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Israel steps into void left by US by arming Egyptian forces against protesters


Press TV
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:12 UTC
Image
Reports say Israel has sent crowd dispersal weapons to the Egyptian regime to curb massive protests against President Hosni Mubarak's 30 years of authoritarian rule.

The International Network for Rights and Development said that three Israeli planes landed at Cairo's Mina International Airport on Saturday, carrying equipment for use in dispersing and suppressing large crowds, a Press TV correspondent reported.

According to the report, Egyptian security forces received the cargo on three Israeli planes, which were allegedly carrying a large supply of internationally proscribed gas to disperse crowds.

Egyptians have taken to the streets across the country for eight days running, demanding that Mubarak step down.

The uprising has prompted Mubarak to appoint his first-ever vice president and a new prime minister in a desperate attempt to retain power.
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Attention

Al Jazeera English Blacked Out Across Most Of U.S.

Ryan Grim
The Huffington Post
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:05 UTC
Canadian television viewers looking for the most thorough and in-depth coverage of the uprising in Egypt have the option of tuning into Al Jazeera English, whose on-the-ground coverage of the turmoil is unmatched by any other outlet. American viewers, meanwhile, have little choice but to wait until one of the U.S. cable-company-approved networks broadcasts footage from AJE, which the company makes publicly available. What they can't do is watch the network directly.

Other than in a handful of pockets across the U.S. - including Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C. - cable carriers do not give viewers the choice of watching Al Jazeera. That corporate censorship comes as American diplomats harshly criticize the Egyptian government for blocking Internet communication inside the country and as Egypt attempts to block Al Jazeera from broadcasting.

The result of the Al Jazeera English blackout in the United States has been a surge in traffic to the media outlet's website, where footage can be seen streaming live. The last 24 hours have seen a two-and-a-half thousand percent increase in web traffic, Tony Burman, head of North American strategies for Al Jazeera English, told HuffPost. Sixty percent of that traffic, he said, has come from the United States.
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Che Guevara

Four million hold protests in Egypt


Press TV
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00 UTC
Image
© Jim Hollander/EPA
Some two million protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo today, another million gathered in Alexandria and at least another million in other Egyptian cities.
Over four million Egyptians have taken to the streets across the country to pressure President Hosni Mubarak and his government to step down.

Large crowds have massed in capital Cairo for the biggest anti-government protest in Egypt's recent history.

The demonstrators have flooded Cairo's Tahrir square, calling on President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

Men, women and children from all walks of life are attending the rally which has so far been peaceful.

Tanks and troops have been stationed along the route of the march, but the army has promised not to use force against the demonstrators.

Security checkpoints have also been placed all across Cairo.

Reports say the government has restricted access to the capital by shutting down all roads and public transportation.
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Mr. Potato

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy confession: 'I no longer feel left wing'

Henry Samuel
The Telegraph
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:08 UTC
Bruni
© REX
Only two years ago Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy had claimed that she was 'instinctively left-wing'
France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has confessed to no "longer feeling left-wing" after three years of marriage to the country's conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The supermodel-turned-singer's reputation as a "luvvie Lefty" has been cited as a major handicap to Mr Sarkozy's re-election, and her political change of heart is an attempt to boost support for her unpopular husband among his core Right-wing electorate.

Only two years ago Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy had claimed that she was "instinctively left-wing" after at one stage supporting her husband's Socialist rival in the 2007 presidential elections. She had also publicly opposed Mr Sarkozy's plan to conduct DNA tests on immigrants.
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Sheriff

US: Dallas Teen Fined $637 for Foul Mouth!


Associated Press
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:08 UTC
traffic cop
© Getty Image
A suburban Dallas teenager had to take on a waitressing job to pay $637 after being ticketed for using bad language in a high school classroom.

Court records show that teacher Michelle Lene heard Victoria Mullins say "you trying to start (expletive)" loudly in class one day last October. She was sent to the principal's office and given lunch detention. The next day, the school resource officer presented the North Mesquite High School student a ticket.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the fine for disorderly conduct/abusive language was $340, but other charges included failure to show for a hearing.

The complaint said Lene was offended, and that Mullins' language was a breach of the peace.

