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  • Mubarak, Army, U.S., Israel vs Egyptian People

    [As government forces have attacked peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square, Emad Mekay from Cairo reports] Mubarak is clearly backed by the Americans. He took some moves after speaking with Obama and a visit by a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner. Mubarak, the army, the Americans and the Israelis are clearly on one side.…

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  • Unrest Spreads to Sinai

    A Bedouin youth casually spreads out a piece of cloth before a police headquarters in Sheikh Zwayyed town in Sinai, the vast desert area to the east of Cairo across the Suez. “I will leave when Mubarak leaves,” he says. [Full piece from Inter Press Service]

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  • Chomsky: Strategic and Economic Objectives, Not Anti-Islamization, Drives U.S. Policy

    [While many are claiming that a central goal of U.S. policy is to minimize influence of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Noam Chomsky contributed this to our blog] It is well-established, including the major scholarly literature, that the U.S. supports democracy if and only if that accords with strategic and economic objectives.  Following…

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  • An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

    ————————————————————————————————————————— [To sign; for recent news releases on Egypt from the Institute for Public Accuracy] Dear President Obama: As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping…

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  • Report from Cairo

    From Alex Ortiz in Cairo: “The army is beginning to come into Cairo … tens of thousands converged in midan al-gala’ coming from three different protest marches. Total communication blackout. Reports of senior police officers ordering their men to stand down and not beat or fire tear gas at protesters in Midan al-gala an hour…

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  • Report on Latest from Cairo

    CAIRO, Egypt [11 p.m. local time] — 1-Some government media figures appear to be joining ranks with the protesters. Mahmoud Saad, a talk show host in the Egyptian state-run TV, has announced that he will no longer appear on TV starting tonight after he came under pressure from top government officials to report “untruths” about…

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  • Police in Cairo Beating up Jounalists

    [From 9:28 a.m. ET]: Police started beating up journalists protesting outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo. They beat up women journalists too who were screaming and crying for help. “Do not club women. Do not club women,” some of the men rushed to the police asking them not to target women. “You’ll make things…

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  • From Alex Ortiz in Cairo

    [The Egyptian government has apparently block Twitter, Facebook (as of Wed. morn U.S. ET) and other internet tools, though apparently some people are able to get around such restrictions. Email from 8:45 a.m. ET:] Downtown Cairo today remains in a state of high alert. There are many security forces and plainsclothed policemen visible on every…

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  • Video from Cairo

    Phone lines are intermittent and Twitter has reportedly been blocked in Egypt. Here is a live video feed: ustream.tv/channel/cairodowntown [update: ustream has been blocked, streaming now intermittently at livestream.com/cairowitness — further update, now at: www.justin.tv/cairowitness] Here is a YouTube video from earlier today:

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  • Ukraine’s Assault on a Free Press

    In Ukraine, where media diversity is often defined by which powerful oligarch controls which TV station, one network, TVi — known for its independent investigative style — is under intense legal pressure, with its owner not part of Ukraine’s power circles. TVi faces a court hearing on Tuesday over a legal claim that the station’s…

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  • Covid Behind Bars Project Finds Failure of Geriatric Parole Reform

    Since the start of the pandemic, UCLA Law’s Covid Behind Bars Project has tracked, collected and analyzed public information about Covid-19 in prisons, jails, youth facilities and immigration detention centers. Now, the project has released analysis showing Nevada’s emergency medical use mechanisms failed to provide a single geriatric parole hearing during the pandemic. 

  • Blinded by “Russiaphobia”

    Professor of Political Science at University of Arizona, John “Pat” Willerton says, “The Russian economy is stronger than westerners thought and it shows minimal stresses from sanctions…outside of the West, most of the world refuses to apply sanctions.”

  • * After Roe in Alabama * Counterpacking the Court

    “Regarding the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, Francis Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois said, “The Democratic Party should embrace counterpacking the courts.”

  • Calls for U.S. to Unfreeze Afghan Funds

    Co-founder of Food Not Bombs said today, “how can we cut the school lunch program yet add $45 billion in military spending above President Biden’s already criminal $813 billion request? As the economy crashes millions more children are sure to go hungry. I get calls everyday from desperate families seeking food.”

  • Billions to Military While School Lunch Program Expires

    Co-founder of Food Not Bombs said today, “how can we cut the school lunch program yet add $45 billion in military spending above President Biden’s already criminal $813 billion request? As the economy crashes millions more children are sure to go hungry. I get calls everyday from desperate families seeking food.”

  • Biden’s Saudi Trip: For Cheaper Gas — or for Israel?

    “Biden isn’t just forgiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his direct role in the beheading of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in return for a Saudi promise to pump more oil. As Biden admitted last week, this Middle East trip is about regional security — and that of Israel in particular,” says Trita Parsi, executive…

  • Leftist Petro Wins Colombia Presidential Election

    Leftist Gustavo Petro and his running mate Francia Marquez win Colombian elections. Forrest Hylton says, “Now Colombia is largely urban, and Petro’s margin of victory in Bogotá alone was enough to account for his victory over Hernández.”

  • Assange Case: Persecution for Exposing War Crimes

    British Home Secretary has approved extradition of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to the U.S. where he would face a 175 year sentence after being in prison for over three years in Britain. A news conference is being held with Assange’s lawyers, wife and press freedom groups. JOHN SHIPTON, [email protected] GABRIEL SHIPTON, [email protected] John Shipton and Gabriel Shipton, who…

  • Saudi: The Death of One is a Tragedy; the Death of Millions is a Statistic

    Dr. Aisha Jumaan, regarding the war Saudi Arabia has waged on Yemen, writes in her latest piece, “News outlets in the United States give prime coverage to the war in Ukraine but mostly ignore the devastating war that the U.S. has supported.”

  • 338,000 U.S. Lives Could Have Been Saved from Covid, Study Finds

    A new study has found that between the beginning of the pandemic until mid-March 2022, universal health care could have saved more than 338,000 lives from Covid-19, and demonstrates that a significant share of Covid mortality in the U.S. is “due to our reliance on a system of market-driven health care.” 

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