Wednesday, February 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Egyptian military has called for an end to more than a week of demonstrations after Hosni Mubarak, the president, said he would step down in September after nearly 30 years in power.
Ismail Etman, a military spokesman, said: "Your message has arrived, your demands became known. You are capable of bringing normal life to Egypt."
The military statement came as internet service began to return to Egypt, while a night-time curfew was eased, now running from 5pm to 7am instead of 3pm to 8am.
Despite Mr Mubarak's pledge, crowds were building in Cairo for a ninth day of protests to try to force out Mr Mubarak earlier.
The movement built on the work of online activists is fuelled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. >>> | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Straßenschlachten – Kairo versinkt im Chaos: Die Gewalt auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo eskaliert: Zwischen Anhängern und Gegnern von Präsident Husni Mubarak kam es zu Schlägereien, es flogen Steine und Flaschen. LAGE IN ÄGYPTEN IM LIVE-TICKER >>> | Mittwoch, 02. Februar 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has said that he will step down when the current term of his 30-year rule expires in 2013.Mr Saleh, who has faced calls to resign from crowds of protesters this week, said he will freeze constitutional amendments that could see him re-elected for another term.
Eyeing protests that brought down Tunisia's leader and forced Egypt's president to say he will not seek re-election in September, Mr Saleh also vowed not to pass on the reins of government to his son.
Mr Saleh has become the third Arab leader this year forced to resign due to a wave of street protests calling for democratic reforms across North Africa and the Middle East. >>> | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
THE GUARDIAN – BLOGS – RICHARD ADAMS: George Bush's daughter Barbara is the latest high profile Republican to call for the legalisation of gay marriage
Barbara Bush, the daughter of George Bush, became the latest high profile Republican recruit to endorse the cause of gay marriage.
"I'm Barbara Bush and I'm a New Yorker for marriage equality," the former First Daughter announces in a video for the Human Right Campaign released today. "Everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love." Read on and comment >>> Richard Adams | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Al-Qaeda is actively tr[y]ing to secure nuclear material and [is] recruiting rogue scientists to build a radioactive "dirty" bomb, according to leaked diplomatic documents.A leading atomic regulator has privately warned that the world stands on the brink of a "nuclear 9/11".
Security briefings suggest that jihadi groups are also close to producing "workable and efficient" biological and chemical weapons that could kill thousands if unleashed in attacks on the West.
Thousands of classified American cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website and passed to The Daily Telegraph detail the international struggle to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear, chemical and biological material around the globe.
At a Nato meeting in January 2009, security chiefs briefed member states that al-Qaeda was plotting a programme of "dirty radioactive IEDs", makeshift nuclear roadside bombs that could be used against British troops in Afghanistan.
As well as causing a large explosion, a "dirty bomb" attack would contaminate the area for many years.
The briefings also state that al-Qaeda documents found in Afghanistan in 2007 revealed that "greater advances" had been made in bio-terrorism than was previously realised. >>> Heidi Blake, and Christopher Hope | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: FAR-NORTH Queenslanders in low-lying areas have been warned to leave their homes immediately, as Cyclone Yasi bears down on the region.
Premier Anna Bligh told residents there was a closing window of opportunity for people to get out of the coastal, low-lying areas.
"There is still an opportunity for you to move to a place of safety," she said, after a disaster management meeting this morning.
"I cannot say in the strongest possible terms, you have to take this opportunity now. It will close in the next three hours."
Army personnel are door-knocking areas in Queensland's northern capital of Townsville, where the latest modelling shows an increased storm surge from the category five cyclone.
"The next 24 hours is going to be, frankly, a very terrifying 24 hours for many people," she said.
"Now is the time for people to prepare themselves and their families and their children mentally for what they are about to experience."
