Prime minister and army officials suggest Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, may step down soon Intense speculation is mounting about the fate of President Hosni Mubarak after the heads of Egypt’s ruling party and senior army commanders suggested he will step down imminently. In what would mark a momentous victory for demonstrators who have demanded the resignation of the president since protests began last month, the Egyptian prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, told the BBC that Mubarak may step down and the situation in the country will be clarified soon. Hossam Badrawi, the secretary general of the ruling party, was quoted in the state press as saying he had asked Mubarak to transfer his powers to the vice-president, Omar Suleiman, and that he expected him to resign this evening. Mubarak was expected to make a televised address tonight. Negotiations may still be taking place, however, with reports that Mubarak’s senior advisers have said he will not stand down tonight and “all the reports are not valid”. In Washington, the head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, said: “There’s a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down this evening, which would be significant in terms of where the, hopefully, orderly transition in Egypt takes place.” Thousands of people have gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for the 17th day, with vast crowds of Egyptians waiting to hear if the president will finally step down after 30 years in power. In a move that has the hallmarks of a military coup, the army has told protesters that it supports their demands and will take measures to safeguard the nation. Military officials said the army will issue a communique shortly that will meet protesters’ demands. Security officials said Egypt’s supreme military council had been meeting all day, without the commander-in-chief, Mubarak. The council announced its “support of the legitimate demands of the people” on state TV. A spokesman said the council was in permanent session “to explore what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people”. An Egyptian army commander, Hassan al-Roweny, told protesters in Tahrir Square: “All your demands will be met today”. Speaking from a stage erected in the square, Roweny called on protesters to sing the national anthem and keep Egypt safe. As they heard his words, protesters chanted: “The people demand the fall of the regime” and “The regime has fallen”, according to Reuters. Hosni Mubarak Egypt Protest Middle East Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …HTC to debut Android phone with dedicated Facebook button, doubles as Winklevii irritant
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Do you know how much time is lost having to jump out of an application to click on the Facebook icon (or widget) on your home screen? That 0.4 seconds, when done hundreds of times each and every day (assuming you ever leave the Facebook screen in the first place) can really add up — precious time you could spend updating your status and liking your girlfriend’s brother’s Business Cat wall post. INQ figured it out , and HTC may have found a way to restore those precious seconds, as well. According to The Financial Times , the company plans to introduce an Android device with a dedicated Facebook button (note: not a “Facebook phone” ). We wouldn’t expect anything crazy out of the clicker, however, as the dream crushers known currently as “people familiar with the device” say its purpose is to take you to the Facebook front page — if you want something more. HTC is expected to introduce it this month, and if we were betting folk, we’d say that meant Mobile World Congress next week. HTC to debut Android phone with dedicated Facebook button, doubles as Winklevii irritant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces has met to discuss the ongoing protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak, the president. In a statement televised on state television, the army said it had convened the meeting
Continue reading …Randomly Placed Solar Panels, Green Second Skin Give Stunning Look To Hotel In Chile
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Photos: GEN Hotel. Designed as an apartment venue and later turned into a hotel, GEN is a 26-storey building designed by Felipe Assadi + Francisca Pulido located in Santiago de Chile with the usual green credentials but with two cool details: distributed energy generation with individual solar panels exposed to the front, and a second skin made with recycled aluzinc that acts as a temperature and shading control…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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A novel use for modern gadgets iPad and iPhone – a step by step guide to the Roman Catholic ritual of confession – has been released, but to mixed reaction in the streets of Rome. (Feb. 10)
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Warming local anesthetics may reduce the pain intensity experienced during their injection, a new study says.
