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Egypt protests: the view from the Middle East

Middle East correspondents from the Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde report from around the region on reaction to protests in Egypt In an effort to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the seismic events in Egypt and the shockwaves they are sending through the region, the Guardian has teamed up with leading European newspapers Der Spiegel and Le Monde . In the coming days we will be exploring ways to share our reporting from the region, so that you can read dispatches from their highly respected correspondents alongside reports from our own team on the ground. Kicking off this collaboration here are a series of audio reports from correspondents for the three papers in Cairo, Sana’a, Tunis and Beirut. Egypt: Volkhard Windfuhr, from Der Spiegel, reports from Cairo Windfuhr, who has lived in Egypt since the 1950s and been chairman of the Cairo foreign press association since 1994, confirms there has been a change of attitude from the army today, although reports that there are rumours of a split in the military’s leadership. Yemen: Tom Finn reports Thousands of anti-government demonstrators gathered in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a to take part in a “day of rage” against the ruling regime. Finn says protesters had planned to protest in Sana’a’s Tahrir Square, but the pro-government supporters got there first. Tunisia: Mathieu von Rohr, from Der Spiegel, reports People in Tunisia, where mass demonstrations saw the ex-president Ben Ali flee last month , feel “very proud” that Egyptians have risen up in protest against Mubarak, von Rohr reports. Der Spiegel’s foreign affairs correspondent says the mood in Tunisia has become more tense in the last couple of days, with clashes in the streets between police and protesters. Lebanon: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports Abdul-Ahad says “all is quite now” in Lebanon after the clashes of last week. There is huge interest in the Egyptian protests from people in the country, however he says Lebanon is “so sectarian” that any potential protests in the country are unlikely to be united. Jordan: Martin Chulov reports There’s a “tense calm” in Oman, Chulov says, where “all eyes” have been on Egypt. There is a lot of support for the protesters in Egypt, and talk about how protests may follow on on the streets of Jordan – where demonstrations are planned for Friday 4 February. So far the demonstrations have been carefully planned, but people are watching to see if tomorrow’s protests are have more spontaneous elements, Chulov reports. Egypt Middle East Lebanon Jordan Tunisia Yemen United Arab Emirates Hosni Mubarak Ghaith Abdul-Ahad Martin Chulov Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

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Barack Obama said his faith has deepened during his two years in the White House, and directly addressed questions about his religion, saying his Christianity has been a “sustaining force” during times when he and his family’s faith has been questioned. More highlights from today’s National Prayer Breakfast in Washington:…

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Middle East unrest according to Glenn Beck and friends