Mullins acknowledges she was wrong. She said a classmate was getting on her nerves.
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Pocket Knife

US: Wife Killed Husband After Finding Hickey


CBS Boston
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:48 UTC
A woman was ordered held without bail Monday charged with killing her husband in Medford.

Police found 34-year-old Troy Burston wounded outside a home on Exchange Avenue at 10:40 p.m. Sunday. He was not wearing a shirt and had been stabbed in the chest.

He was rushed to Lawrence Memorial Hospital where he died.

WBZ-TV's Sera Congi reports:

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House

Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty

Diana Olick
CNBC
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:57 UTC
foreclosure
© Getty Image
I usually find the quarterly homeowner vacancy and homeownership report from Census pretty lackluster, but the latest one released this morning was anything but.

America's home ownership rate, after holding steady for a while, took a pretty big plunge in Q4, from 66.9 percent to 66.5 percent. That's down from the 2004 peak of 69.2 percent and the lowest level since 1998.

Homeownership is falling at an alarming pace, despite the fact that home prices have fallen, affordability is much improved and inventories of new and existing homes are still running quite high.

Bargains abound, but few are interested or eligible to take advantage.
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Whistle

US: Boxer's debut ends in death


Arkansas Online
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:17 UTC
Image
© Staton Breidenthal
This 2001 file photo shows Anthony Jones as a defensive-back for El Dorado High School.
An El Dorado man who made his professional boxing debut Saturday in Benton died Sunday at a Little Rock hospital just hours after the bout was stopped in the second round.

Anthony Jones, 28, died at UAMS medical center Sunday, but the promoter of an event dubbed "Benton Beatdown," at Fitness Unlimited in Benton. He said he wasn't sure of a cause of death.

"It was just an untimely and unfortunate accident for him," said Larry Harris, whose-Sheridan based Thunderstruck Fight Promotions had put together the seven bout event that drew close to 500 spectators. "The hospital doesn't believe it had anything to do with the fight."
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Pocket Knife

Nothing for Free: Egyptians Feel the Economic Pinch of Protest

Fatima El-Bacha
Middle East Online
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:33 UTC
Bread of the revolution
© MiddleEastOnline
Bread of the revolution
Authorities respond to growing fears of shortages; Egypt still had sufficient stocks of food, cash and fuel.

There is no money at the banks. Fuel is scarce. Tourism is evaporating.

As a popular uprising to oust President Hosni Mubark enters its second week, Egyptians are feeling the economic pinch.

Banks have been shut since Sunday, and they remained so on Tuesday, the day that protesters hope will see a million-strong demonstration in Cairo to demand an end to Mubarak's regime.

Many automatic teller machines (ATM) in the teeming capital have run out of cash, and those still working were dispensing only a limited number of banknotes.

"I scoured the city in search of an automatic teller and I found only one place -- in a neighbourhood where people do not normally use ATMs," said Mohamed, a driver.

In Cairo, supermarkets that usually accepted credit cards insisted on cash instead, while crowds flocked to grocery stores in several neighbourhoods to stock up on essentials.

Many gas stations were closed, with long lines at those that were still open. The Chamber of Commerce in Cairo appealed to shopkeepers on Monday to reopen, but most ignored the call.
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Briefcase

US: Judge rules against health law, cites Obama's words

Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:16 UTC
Judge Roger Vinson
© Associated Press/Pensacola News Journal, Tony Giberson
Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, seen here in 2007, declared the Obama administration’s health care overhaul unconstitutional Monday, siding with 26 states that sued to block it, saying that people can’t be required to buy health insurance.
In ruling against President Obama's health care law, federal Judge Roger Vinson used Mr. Obama's own position from the 2008 campaign against him, when the then-Illinois senator argued there were other ways to achieve reform short of requiring every American to purchase insurance.

"I note that in 2008, then-Senator Obama supported a health care reform proposal that did not include an individual mandate because he was at that time strongly opposed to the idea, stating that, 'If a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house,'" Judge Vinson wrote in a footnote toward the end of his 78-page ruling Monday.

Judge Vinson, a federal judge in the northern district of Florida, struck down the entire health care law as unconstitutional on Monday, though he is allowing the Obama administration to continue to implement and enforce it while the government appeals his ruling.
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