Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on TwitterBe a Facebook FanTumble us!

13 Jul 2011 17:41

tags

World: How are the protests against the Egyptian military paying off?

  • 669Egyptian police officers linked to Mubarak regime fired source
  • » Showing off at cleaning house: Going thousands strong, it’s easy enough to see that the Egypt’s ruling military council would want a means of positive P.R. to quell a protest movement (as well as less activist sections of the public) that’s clamoring for purges of Mubarak-connected officials. What effect this decision will actually have in the day-to-day matters of policing within Egypt is too hard to say right now, but that the military is taking any sort of giving posture speaks to the strength and legitimacy of continuing protests in Tahrir Square.

21 Mar 2011 23:50

tags

World: More on Egypt’s recently-passed constitutional referendum

  • Oh yeah, that: With all the chaos in Libya and Japan, there hasn’t been much attention paid to what’s happened in Egypt in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s ousting. So, here’s the skinny: Over the weekend, the country voted on a referendum containing substantial changes to the country’s Constitution. Both of the country’s two major political parties, the National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood, supported the changes, which passed with 77% of the vote. Now, it has to pass a parliamentary vote, which could come as early as September. But what was actually in it, and how is it playing out in Egypt?
  • Limits on the Presidency In addition to reducing the length of presidential terms from six years to four, the new Constitution, if adopted, will instate a two-term limit for future presidents (Mubarak led for thirty years). Also, it requires the President to select a deputy within thirty days of assuming office, and bars anybody under 40 from running for President.
  • High Voter TurnoutBack in the Mubarak days, many Egyptians thought leaders rigged the elections, so there wasn’t much of an impetus to vote. This time, 41% — or 18 million people — came out to vote. Not staggeringly high, for sure, but nothing to sneeze at, either. If anything, this turnout bodes well for the prospects of a democratic Egypt.
  • Mixed Reactions Some pro-democracy groups are upset that the reforms didn’t go far enough. Activists claim the changes will benefit the two major parties, and some want to tear up the constitution and start over. Perhaps. Even so, the referendum’s passage seems — tentatively — like a good step towards rebuilding the country. source

01 Feb 2011 00:27

tags

World: Israeli government: Egypt’s army “an anchor” for regional stability

  • Maintaining the stability that has lasted in Egypt for the past 30 years is a goal of highest importance for Israel on the regional level. The Egyptian army, which is faithful to Mubarak, is an anchor and thus the army’s leaders bear the responsibility for continued stability.
  • Israeli Knesset minister Shaul Mofaz • Relating the Israeli perspective on the turmoil taking place in Egypt. Mofaz is the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and had a lot to say. In his eyes, it’s best for Israel if Mubarek survives the protests and holds elections in September, which is possible as “the protesters lack an organized leadership.” He also spoke to Iran’s perspective on the conflict, saying that Iranian leaders are “watching the events in Egypt with enjoyment,” in hopes that the Muslim Brotherhood takes over. High stakes be damned, Mofaz ultimately stated that Israel should not get involved. source

31 Jan 2011 22:31

tags

World: Egyptian troops to protesters: Don’t worry, we won’t hurt ya

  • now The Egyptian military, which enjoys a positive relationship with the Egyptian people, has stated that it will not use force against the protesters.
  • future What if President Mubarek orders them to fire regardless? Will they defy him? If so, that could be a critical blow to his efforts to retain the presidency. source

31 Jan 2011 22:12

tags

World: Flying out of Egypt: And you thought invasive pat-downs were bad

  • In a 22-kilometer (14-mile) route from our suburb to the airport we had to get through 19 checkpoints, including nine manned by civilians.
  • Markos Loukogiannakis, a Greek traveler • On trying to get to the Cairo airport in the midst of the protests. And this is before he even steps foot inside the airport! source

30 Jan 2011 11:06

tags

U.S., World: Hillary Clinton toughens her words on Egyptian situation

  • yeah … U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for Egypt to have an “orderly, peaceful transition” to a “real democracy,” which is much further than the Obama administration has gone so far during the crisis. Hopefully, they’ll go much further.
  • … but Clinton later dodged the military aid question: “We always are looking and reviewing our aid but right now we are trying to convey a message that is very clear, that we want to ensure there is no violence and no provocation that result in violence.” source

28 Jan 2011 11:13

tags

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
 

28 Jan 2011 02:32

tags

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

28 Jan 2011 02:12

tags

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.

28 Jan 2011 01:57

tags

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