Bored of balanced coverage from the lamestream, so-called news media? What you can learn about the Middle East protests from US rightwing commentators ‘Tunisia is our Archduke Ferdinand moment’ Says Glenn Beck, Fox News host: This is not just happenstance. This is not just poor people mad at rich people. This is coordinated. Tunisia was the beginning. I think there is chance Tunisia was our Archduke Ferdinand moment that I’ve been telling you about, warning that it would start in some place that wouldn’t look like anything – and most of us wouldn’t understand it. He was the guy assassinated in Sarajevo. Month later Austria and Hungary declared war against Serbia and the rest is called World War One Beck, the apocalyptically-minded TV host, has the most complete theory on Egypt: the protests there are part of what he calls the “coming insurrection”. He illustrates how it will happen in the clip below using blackboards featuring maps of Europe and the Middle East. He marks friends with a yellow smiley face (Israel), “Frenemies” (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.) with blue faces and enemies (Iran) with red. Through the use of stick-on fires to illustrate riots he announces to his American viewers: “I’m going to show you how all this cascades over to us”. Key to all it all is that Europe, as his map shows, is already in flames because of some of our recent street protests. Beck never explains the connection between the Greek government’s austerity programme, tuition fees demonstrations in the UK and radical Islam (which no one on the ground in Egypt says is behind the protests there). Do I need to? Because I can’t. To cut to the chase, a new caliphate will emerge in the Middle East and push further east until China, as Beck puts it, says “Knock it off guys” and takes over India, reaching some way into Pakistan. The caliphate will then push north, which is when it will absorb the UK: What happens to the overwhelming radical population of the UK, of radical Islamicists. What happens? Do they just sit around on their hands or do they see an opportunity? When you take the Marxists and you combine them with the radical in Islam the whole world begins to implode So there you have it, an “Archduke Ferdinand moment” which will split Europe, the Middle East and Asia into Chinese and radical Islamic zones. In the full Beck, he also introduces Bill Ayers (who Sarah Palin had in mind when she accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists”), Hizbullah and Code Pink, a feminist antiwar group. But that’s enough for now. ‘It has spread, as we predicted it would’ Says a Glenn Beck radio show co-host: Even when the French riots were going on, this was before Greece. The rioting in France – Paris was on fire virtually every night – we said this is coming to other countries That’s right. The origins of Egypt’s protest lie not in Mubarak’s dictatorship, a languid economy and lack of opportunity for young people but the 2005 unrest in Paris’s banlieues. Does Greece have something to do with it too? Here is Beck – this time on the radio – expanding on his theme of what the Egypt protests mean for Europe: The Muslim radicals in Europe and England rise up. You’ve got the communists and the Muslim radicals, they are not one and the same, they are not coordinating or anything else. But once they start to work together – whether it is coordinated or not, and I don’t believe it would be – once they start to work together in concert Europe is done. It is done. Where is the police force that is going to be able to police the entire world like that. Russia? The United States? How are you going to quell the Middle East? Watch the two of them below: ‘It tracks with this administration’s views on the economy’ Says David Asman, Fox host : President Mubarak sent a message by camel to President Obama today … Mubarak was telling Obama to mind his own business, that he will leave on his own terms, not on terms or timetables dictated by the White House The administration’s inability to have any sway there is what happens when you desert your allies and try to apply Robert’s rules of order to the raw power plays of the Middle East. We saw the same thing happen with the Carter administration’s mishandling of Iran in 1979 and we are shocked that this administration thinks the same lofty ideals will have better luck in Egypt. It is a fairyland, it is an academic view of the world that frankly tracks very closely with this administration’s views on the economy. Take healthcare, for example … To