This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com
- Egypt court sentences 21 people to death over riot last year
- At least 40 people killed in nationwide clashes in Egypt
- Nine protesters killed on 2nd anniversary of Egyptian Revolution
- Egypt's government in a state of crisis
- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez still has difficulty breathing, but runs the government from Cuba
Egypt court sentences 21 people to death over riot last year
People carry body of protester killed on Friday (Reuters)
An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on Saturday for
participating in a riot in Port Said on February 2 of last year, where
74 young people were killed, and over 1,000 injured at a football
(soccer) match. ( "3-Feb-12 World View -- Suspicions grow of planned massacre at soccer game in Egypt") There were plenty of riot police present at the game,
but video shows that they allowed the violence to continue without
interference, and they may even have aided the violence by blocking
the escape route of the victims. The attackers were mostly fans of
the home team, the al-Masry football club, while the victims were fans
of the visiting team, Cairo's Al-Ahly football club, a group that had
actively taken part in the Tahrir Square protests during 2011, and the
suspicion is widespread that police were responsible for the violence,
in order to get revenge against the Al-Ahly team. The violence
infuriated the people of Cairo, who blamed the deaths on the police.
AFP
At least 40 people killed in nationwide clashes in Egypt
On Saturday, 30 more protesters were killed by police in violent
rioting in Port Said by Egyptians infuriated by the verdict. Most of
those sentenced to death were supporters of the al-Masry team, and so
they lived in the Port Said area. Egyptians from the region were
infuriated not only because of the harsh death sentences, but also
because no one from the Egypt's police was held to account for the
deaths.
Al-Ahram (Cairo)
Nine protesters killed on 2nd anniversary of Egyptian Revolution
The killings on Saturday followed nine killings by police during
protests in Suez on Friday commemorating the two-year anniversary of
the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution that deposed Hosni Mubarak.
Forensic examination on Saturday of the victims shows that they
were shot by live ammunition at close range, sometimes from behind.
Al-Ahram (Cairo)
Egypt's government in a state of crisis
With almost 40 people killed in two days, Egypt's president Mohamed
Morsi was forced to cancel a scheduled trip to Ethiopia and meet with
top generals to discuss the violence. When Morsi was first elected in
June, in the first free and fair presidential elections in Egypt's
history, he originally had a high approval rating. Then, in November,
he was given credit for arranging a cease-fire in the brief war
between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But he lost it all two days later,
when he "appointed himself Pharaoh of Egypt" by issuing a decree
granting himself dictatorial powers not subject to review by the
courts or appeal. He used these powers to enable Egypt's new
constitution to be written entirely by Muslim Brotherhood Islamists
and al-Nour Salafists. Tensions have been growing between the young
liberals and secularists who launched the revolution two years ago
versus the Islamist conservatives who are now in almost complete
control of the government. The new violence in Port Said may be a
sign that the fault lines in this conflict may even have geographical
overtones, pitting big cities like Cairo versus rural areas.
The National (UAE)
I've pointed this out several times in the past, but it's worth
pointing out again: What's developing in Egypt is not Egypt versus
Israel, nor Muslim Brotherhood versus Israel. Except for some
isolated incidents, there have been no protesters screaming "Death to
Israel!" or "Death to America!" as happens in Ramallah and Gaza City.
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez still has difficulty breathing, but runs the government from Cuba
Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez, still in Cuba for cancer treatment,
is having difficulty breathing, according to government officials who
have just returned to Caracas from Havana. Vice-President Nicolás
Maduro says that "Chávez is clinging to life," but added that he is
"climbing the hill." But Maduro insists that Chávez is running
Venezuela's government from Havana, that he's signed a number of
decisions related to Venezuela's gold reserves, and that Chávez asked
him to "send a message of encouragement to private entrepreneurs."
El Universal (Caracas) and
El Universal (Caracas)
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