Yesterday was of course the anniversary of the first gatherings which led to the departure of Mubarak and the Egyptian 2011 Revolution. As I have said many times before, I wish Egypt well and hope the Egyptians get the government they want.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16734600
 
The Army Council has announced partial lifting of the emergency law put in in 1981. "Thuggery" is still excluded. Presumably the announcement the day before the anniversary of the beginning of the revolution is no chance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16704551
 
I note that Zahi Hawass has posted news of what he has been doing on his web site. This is his first post on this subject since August
http://www.drhawass.com/blog/good-italian-family-and-update-what-i-have-been-doing-lately
 
The International Association of Egyptologists has announced that the next IAE will take place in 2013. I quote from their web site:
"The next Congress will be held at the Calligraphy Center in Alexandria, under the direction of Ahmed Mansour, Deputy Director of the Center. The schedule has been set preliminarily for Friday, September 13, to Friday, September 20. All announcements, news, and details regarding the Congress will be posted on this website as we receive them. In addition, the Calligraphy Center is preparing its own website devoted to the Congress."

For more information, see http://www.iae-egyptology.org/
 
Valley of the Kings
A pit has been found by the Basel expedition in the Valley of the Kings near the tomb of Thutmose III. It contains a burial of the Third Intermediate Period which sounds to be in good shape. It is worth pointing out that this is not the first time that material of this date has been found in the VK, although it is not that common (see 'Aspects of the History of the Valley of the Kings in the Third Intermediate Period' by John H. Taylor in the After Tutankhamun volume edited by Nick Reeves).


http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/31799/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/New-archaeological-discovery-at-the-Valley-of-the-.aspx

Saqqara
I have just learned that back in October it was announced that the French Institute had been studying some Old Kingdom papyri possibly located by Lauer in the 1930s. Coming from the area around the pyramid of Unas and dating to the reign of Teti, they appear to deal with matters relating to the movement of stones etc for the pyramids. Sounds fascinating and I'd love to know more.
http://pharaon-magazine.com/actualites/actualite/les-archives-du-chantier-de-la-pyramide-de-teti
 
Some new entries by the Cyberscribe, giving more detail on recent stories, serious and wacky, will be appearing on the Egyptology Resources site in the next 48 hours.
 
Colleagues seem to be working pretty normally in Egypt now, so it would seem reasonable to say that aspect is working well.

On the domestic front, although it seems that things have calmed down except for Fridays, I note that Mohamed el-Baradei says he is not going to run for president in the current climate: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16561273
The BBC has run a report on the rescue work at the Institut d'Egypte: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16534331