a man with a hammer every problem is a nail, as the saying goes. To a man with a problem with Obama’s healthcare reform, every problem looks like it has something to do with healthcare reform. (via Media Matters for America ) ‘Use our military power’ The strangest thing I’ve seen on the internet for a while: footage of JFK unconvincingly voiced-over by someone who cannot do a JFK impression. Recently the fires of discontent in the Middle East have been inflamed by the aid and comfort that have been given to America’s enemies by our 44th president The 44th president and Joseph Biden [should] be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours. At that point the speaker of the house, John Boehner, will become the 45th president of our nation. I’m asking john Boehner to use our military power to quell the uprising that is currently threatening the government of Hosni Mubarak I have no idea whether this is serious or satire. None at all. ‘Obama is on the side of radical Islam’ Michael Savage, who calls Obama the “socialist-in-chief”, talks over the US president’s recent statement calling for a transition to democracy in Egypt. Obama: … people want the same things that we all want. A better life for ourselves and our children … Savage: What the heck does that mean? This is the rhetoric you would have heard from the Black Panthers And here is a key quote: Grievances? Here is the community organiser now using community organisational mentality for a nation of Egypt, which is flooded with the Muslim Brotherhood. This is astounding. We are listening to the biggest mistake is US diplomatic history. This fool. This pinheaded fool running this country either doesn’t know his history or is on the side of radical Islam. There’s no two ways about it ‘What the Bible has already said’ Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily: Iran’s quest serves a second purpose of eliminating all of Israel’s supposed Islamic allies and replacing them with like-minded radical government heads that will renounce their alliance with the US and harden hatred toward Israel. Of course, this scenario only strengthens what the Bible has already said – that the enemies of Israel will one day attack them, thereby giving occasion for God to destroy their enemies From about 4 mins, we get a Biblical reading of contemporary Middle Eastern politics ‘Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the US government’ Frank Gaffney, neoconservative: There are questionable people who are sympathetic to the program of the stealth jihadists who have influence with the United States government. Some I think are actually working for it, but for sure people who are persuaded that the folks that they need to work with to reach out to the Muslim-American community, for example, who incessantly turn to Muslim Brotherhood organisations for that purpose, are a very real problem (Via Think Progress / Gawker ) ‘We will have a world war on our hands’ Bill O’Reilly forsees a domino effect where, aided by al-Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood takes charge in Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt and Jordan and gives al-Qaida free reign. ‘Al-Jazeera is British intel’ Another take on al-Jazeera: Alex Jones talks Egypt with author and host of GCN’s World Crisis Radio, Webster Tarpley. I have no idea what is going on here, there is an Anglo-American imperialist plot, they say, aided by al-Jazeera, to overthrow Mubarak. China and Russia might get involved somewhere down the line. Here is one exchange: Jones: People are opening saying what al-Jazeera is: British intel Tarpley: Yeah, that’s for sure To clear things up (joke!) at around the 3 mins mark Pink Floyd’s Money comes in to provide a sonic backdrop to the Jones-Tarpley chat. ‘The US should not fear Egypt regime change’ This may not fit the narrative but the US right is not speaking with one voice on Egypt. There are those (mainly above) who fear the consequences if Mubarak was to fall, but others who support the possibility that Egypt may transition to democracy. The quote heading this section comes from an article for Forbes by Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute (also home to Paul Wolfowitz) while a Bush administration official, Elliott Abrams, claims in the Washington Post that the Egypt protests are a vindication of his former boss. And then there are more non-partisan positions, such as Glenn Beck’s Egypt protest theories show he’s finally lost the plot . Egypt United States Simon Jeffery guardian.co.uk

