country’s lowest growth rate during the past decade.

Meanwhile, government expenditures are steadily rising, following a 15% hike in civil servants’ wages and a budget increase in food subsidies to soften the burden of high prices in global markets. The government’s budget deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year could exceed 10% of GDP, up from 7.6% projected before the unrest began.

Timeline: Revolution in Egypt

As a result, the Egyptian government is struggling to fund a gap of around $20 billion and to budget confidently for the coming fiscal year, which begins next month. There are ongoing negotiations with international institutions — primarily the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank — as well as talks with Egypt’s traditional partners: the United States, the European Union and the Persian Gulf states.

In his recent speech on the Middle East, President Obama announced several measures to support the Egyptian economy, including the conversion of $1 billion of Egyptian debt into investments, and loan guarantees up to $1 billion to assist Egypt in entering global financial markets. Egyptian debt to the United States now amounts to $3 billion of a total of $32 billion in foreign debt. Saudi Arabia has also announced a program of loans, grants and support for investment programs in Egypt with a total value of $4 billion.

Other negotiations are underway with the IMF to obtain loans that could be worth an additional $4 billion. The G-8 has also announced a forthcoming support package of loans and investment partnership projects, which could pump nearly $10 billion directly into Egypt’s economy within one year.

A high-ranking Egyptian military official Wednesday denied reports by CNN the day before that the military had conducted “virginity tests” on female protesters in March, according to Al Ahram newspaper.

An unidentified Egyptian general had told CNN that the military conducted the tests, and said they were justified, to prevent rape allegations. His account confirmed earlier reports by London-based human rights group Amnesty International.

The military official quoted in Al Ahram on Wednesday, who also was not named, called on the media "to practice precision before publishing these accusations, and tarnishing the name of the armed forces with such accusations that seek to cause a rift between the army and the people."

Timeline: Revolution in Egypt

Amnesty International officials reported that some in a group of 18 women detained March 9 in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square were subjected to "virginity tests" as well as beatings, electric shocks and strip searches as male soldiers looked on. This week, they called for an investigation by the Egyptian government into the alleged abuses. Late Wednesday, about 100 people gathered outside a meeting of the country's ruling military council, many hoisting signs calling for the military to address the issue.

One of the women who appeared on CNN, 20-year-old Salwa Hosseini, spoke with Babylon & Beyond on Wednesday about the controversy and what she wants now from the government:

What were you doing in Tahrir Square when you were detained?

I had followed Moustafa [her fiance] to the October 6 bridge. There were gunshots, stones thrown from the bridge, and soldiers. There was a tank on the bridge, and I refused to move. I screamed, "You will have to kill me!" After things calmed down, I found Moustafa and we went back to the square, but a big man with broad shoulders stopped us. I could hear other plainclothes officers all around saying, "She's the one -- arrest her!" They turned me over to the military at the [Egyptian] Museum. This was at 4 p.m.

What happened to Moustafa?

I screamed his name. They arrested him and electroshocked him.

What happened when you were with the soldiers at the museum?

They broke my mobile [phone]. I could not believe that -- I thought the military and the people were one hand. There were 17 girls with me and 174 men. They handcuffed us with plastic handcuffs. We stayed until 7 p.m.

What happened next?

We were taken to the military court. When we were searched, they told us we would be tested [for virginity] and any girl who lied would be taken to court.