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Dozens dead as thousands escape Egypt prisons

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© Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Bodies littered the road outside a Cairo prison and troops with bayonets fixed moved into another facility after thousands of convicts broke out of jails or were abandoned by guards in protest-hit Egypt. Soldiers set up checkpoints along the Nile in the upmarket Maadi district, near the notorious Tora prison, searching cars for escapees, as protests against President Hosni Mubarak raged into a sixth straight day.

Troops took a man from a car, threw him on the ground and tied his hands with a scarf as they did not have handcuffs. Asked why the man was detained, a soldier told an AFP correspondent: "He's just escaped from prison."

At Tora prison, where many Islamist militants have in the past been detained and tortured according to rights groups, an AFP correspondent said that shots could be heard coming from inside while soldiers with bayonets fixed moved in.

The army blocked access to the prison and an armoured personnel carrier fired its heavy machine gun in the air to clear civilians from the area.

Stormtrooper

Cairo: Anger starting to focus on Israel, US

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© Reuters

Cairo - Saturday's optimism on the streets of Cairo for imminent political change gave way to anger on Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators became increasingly frustrated with the lack of response from major world leaders, especially the US.

During the main protest on Sunday in downtown Cairo, one man painted a 20- meter-long message in flowing Arabic cursive that echoed across the square: "Go Away, Mubarak, you are from the Americans, and you're working for them!"

Egyptians understand that the world is waiting to see if President Hosni Mubarak falls to popular pressure before major leaders decide which side to support. But this is infuriating the demonstrators, who realize that six days of unrest have not accomplished their goal and that they need united international pressure in order to topple the almost-30-year incumbent.

Eye 1

'I had an overwhelming desire to kill a child': Top German executive murders boy and blames it on stress at the office

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Murdered: The body of a ten-year-old boy, named only as Mirco, was found last week four months after he went missing
German police have arrested a top phone company executive who kidnapped and murdered a 10 year-old boy - because he had a bad day at the office.

'It was all the stress at work. The boss gave me a hard time and I had this overwhelming desire to kill a child,' the murderer told police after a five-month manhunt which led to the arrest.

The man, who has only been identified as 45-year-old Olaf H because of German privacy laws, phoned his wife as he drove home from work near Bonn to tell her about his miserable day and to say he might be late.

'I drove around aimlessly looking for a random victim, a child because I wanted to have power over somebody,' he said in a reported statement.

'A girl or a boy it didn't matter. I needed somebody so I could relieve my frustration.'

His victim was a boy named by police only as Mirco who was cycling home at 10pm after spending the evening at a skating rink.

He made the boy climb into his car before raping and then strangling him.

He dumped the body in a wood at Grefrath, near the Belgian border.

Olaf's career took a turn for the better after the murder. His boss promoted him, gave him a pay rise and put him in charge of a department with 150 workers.

Stormtrooper

ElBaradei joins protesters in central Cairo

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© AFP

Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei told thousands of protesters in central Cairo on Sunday that an uprising against Hosni Mubarak's rule "cannot go back."

ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and retired international diplomat, said earlier he had been given a mandate to make contact with the army and build a new government in Egypt.

"I bow to the people of Egypt in respect. I ask of you patience, change is coming in the next few days," he said.

Eye 1

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood eyes unity government without Mubarak

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© APAn army officer, borne on the shoulders of anti-government protesters, tearing up a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in downtown Cairo, January 29, 2010.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group,is in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak, a group official told DPA on Sunday.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned from running for elections for parliament, some movement members have presented candidacy for parliament as independents.

Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak.

Dollar

Queenland floods make heavy weather of insurance costs

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© saidaonline.com

Household insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket this year because of natural disasters as tropical cyclone Yasi threatens even more damage in flood-ravaged Queensland.

Yasi is predicted to hit the coast between Townsville and Cairns tomorrow night or early Thursday with gusts of 250km/h and heavy rain. It could cause flash and riverine flooding, said Ann Farrell, a meteorologist at the weather bureau.

Destructive winds are expected between Cooktown and Yeppoon by tomorrow morning as Yasi approaches. A storm surge combined with high tides could flood low-lying coastal areas.

Family

Pakistani children haunted by images of flood waters

Raja Hussain, 10, still sees flood waters roaring towards his farming village most nights. They sound like a high-speed train.


Monsoon floods hit Pakistan six months ago. Yet, those vivid images still haunt the Pakistani child's nightmares.

"In the dreams I see myself praying to Allah for help," said Hussain.

One of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan's history left about 11 million people homeless, killed nearly 2,000, destroyed millions of acres of crops and hammered the economy.

They also inflicted a heavy psychological toll, and children are most vulnerable.

Cloud Lightning

Passenger on storm-tossed cruise says event led to wife's death

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© ABC
A taxi driver from Scotland who was aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas in December when it was rocked violently by extreme winds and waves says the heavily publicized event led to his wife's death.

John Davey tells the UK's Mirror his wife, Barbara Davey, fell into a coma three days after being thrown about her cabin during the incident. She was taken to a hospital after the 2,100-passenger ship reached Malta and then airlifted back to Britain but never recovered and died on Jan. 7, the news outlet says.

Royal Caribbean said last month that more than 100 passengers were injured during the incident, which it has called serious, but the line said the injuries were mostly minor. The line said the ship unexpectedly experienced extreme conditions as it was approaching Alexandria, Egypt, that caused the vessel to roll sharply. Passenger photos posted online after the incident show toppled furniture, broken glass and other signs of a violent event.

War Whore

Gas Canisters Used On Egyptian Protesters Clearly Marked 'Made In The USA'

January 27, 2011 MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show.


People

Egyptian protesters push back armed police!

This YouTube video shows protesters pushing back police on bridge in Cairo.