She urged people to prepare for very loud wind noise, torrential rain and a loss of power and phone access. >>> Roseanne Barrett | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
WA TODAY: Yasi already causing damage in Innisfail >>> Staff reporters | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
POLITICS DAILY: After Egypt's Mubarak: The Muslim Brotherhood – After President Hosni Mubarak leaves office, Egypt plunges into an uncharted future. There is no clear path for new leadership, no political mechanisms to channel the energy of the streets, and no experience of political action in the decades the country has been under emergency rule. >>> David Wood, Chief Military Correspondent | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: The former British prime minister praised Mubarak over his role in the negotiations and also warned against a rush to elections that could bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power
Tony Blair has described Hosni Mubarak, the beleaguered Egyptian leader, as "immensely courageous and a force for good" and warned against a rush to elections that could bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power.
The former British prime minister, who is now an envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, praised Mubarak over his role in the negotiations and said the west was right to back him despite his authoritarian regime because he had maintained peace with Israel.
But that view is likely to anger many Egyptians who believe they have had to endure decades of dictatorship because the US put Israel's interests ahead of their freedom.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on CNN, Blair defended his backing for Mubarak. >>> Chris McGreal in Washington | Wednesday, February 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Baroness Ashton is under fire after the EU failed to agree on a statement condemning attacks on religious minorities in the Islamic world because it is not politically correct to use the word "Christian".A meeting of EU foreign ministers failed to agree on a condemnation of sectarian attacks over the Christmas period that targeted Christians in Egypt and Iraq.
Talks ended angrily when Italy accused Lady Ashton, the EU's foreign minister, of "excessive" political correctness because she refused to name any specific religious group as a victim of attacks.
Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, demanded an EU response on the persecution of Christians after a New Year suicide bombing at a Coptic church in northern Egypt in which 23 people were killed.
The Egyptian bombing followed attacks in Baghdad and fears, expressed by the Vatican, of persecution leading to a Christian exodus from the Middle East.
Mr Frattini, backed by France, said it [was] pointless to issue statements defending religious tolerance without any references to the specific minority, Christians, that was under attack[.] >>> Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
What a stupid woman Ashton is! – Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that "dangerous" imbalances have emerged that threaten to derail global recovery and stoke tensions that may ultimately set off civil wars in deeply unequal countries.Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's chief, said the economic rebound across the world is built on unstable foundations, with many rich nations still strapped in job slumps while the rising powers of China, India and Brazil already facing the threat of overheating. "It is not the recovery we wanted. It is a recovery beset by tensions and strain, which could even sow the seeds of the next crisis," he said.
"Global unemployment remains at record highs, with widening income inequality adding to social strains," he said, citing turmoil in North Africa as a prelude to what may happen as 400m youths join the workforce over the next decade. "We could see rising social and political instability within nations – even war," he said.
The IMF has published a paper entitled Inequality, Leverage and Crisis arguing that the extreme gap between rich and poor – with echoes of the US in the late 1920s – was an underlying cause of the Great Recession from 2008-2009.
The paper, by the Fund's modelling unit, warned of "disastrous consequences" for the world economy unless workers regain their "bargaining power" against rentiers. It suggests radical changes to the tax system and debt relief for workers. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
This blog has been warning of the possibility of civil war for several years. It has also been warning of a return to socialism because of the deep inequalities that exist today. The future does not look bright; in fact, it looks bleak indeed. – © Mark
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
THE TIMES: Mubarak announces he will stand down at the next election: President Mubarak announced last night that he would not seek a sixth term in September in a desperate attempt to prevent himself being unceremoniously deposed from power in Egypt in the coming days. >>> Martin Fletcher, James Hider, Cairo | Wednesday, February 02, 2011 [£]
THE GUARDIAN: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's announcement that he will serve out remaining term immediately rejected by angry crowds
Egypt's embattled president Hosni Mubarak has bowed to the pressure of millions of people massing on the streets, pledging to step down at the next election and pave the way for a new leader of the Arab world's largest country.
