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28 Jan 2011 14:40

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World: U.S. thinking of cutting back or killing its Egyptian financial aid

  • An Obama administration official says the U.S. will review its $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt based on events unfolding in the country, where the authoritarian government is struggling to extinguish huge and growing street protests.
  • An AP story • Reporting on Obama’s plans to possibly keep, cut back on or kill Egyptian aid. It’s not so far as cutting it off entirely, but still … this could prove to be a turning point in U.S.-Egyptian relations. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 14:20

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World: This week’s Egyptian protests, by the numbers (thanks Newsflick)

  • Our Tumblr friend Newsflick has been doing some great coverage of the Egyptian protests. And in general. He seriously runs a great site that offers a great view of international events. It’s one of our favorite Tumblr blogs, and a truly unsung hero as far as news coverage goes. We got these numbers directly from him – we take no credit, other than that we’re laying them out a little bit more to fit our style. Anyway, here goes:
  • 1,000+ protesters have been arrested source
  • 870+ have been wounded in Cairo alone, according to various reports source
  • 10+ have died in the wake of the Egyptian protests this week source
  • 17% decline in Egypt’s EGX30 stock index in just two days source
  • » A few more stats (from us): The country sports 17 percent food inflation, which was one of the factors noted in the recent Tunisia uprising. While the country’s GDP growth is respectable, it’s also a severe sign of the country’s inequality. Nearly 40 percent of people – out of a population of 80 million – are poor, and the country’s unemployment is 25 percent. And youth unemployment is incredibly high around the world, especially in Egypt. But even in developed countries, it’s shocking: 40 percent unemployment in Spain. 20 percent unemployment in France. How does this happen? How does our youth culture become so unemployable in these countries? This is a big problem which shows a lack of long-term thinking. (Note: Some numbers just updated)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 13:46

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World: Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei: Let our voice be heard

  • Here’s an AP clip which notes with a statement from opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, currently under house arrest speaking out about the crisis. He’s asking other countries not to get involved at the moment, beyond demanding their freedom of expression. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 13:30

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World: Newspaper: Egyptian protesters cleaning up after themselves

  • Witnesses saw demonstrators cleaning up the streets of Downtown which were filled with stones, papers and fire remnants.
  • A note from independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm • Undercutting the view that Egyptian protesters are violent and radical by noting that they’re actually cleaning up their messes. (thanks NYT) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 13:16

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World: U.S. aid money helps prop up Egyptian government

  • $1.3
    billion     the amount that Egypt has gotten from the U.S. government on average each year – second to Israel
  • $30
    billion     the amount that Egypt has gotten from the U.S. since 1975, according to the State Department source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 12:54

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World: Al-Jazeera: How the network became the Arab world’s conscience

  • The notion that there is a common struggle across the Arab world is something Al Jazeera helped create. They did not cause these events, but it’s almost impossible to imagine all this happening without al-Jazeera.
  • George Washington University Middle East Studies professor Marc Lynch • Describing the role in popular uprisings that al-Jazeera has had over the years. It’s a role that’s clearly becoming more apparent this week as protests and popular uprisings become more widespread. While many praise the Qatar-based network for this role (we certainly do), others note that its coverage often seems biased or plays favorites – particularly favoring Hezbollah and Hamas. That said, al-Jazeera hasn’t played such a central role as the conscience of the Arab world since the heady days of the Iraq War in 2003. Especially considering scenes like this one. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 11:13

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World: Egypt’s situation completely screwed up beyond disrepair today

  • To be clear, a lot is happening in Egypt right now. It’s a giant mess, really. Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei is reportedly under house arrest, media outlets are getting attacked, security forces are attacking protesters, the internet’s OFF … pretty much every bad thing that could happen in a revolution is happening today. It’s very much a “where-do-we-start”-type of situation. There is no central point. It’s a lot of bad, everywhere. We’ll try our best to keep an eye on all this today. (tweet via @alaa, a South African who has been covering Egypt heavily) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Jan 2011 02:32

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World: Mohamed ElBaradei on Egypt: “Every demand fell on deaf ears”

  • I wish we didn’t have to go to the street to impress on the regime the need to change. We tried signatures. We tried boycotting the elections. Nothing worked; every demand fell on deaf ears and the young took the credit for going onto the streets and making things happen.
  • Egyptian opposition leader (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Mohamed ElBaradei • Offering his take on the events that led to the current protests. While he’s seen as a possible new leader in the country, he’s not universally loved; others criticize him for choosing to live in Vienna instead of Egypt even after he completed his time with the United Nations’ atomic energy agency. Nevertheless, he’s a symbol to rally around. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 02:12

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World: Three interesting findings from Wikileaks’ Egypt-focused cables

  • tactics Obama’s people have tended to be harsher about Egypt in private than in public, a change from the more critical Bush years.
  • blogs While the Egyptian government claims they don’t block free speech, they may be forced to act when “people are offended by blogs.”
  • torture Diplomats noted one case where a number of detainees were both shocked and deprived of sleep, making them zombie-like. source
  • » Obama’s not-very-harsh words: It’s clear that Obama’s comments on Egypt, made during a YouTube town-hall style thingy, try to tow that public/private line noted above. “I’ve always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform – political reform, economic reform – is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt,” Obama said. “And you can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets.” Dear Obama administration: There’s a point where a chummy relationship doesn’t work anymore.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 01:57

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World: How quickly did Egypt’s internet completely disappear?

  • This is how quick the Interwebs died in Egypt: “It’s probably a phone call that goes out to half a dozen folks who enter a line on a router configuration file and hit return,” said Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks. “It’s like programming your TiVo – you have things that are set up and you delete one. It’s not high-level programming.” Basically, Egypt is not a country with a ton of pipe, so it’s far easier to shut them down than, say, the U.S. Still, though, it’s utterly shocking how quickly it just disappeared. (image via Google’s Tim Bray) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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