Egypt is beginning a new political era after mass protests forced President Hosni Mubrak to stand down following 30 years in power. Follow live updates 11.47am: Egyptian airport officials have announced that current or former officials from Mubarak’s government are banned from traveling without permission. 11.44am: Egypt’s state television says the country’s night time curfew has been relaxed. It will now start at midnight and ends at 6am, instead of running from 8pm to 6am. 11.04am: There are protests today in Yemen and Algeria, inspired by the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. Thousands of demonstrators in the Yemeni capital Sana have clashed with government supporters. The protesters chanted: “The people want the fall of the government. A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution.” Human Rights Watch said the authorities detained 10 anti-government protesters amid celebrations over Mubarak’s departure last night. The group said the protest turned violent when hundreds of men armed with knives, sticks, and assault rifles attacked the protesters as security forces stood by. “The Yemeni security forces have a duty to protect peaceful protesters,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “In this case, security forces seem to have organized armed men to attack the protesters.” Meanhile in Algeria, thousands of riot police have been deployed in the capital, Algiers, to stop an anti-government demonstration from gathering momentum . Organisers of the anti-government march say several thousand people have gathered in the city centre. About 50 protesters managed to reach the square where the protest was due to take place but they were surrounded by hundreds of police and some were arrested, Reuters reported. 10.39am: The repercussions of Mubarak’s fall are being felt across the Middle East as other countries in the region assess what regime change could mean. Syria, which had strained relations with Egypt due to its position as a key US ally in the Arab world and its peace treaty with Israel, has welcomed Mubarak’s fall. His departure will change the “face of Egypt, the region and the entire world,” reported the al Ba’ath daily of Syria’s ruling Ba’ath Party. The state-run Tishrin newspaper said the protests “brought down the Camp-David regime” – a reference to the 1979 Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Meanwhile Yemen, which has seen spreading anti-government protests in recent months, said it would support the Egyptian people in their search for progress and development. The official news agency Saba said the Yemeni government was confident Egypt’s higher military council would be able to manage the country’s affairs in the transition period. The country’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, arranged an unexpected meeting with military and political leaders late yesterday following Mubarak’s departure. Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years and is a key US ally against al Qaida, last week promised to step down at the end of his term in 2013 in a bid to stave off political unrest. Turkey has urged Egypt’s military to press on with elections. “We hope that Egypt’s military high council will act with common sense and hand over its duty to the new governemnt to be formed as a result of a free and fair election process, and eventually Egypt will proceed to a constitutional democracy,” said a statement issued by prime pinister Tayyip Erdogan’s office today. Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu added that Mubarak’s resignation was an historic development for the Arab world and the region. “Firstly, continuity of the state and public order should be secured. Secondly, people’s demands should be met and a stable and lasting democracy should be built in Egypt through evolution. Thirdly, a transparent road map that the people can follow closely together with the international community should be announced,” he said. 10.39am: Protesters camped out in Cairo are divided about whether to stay or go amid the uncertainty over their country’s future, AP reports. Shopkeeper Gomaa Abdel-Maqsoud says he’s been in Tahrir Square since the protests began on Jan. 25 and is ready to go. He says “I have never seen such happiness in peoples’ faces before; what else do I want?” Nadal Saqr, a university professor, says protesters should stay until the army issues a promised statement with “clear assurances” that their demands for democracy are met. 10.36am: Good morning, this is David Batty with today’s live coverage of Egypt – the day after Hosni Mubarak finally stood down as president after 30 years in power. Here’s a roundup of the current situation following the revolution. • Although thousands are celebrating Mubarak’s departure, what happens next remains unclear. The Egyptian army is now in control and has pledged not to get in the way of legitimate government but world leaders have called for a swift transition to civilian rule. • Thousands of people remained in Tahrir Square in central Cairo overnight to celebrate Mubarak’s departure and more are returning today , waving flags and cheering. •Following the 18 days of protests that toppled the Egyptian government, world attention is turning towards other Arab states, with planned anti-government protests in Algeria facing a clampdown by thousands of riot police . Egypt Protest Middle East Hosni Mubarak David Batty guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Cairo appeared calm on Saturday after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military. Some protestors are still lingering in Tahrir Sqaure, divided about whether to stay or go as the country faces an uncertain future. (Feb. 12)
Continue reading …Mark LeVine, an Al Jazeera English commentator, was with the mother of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian who died in police custody on a street in Alexandria last year, when the news came in that Hosni Mubarak had resigned.