Mubarak, effectively abandoned by the US in a day of fast moving developments, said he would not be a candidate for a seventh term but would remain in power to oversee reform and guarantee stability — a position that was immediately rejected by angry crowds and promised yet more drama in Egypt's extraordinary crisis.
"In the few months remaining in my current term I will work towards ensuring a peaceful transition of power," Mubarak said. "I have exhausted my life in serving Egypt and my people. I will die on the soil of Egypt and be judged by history" – a clear reference to the fate of Tunisia's president who fled into exile last month.
Looking grave as he spoke on state TV in front of the presidential seal, Mubarak attacked those responsible for protests that had been "manipulated by political forces," caused mayhem and chaos and endangered the "stability of the nation."
In a defiant, finger-wagging performance the 82-year-old said he was always going to quit in September – a position he had never made public until now. >>> Jack Shenker and Peter Beaumont in Cairo and Ian Black | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Husni Mubarak hat die Muslimbrüder bislang mit aller Macht bekämpft. Stürzt er, könnte die islamistische Organisation an der Regierung beteiligt werden.Bei dem sich abzeichnenden Umbruch in Ägypten ist die künftige Rolle der Muslimbruderschaft derzeit völlig unklar. Erst spät haben sich die Brüder an den Protesten gegen die Regierung von Präsident Husni Mubarak beteiligt. Wie schon vor den Parlamentswahlen im Herbst vergangenen Jahres unterstützen sie dabei den Hoffnungsträger der Demonstranten, Mohammed al-Baradei.
„Die Revolte jetzt hat die Muslimbrüder von ihrem Sockel geholt“, sagt der stellvertretende Chefredakteur der regierungsnahen Zeitung „Al Ahram“, Abdel Athim Hamad. Bisher habe er sich nur die Islamisten als Aufrührer eines solchen Volksaufstandes vorstellen können.
Anders als er beobachten die koptischen Christen in Ägypten diese Entwicklung mit Sorge. „Die Muslimbrüder verstärken jetzt massiv ihre Propaganda, und sie bereiten sich intensiv auf die Zeit nach Mubarak vor“, sagt die leitende Redakteurin der Kairoer Wochenzeitung „Watani International“, Samia Sidhom. „Wir fürchten, dass die Bruderschaft an die Schalthebel der Macht in Kairo gelangen könnte.“
Ganz offen mahnt die US-Regierung al-Baradei schon jetzt vor einem Bündnis mit den Islamisten. Sie wünsche sich eine Regierung „echter Demokraten“, sagt US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton.
Seit Jahrzehnten sucht die Bruderschaft den Weg zur Macht. Sie strebt eine islamische Gesellschaft an, die nach dem Recht der Scharia lebt. Erreicht hat Bruderschaft dieses Ziel in ihrer 82-jährigen Geschichte nie. Über Jahrzehnte wurden ihre Mitglieder verfolgt und mussten um ihr Leben bangen. >>> Autor: Günther Lachmann | Dienstag, 01. Februar 2011
THE GUARDIAN: New Jordanian prime minister Marouf Bakhit to preside over 'real political reform', says royal palaceJordan's prime minister has been replaced as the political shockwaves from Egypt continue to reverberate across the Arab world. King Abdullah asked Marouf Bakhit to form a new government following the resignation of Samir al-Rifai after weeks of protests by Jordanians calling on him to step down.
Bakhit was asked to take "practical, swift and tangible steps to launch a real political reform process, in line with the king's vision of comprehensive reform, modernisation and development", said a statement from the royal palace.
But the opposition Islamic Action Front quickly attacked the appointment as "inappropriate", blaming Bakhit for presiding over corruption, electoral fraud and mismanagement during what spokesman Zaki Bani Rashid described as the "bitter experience" of Bakhit's first term in an interview with the Ammanet website.
Abdullah has dismissed prime ministers in the past but the background of protests at home and the intense focus on Egypt gives added significance to this move, which was immediately seen as an extension of spreading regional unrest. >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor | Tuesday, February 01, 2011
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