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Cable dated:2008-03-16T16:43:00 S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000524 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S AND NEA/FO WHITE HOUSE FOR OVP DOD FOR OSD E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/16/28 TAGS: PARM, PREL, PGOV, MASS, MARR, PTER, IS, EG, XF SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR MINDEF TANTAWI’S VISIT TO THE U.S. MARCH 24-28 REF: A. CAIRO 452 B. CAIRO 488 C. CAIRO 507 CAIRO 00000524 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4 (a)(b)&(d). 1. (S) Summary: Defense Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi will travel to Washington, Tampa, and Chicago March 24-28. He will meet senior officials in Washington and at USCENTCOM HQ in Tampa, and view U.S. civil defense arrangements in Chicago. Mrs. Tantawi and as many as five senior generals will accompany him. Tantawi will seek assurances that the USG will not condition or reduce military assistance to Egypt in the future. He will emphasize Egypt’s continuing value to the United States as an indispensable ally in the region, and he will press to return BRIGHT STAR to a full field training exercise. The eighty-year-old veteran of five wars with Israel is committed to preventing another one ever. But he is also frozen in the Camp David paradigm and uncomfortable with our shift to the post-9/11 GWOT. Recognizing that he is reluctant to change, we nonetheless should urge Minister Tantawi towards a broader and more flexible partnership based on shared strategic objectives, including border security, counter-terrorism, peacekeeping and civil defense. End Summary. 2. (S) Border Control: Egyptian effectiveness in preventing arms smuggling into Gaza is essential to stopping Palestinian rocket fire into Israel. When the Secretary pushed hard on smuggling in October 2007, the Egyptians finally got serious and agreed to open an FMF case that will deploy counter-tunnel technology to the Rafah border. The case also includes extensive training. The initial shipment of equipment is expected in June. Training will begin this spring in the US, due to Egyptian sensitivity towards having foreigners stationed at their borders. The Egyptians are also building a concrete barrier wall on the Egyptian side to avoid a repeat of the January incursion, in which thousands of Gazans poured into Rafah. 3. (C) The Egyptians insist that they are committed to do all they can to stop smuggling into Gaza. They acknowledge the threat that Hamas poses to their own security and to the peace process. They claim to have discovered more than 200 tunnels since November 2005. Tantawi will argue that Egypt is doing everything within its power but is not the only source of weapons in Gaza. He believes that Israeli politicians are blaming Egypt for domestic political reasons and resents the impact on Egyptian military assistance. He will also urge that the USG exert influence on Israel to ease humanitarian conditions in Gaza. EGIS Chief Omar Soliman has the lead on negotiations with Hamas but Tantawi will also likely urge that Rafah be opened to ease humanitarian pressures in Gaza. 4. (S) With Tantawi we should acknowledge that the counter-tunneling technology that we will introduce this summer will contribute to interdiction efforts but does not represent a complete solution. Indeed the Army Corps of Engineers experts who designed the system have told us that the Gaza border represents a “worst case scenario” for interdiction. In a March 6 meeting with NEA A/S Welch, Tantawi hinted that the Egyptians have adopted additional measures at the border. We are still interested in a trilateral meeting with the Egyptians and Israelis (ultimately perhaps to include the PA) to share intelligence and tactics. So far the Israelis have demurred. We should broaden the discussion to maritime interdiction efforts and also addressing the weapons trail, which starts in Yemen and Sudan. 5. (S) Civil Defense: The Red Sea ferry accident in February 2006 embarrassed the Mubarak government and cost more than 1000 lives. Tantawi will bring to Washington his mandate from President Mubarak to integrate the military into crisis response management. On this he needs and will be grateful for our help — a small but important advance against the MOD’s staunch resistance to engagement with us in shifting their priorities and transforming their forces. ASD for Homeland Defense McHale has suggested including Egyptian representatives in U.S.-based civil emergency exercises CAIRO 00000524 002.2 OF 002 planned for spring and fall 2008, and inviting GOE officials to a civil defense symposium at the Army War College this fall. 6. (S) Peacekeeping: Egypt has contributed to all UN and AU peacekeeping efforts in Africa, and is sending 1300-1400 troops for the UN/AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Egypt has also offered UNAMID two additional mechanized infantry battalions; the UN has accepted one. Despite our repeated requests, the Egyptians declined to contribute helicopters; they simply do not have the logistical and operational capability to operate in Darfur’s challenging environment. We recommend that the helo request not be raised again. 7. (S) Reform: In the cabinet, where he still wields significant influence, Tantawi has opposed both economic and political reforms that he perceives as eroding central government power. He is supremely concerned with national unity, and has opposed policy initiatives he views as encouraging political or religious cleavages within Egyptian society. In a speech on March 9, Tantawi said one of the military’s roles is to protect constitutional legitimacy and internal stability, signaling his willingness to use the military to control the Muslim Brotherhood in the run-up to the April 9 municipal council elections. On economic reform, Tantawi believes that Egypt’s economic reform plan fosters social instability by lessening GOE controls over prices and production. Tantawi rejects any conditioning on Egyptian FMF on human rights or any other grounds. Before this year he thought that FMF was inviolable and regarded ESF as a layer of protection against possible cuts to FMF. He will argue that any conditions on military assistance are counter-productive. He will also state that the military is not behind human rights problems in Egypt and that U.S. Congressional human rights conditionally is mis-targeted. 8. (S) Washington interlocutors should be prepared to meet an aged and change-resistant Tantawi. Charming and courtly, he is, nonetheless mired in a post-Camp David military paradigm that has served his cohort’s narrow interests for the last three decades. He and Mubarak are focused on regime stability and maintaining the status quo through the end of their time. They simply do not have the energy, inclination or world view to do anything differently. Nonetheless, for the benefit of Tantawi’s omnipresent aides, we should focus discussions on the future and how to operate as strategic partners as we face the challenges of that future together. RICCIARDONE Egypt Hosni Mubarak The US embassy cables US foreign policy Middle East guardian.co.uk