Continue reading …Uh oh, looks like someone got the wrong date for Samsung’s MWC keynote . The above screenshot (now placed after the break) is captured by the eagle-eyed folks at Moveplayer , who spotted what appears to be an embargoed article about the Galaxy S 2 (or Galaxy S II) over at Korean news site Paran . While the offending press shot has since been removed, the text remains intact with the following specs: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 4.3-inch display, 1GHz dual-core processor, HSPA+, Bluetooth 3.0, and 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi. Additionally, Paran says that this new handset weighs 116g (4.09 ounces) and is 8.49mm thick — which is close to, if not the, thinnest smartphone device we’ve heard of yet. (For the record, the Xperia Arc is 8.7mm at its thinnest point.) The article also mentions that 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet that we heard of yesterday, confirming it will pack a 1GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera with “full HD” video recording, and dual surround sound speakers. Sounds promising, but only time will tell whether all this is true or simply a matter of lost in translation. Update: OK, so we’ve done some spying and can confirm that both devices are very real, and their specs look legit. Update 2: Oh snap! Samsung Hub managed to get hold of a high res press shot of the Galaxy S 2 before it got pulled off the Korean sites. It sure resembles the Infuse 4G with an extra home button. We’ve posted the pic above for your pleasure. [Thanks, Tran Quoc Hop] Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S 2 and 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet leaked on Korean website (Update: high res press shot!) Samsung Galaxy S 2 and 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet leaked on Korean website (Update: high res press shot!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The protesters have stripped Mubarak and his foreign backers of their authority. But the roots of
Continue reading …Looking for a telltale sign that tablets have shot right past mainstream and into over-saturation? Fix your focus a few pixels up, and you’ll be staring at it. VTech has just pushed out its InnoPad, a learning tablet developed specifically for kids aged 4 to 104 (or 9, if you’re concerned with “facts”). Boasting a 5-inch touchpanel, a tilt-sensor for gaming control, microphone and interfaces for USB, an SD card and a headphone jack, it’s actually more like a MID than anything else. Of course, the “kid-tough” casing makes it far bulkier than most, but at least it’s designed to take a licking (and keep on ticking). Contrary to conventional tablets, this one will rely primarily on learning cartridges, but there is support for digital downloads for those who’d rather sync it up with their Mac or PC and transfer things to a memory card. You’ve got a slew of options when it comes to software, and once your kid’s done learning for the day, the InnoPad can double as an MP3 player, video player and datebook. It’ll ship this fall for $79.99, with each title priced at $24.99. Something tells us this thing’s got “iPad killer” written all over it. In Children’s Doodle font, but hey… Continue reading VTech’s InnoPad brings tablets to youngsters, floods their sponge-like brains with knowledge VTech’s InnoPad brings tablets to youngsters, floods their sponge-like brains with knowledge originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HBO's Bill Maher on Friday perfectly demonstrated liberal hypocrisy concerning how Democrat and Republican presidents should be treated by the media. In a lengthy segment on HBO's “Real Time” about how “disrespectful” Bill O'Reilly was during his Super Bowl interview with Barack Obama, Maher castigated the Fox News host for his “unpatriotic” behavior moments before debasing former President George W. Bush for not being “aware of s–t” (video follows with transcript and commentary): BILL MAHER, HOST: Let me ask about the President and Bill O’Reilly, because of all the things that got to me this week, that really bothered me. If you saw the interview he did at the Super Bowl, I thought it was very disrespectful, literally unpatriotic. Oh. Show our, show our little thing. We built this, we might as well show it every week. There you go. Reclaiming patriotism. Arianna was talking about it. You know, we talk about getting guns off, you know, everybody having a gun would be patriotic. Giving people healthcare. This is patriotic. And so would this be: not belittling your President. I mean, some of things he said to them… CORNEL WEST: I agree. HOOMAN MAJD: It was worse than that. It was actually bigoted. MAHER: Yes. MAJD: When he asked if he knows football. I mean… MAHER: Right. MAJD: …if I was the president, I'd say, “Get the f–k out of my house. MAHER: Right. MAJD: Do I know football? MAHER: Right. You're a basketball guy, wink, wink. MAJD: Inner city basketball guy. MAHER: Yeah, we know what that means. MAJD: Muslims don’t play football. MAHER: Right. And you also throw dice behind the Rose Garden, don't you? MAJD: And you smoke. WEST: You know what’s interesting about that? I was taken by Obama being so steady because he's such a nice brother. MAHER: Yes. MAJD: He showed anger there, though. If you look at… WEST: But he was containing it, but the interesting thing for me is if that had been a left-wing person raising questions, he probably would have expressed his anger. Obama really does get upset about progressives. That's why Rahm talks about f-ing – I could say it but my Mother’s watching – f-ing progressives and f-ing retards. They're talking about people like ourselves. I mean, ourselves in terms of progressives. MAHER: Yeah, but I cannot imagine George Bush giving a pre-Super Bowl interview to Keith Olbermann. Which would be, can you imagine if Keith Olbermann treated him like that? Interrupted him over and over, leaned over like it was a bar. I thought he was going to ask him to get some motherf—king iced tea. It was disrespectful, and listen to this. Here’s what a dick O’Reilly is. He says… [Audience laughter] He said to Obama at one point, “Mubarak knows a lot of bad things about the U.S. I’m sure you’re aware of that.” “Yeah, I get to see the CIA briefing at 7:30 every morning, and I get the director of Homeland Security in my office every, I think I am aware of that, Bill. Do you get that briefing? Oh, you don’t? I get that briefing. Yes, I am aware of that.” You know who wasn’t aware of s—t? Bush. If being patriotic means “not belittling your President,” exactly what was that? O'Reilly in Maher's view was “disrespectful” to Obama, but it was completely acceptable for the “Real Time” host to say Bush “wasn't aware of s–t.” And nobody on Maher's production crew caught the glaring hypocrisy. Boggles the mind, doesn't it? In reality, this whole outrage of Maher's concerning O'Reilly's treatment of Obama is the height of hypocrisy. Other than Keith Olbermann, likely no mainstream media member has shown more disrespect for George W. Bush than the “Real Time” host. For him to criticize anyone's treatment of an American President is the height of gall. On Friday evening, Maher perfectly demonstrated that only Democrat presidents are deserving of respect. A Republican? He isn't “aware of s–t!” Thanks for clearing that up, Bill
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