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Image via YouTube video We address the issue of exotic pets fairly often, and we have to because it’s a shockingly pervasive problem. From escaped pythons that reshape ecosystems to endangered tigers that are treated like novelties, the exotic pet trade has serious consequences for the individual animals and just as often the species as a whole. But exactly how far does the trade reach, and how bad can the consequences be, really? A documentary that looks closely at the case of a man and his lion, kept in his backyard, addresses these questions. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Dick Wadhams talks to CNN and explains why he’s tired of the "nuts" in the Tea Party
February 10, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media You’ve probably heard about how Dick Wadhams, the chairman of the Colorado Republicans, told the world that he couldn’t take being a Republican official anymore because of the nuts in his party. Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams dropped his reelection bid on Monday, and fired some parting shots at the Tea Party and the hard-line conservatives he thinks are hurting the party’s electoral success. “I have tired of those who are obsessed with seeing conspiracies around every corner and who have terribly misguided notions of what the role of the state party is while saying ‘uniting conservatives’ is all that is needed to win competitive races across the state,” Wadhams wrote in a memo to the Colorado Republican State Central Committee obtained by The Denver Post . He joined CNN’s Parker Spitzer show and explained to Kathleen why he is leaving in a little more detail. He did try to soften the blow on his party PARKER: Now to politics. It finally happened. A Republican Party leader has gotten so fed up with the party’s antics and he says he’s not going to take it anymore. Dick Wadhams is the chairman of the Colorado Republicans, but today he went rogue. He announced he’s not running for a third time because, and I quote, “I’m tired of the nuts who have no grasp of what the state party role is.” He joins us now from Denver. Welcome, Dick. DICK WADHAMS, CHAIRMAN, COLORADO REPUBLICAN PARTY: Hi, Kathleen. Nice to be with you. PARKER: It’s great to have you here. So I’ve got to ask you, Dick, what took you so long? WADHAMS: Well, I had four great years as state chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And you know, after four years, it’s time to do something else. PARKER: What pushed you over the edge? What was the final straw? WADHAMS: You know, Kathleen, we had a lot of chaos in our governor’s race to say the least, this past election, where we had somebody nominated who proved to be not a great candidate, whose resume was exaggerated. We had Tom Tancredo enter the race. It was quite a mess. Had a lot of activists who initially where accusing the state party of cutting back room deals, nominating candidates, which was not true. We had a very free and open and fair nomination process. And then when our candidate eventual nominee that they supported collapsed, the accusations were made, why didn’t you take care of him to begin with? Why did you ever let him get this far? Well, you can’t have it both ways. Parker goes on to try and be as gentle as she can and he responded in time. What was interesting in this interview was that Wadhams feels social issues won’t matter in the 2012 election because they want to WIN!. PARKER: Well now, Dick, are you saying that you think social issues are going to take a backseat this time around? WADHAMS: I think the social issues will always play a role in our nomination, but I also know what the American people are concerned about in any poll I’ve seen are the fiscal standards of our nation. I mean, people are concerned about the debt and the deficit. They’re concerned about the overreach of power by the federal government. And I think those are going to be the issues that will define our nomination fight and also the general election in November of 2012. And so while social issues are important, and always will be in the Republican Party, we are virtually a pro-life party, but on the other hand, I think that the focus will be on fiscal issues in this coming campaign. Has he seen the new Republican legislation that’s so incredibly barbaric to women on the issue of choice? During the August health fare town hall fiasco’s, social issues weren’t supposed to play a role at all in it except it did. The religious right got its freak on lead by Bart Stupak, which almost killed the HCR bill over federal funding for abortions. He lost his job over it so never let them fool you. Yes, tax cuts and free markets will be at the top of their agenda, but they want you to turn away from social issues so they can blindside you with under a minute to go in the game.
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The decision to move to WiMAX instead of LTE will probably be second-guessed by pundits and investors for years to come, but regardless, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has emerged as one of the wireless industry’s great comeback kids now that he appears to be succeeding in his goal of turning the carrier’s tailspin right around. The latest victory comes in the form of Sprint’s fourth quarter 2010 results, which reveal its largest subscriber gain since the first and second quarters of 2006 — yes, 2006 . Total adds were 1.1 million, though net postpaid adds were only 58,000, suggesting that prepaid services are the big push right now. Additionally, Sprint reported its lowest postpaid customer churn in the fourth quarter of any year in its history at 1.86 percent. On the downside, the company’s still technically in the red, reporting an operating loss of $139 million on revenues of $8.3 billion. Overall, Hesse says they’ve got “momentum” heading into the new year, anticipating net customer additions in 2011. Give us an EVO 4G 2, Dan, and we might just be willing to agree. Sprint posts best customer gains in five years originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A natural gas explosion rocked a downtown neighborhood overnight in Allentown, Pa., leveling two houses and spawning fires that burned for hours through an entire row of neighboring homes. (Feb. 10)
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