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Vodafone may have been forced to send out pro-Mubarak texts, but operating in oppressive countries is always risky for a brand Vodafone has admitted sending out pro-Mubarak text messages to users of its mobile service in Egypt – although as the company says, in a mea exculpa, it was obliged to by the government. I had seen the pictures on Flickr last night, and followed some debate (involving Graham Linehan on Twitter) in which people debated whether they could be faked, and whether the translations given really did indicate a pro-Mubarak instruction; one suggestion was that the words were somewhat in the Nostradamus mode, where the meaning depended on what you wanted it to mean. This will be seized on by people who already want to dislike Vodafone (hello, UK Uncut) as further evidence of corporate evil. Certainly, it’s the sort of thing that will have executives in technology companies heaving a sigh and being grateful it wasn’t them. Arguably, the staff at Vodafone Egypt didn’t have much choice; it may be only 44.7% owned by the government there, but possession of a gun (or tank, or army, or secret police force armed with knives and sticks and a ruthless approach) is nine-tenths – often more – of the argument. But technology companies can hardly pretend they’re surprised when they do business with autocratic regimes and then are unpopular when those regimes use their products to reinforce their diktat. Remember Nokia Siemens, which provided equipment that was used to monitor opposition in Iran ? Or how about Cisco, whose routers have been used to build China’s Great Firewall , which keeps the majority of its citizens in wilful ignorance of the opinions of the world beyond its shores? The fact is for any corporation that if you’re keen to do business with an autocrat, you’ll be part of the collateral damage if – when – the shit hits the fan. Yet like moths batting themselves against a lightbulb in the belief that it’s actually the sun, companies keep returning to do business with countries and regimes whose life spans must be limited because of their repressive nature: no tyrant is immortal, not even (despite appearances) Robert Mugabe, and Zimbabwe will be lucky if it survives his passing without turmoil. It’s not only technology companies, of course. I’m astonished that BP has thrown in its lot once more with the Russian government, having already had its ownership of one joint venture there simply stolen. But moths don’t think about their headache. They just see something and think it’s the sun. And the people who succeed Mubarak and Mugabe and the rest – in Burma, in Iran, in North Korea, at some point in China – will not forget the brands that helped in the conspiracy to keep them down. The only faint light for Vodafone is that even while it was sending out those messages, its technology enabled the rebellion. It will have to rehearse that argument well. It’s going to need it some time in the next few months. Vodafone Telecommunications industry Egypt Hosni Mubarak Middle East Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk

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Charlie Sheen is finally speaking up, and he tells E! —via text message—that the rumors swirling about him ( cocaine chunks the size of tennis balls , his family seeking a conservatorship …) are “all crap.” He continues, “Believe nothing. I will never speak about any of this as long…

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MAP: Clashes in the heart of Cairo

Interactive map of Tahrir Square – the rally point for protesters. Go to english.aljazeera.net for more information on the running battles raging in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

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Somali pirates beat, tortured, and threatened to kill captured South Korean sailors, the Telegraph reports. “Pirates trampled and beat me whenever I talked with my captain,” said one of the seven rescued sailors, who went home yesterday. “I lost my four front teeth after being hit by the elbow of…

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Tahrir Square battleground: ‘These people tried to slaughter us last night’

Anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo fight to hold square littered with bricks and burnt-out vehicles after night of bloodshed They were barely visible at first, a glimmer of tan clothing among the ranks of pro-Mubarak fighters lined on a low overpass above the entrance to Tahrir Square. It was from here that rocks, petrol bombs and bullets had been raining down on the anti-regime opposition defending their barricades below. At 9am first one, then a second, and then dozens of Egyptian soldiers – the same military forces who had stood back and watched as last night’s bloodshed unfolded – finally appeared at this key strategic flashpoint and began driving back those on the bridge. Before them lay a no-man’s land littered with broken bricks and burnt-out vehicles that spoke of the extraordinary violence that had played out in the darkness. It was the beginning of a day of to-and-fro street clashes in the densely populated neighbourhoods surrounding the square, as anti-Mubarak protesters fought close-quarter battles to hold Tahrir and, in a hail of warning shots and automatic gunfire, the army sporadically attempted to establish buffer zones. A night of fighting that left more than 1,000 injured and several dead from gunshot wounds . Despite the denials of Egypt’s government and interior ministry, both of which claimed these events were not state-orchestrated, the evidence strongly suggested otherwise. Anti-Mubarak protesters dragged a supporter of the regime through their barricades just after 8am. In his pocket was an identity card showing him to be Ahmed Mahmoud Abdel Razik, a member of the police. His was not the only identity card taken. Others were on display, taken as their owners were led away for interrogation in the buildings on the back streets before being handed over to the army. Despite the tensions in the crowd most captured fighters were protected from retribution by responsible protesters. “These people tried to slaughter us last night – five of my fellow revolutionaries were killed by sniper fire at this location, and I saw one man collapse right in front of me at 4am with his brains falling out on to the road,” said Mahmoud Mustafa, a 25-year-old anti-Mubarak demonstrator. “But look around you – we remain peaceful, we remain united and we remain determined to bring down this regime. I was never involved in politics before, but now I will stay here until Mubarak leaves or I die, whatever comes first.” The north side of the square was a scene of devastation – both physical and human. At the makeshift aid stations, which have been manned by 70 volunteer doctors in the open air, casualties were still coming in. A man with a broken back was carried through the crowd on a piece of corrugated metal. Others came through with head injuries, broken arms and cuts. One of those treating the injured was Dr Ibrahim Fakhr, a surgical professor. “We had shooting at 11pm last night and then again at around four in the morning from a sniper on the roof of the Egyptian Museum. We saw the laser light coming from the weapon. The latest that we have is that seven have been killed by gunfire.” Like the doctors, those trying to defend the square have been forced to improvise. Crude helmets were constructed out of cardboard boxes; others strapped water bottles to their heads. They built makeshift shields and used plastic crates to catch the incoming stones at their barricades. “I’m an agricultural teacher by trade and I’ve never built weapons before, but I am good with my hands,” explained Said el-Zoughly, who was directing a group of protesters as they broke down a burnt-out vehicle to salvage defence materials and put together catapults and slingshots. “We’re not just running around wildly, we’re trying to be organised and efficient. Anyone who wants a shield can get one. We’ll stay for however long it takes – God is with us.” At the mouth of the square, buildings once held by the pro-Mubarak demonstrators had changed hands by morning. On the roof of one, a group of young men, equipped with stones and firebombs, were briefed by their leader, while others hauled sacks of rocks up the derelict stairs. “Today’s still early, but they’re scared of us,” he told those around him. “Don’t get burnt out. If you are tired get into the building. If you want to sleep stay away from the edges of the roof and its corners. “Then when they come into no-man’s land we can surprise them.” As more people arrived at the square bearing food and supplies for those inside, the clashes – smaller in intensity than those the night before – broke out again. The lines of soldiers between were hit by missiles, and tanks moved in. Mohamed Saleh, a 25-year-old senior accountant, surveyed the scene. “You must tell the world about this terrorism, government terrorism,” he said. “We’ve been sitting here for eight days with no trouble, no fires, no violence – just a peaceful desire for revolution. Now civilians are being indiscriminately massacred by thugs. If the west cares so much about terrorism then why doesn’t it act? “Mubarak says he wants eight more months in power to manage a peaceful transition. Just see what the first day of that peaceful transition looks like, then you’ll understand why we can’t stop protesting until he leaves immediately. He is a thug and a criminal and he wants to kill us. Can you imagine what would happen to us tonight if we stood down and stopped defending ourselves? We would be slaughtered. We’re fighting now for our lives.” On Twitter and by other means, anti-Mubarak protesters sent out appeals for medical supplies, blood donations and blankets, and exchanged information on which entrances and exits to the square were safe. On the fringes of Tahrir many people were assaulted and harassed by pro-Mubarak thugs, including dozens of local and international journalists who have been portrayed by state television as sympathisers of the revolution and accused of spreading misinformation and circulating drugs. Elsewhere reports filtered in of other institutions perceived to be anti-Mubarak coming under attack, including the Hisham Mubarak law centre, which has previously provided legal services for arrested democracy activists, and the El Nadeem Centre for Rehabiliation of Victims of Violence, which has campaigned against police torture. Egypt Middle East Protest Hosni Mubarak Peter Beaumont Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk

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The GOP wants to limit federal funding for abortions to cases of “forcible rape” only, and, not surprisingly, Jon Stewart was there last night to heap his scorn on the idea. “All rape is by definition forcible,” he pointed out, but correspondent Kristen Schaal wasn’t convinced. “You’d be surprised how…

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