Here in Egypt, imprisoned British-Egyptian writer and technologist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has ended his hunger strike after more than seven months. The news came in a letter from prison today to his family. They are scheduled to have their monthly visit with him on Thursday, one day before his 41st birthday. In the letter, Alaa wrote, “I’ll see you on the visit day and tell you everything then and we’ll get back to long letters after the visit. The important thing is I want to celebrate my birthday with you on Thursday, I haven’t celebrated for a long time, and want to celebrate with my cellmates, so bring a cake, normal provisions, I’ve broken my strike. I’ll explain everything on Thursday. Lots of love. I miss you and long for your company. Alaa.” In response, his sister Mona Seif said, “I feel cautiously relieved now knowing that at least he’s not on hunger strike but my heart won’t really be settled until Thursday when my mother and sister see him with their own eyes.”