US message to Arab world matters -- and Obama is sending the wrong one
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:35 pm PST
The Christian Science Monitor - Across the Arab world, mass protests have emerged with a ferocity and urgency the world has almost forgotten since the days of the cold war. In Egypt, protesters thronged the streets, defied curfews, and stormed the Interior Ministry building in Cairo, the most powerful symbol of President Hosni Mubarak’s control. Full Story | Top |
Is Jordan Next?
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:22 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - In Tunisia, President Ben Ali has fled the country. In Egypt, crowds of 200,000 are hanging President Mubarak in effigy. In Syria and Yemen, protests are roiling. And in Jordan, King Abdullah II seems to be trying to jump out in front of a similar wave of unrest. The king fired his prime minister, Samir al-Rifai, and jettisoned his cabinet this week, as thousands of Jordanians demonstrated in the capital and elsewhere. The move is widely being seen as a preemptive, conciliatory gesture, though it's not clear whether it will be enough to mollify the protesters. The U.S. has reason to keep an eye on this story, since Jordan is a close ally of American interests in the region. Here's what's going on and the main questions going forward: Full Story | Top |
Officials Warn of Al Qaeda Threats Against Wall Street
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 03:03 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Security officials are briefing Wall Street executives about threats to them and their institutions from al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen, NBC New York reports. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and NYPD officials are apparently concerned that "the names of some top banking executives have been discussed by terror operatives overseas" and "that operatives in Yemen may again try to send package bombs or biological or chemical agents through the mail to Wall Street bankers." Alerted banks include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Barclays. Full Story | Top |
Top Tweets: Mubarak Caves Edition
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 02:23 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - Today, amid continuous protests, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced in his rather divisive speech that he would not run for reelection in the fall. Twitter immediately switched from calls for Mubarak's ouster to celebratory reactions to his announcement as well as conerns about when, exactly, he would leave. The following is a sampling of the serious and lighthearted Twitter sentiments surrounding Mubarak's decision leave Egypt's presidential office to someone else. ABC's Christian Amanpour notes protesters aren't satisfied with "next fall." They want Mubarak out immediately. .bbpBox32552413898473470 {background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/130474104/twitter_tw_080210_d02_asset.jpg) #ffffff;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block} After Mubarak's speech, crowd in #Cairo chanting go, go ,go, leave.less than a minute ago via HootSuiteChristiane Amanpourcamanpour Full Story | Top |
Video: ElBaradei's a 'Dilettante,' Says John Bolton
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 01:39 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - John, Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN gives his read on Hosni Mubarak's decision to negotiate with Mohamed ElBaradei. The good news: it's a step forward. The bad: Bolton thinks ElBaradei is little more than a seat-filler. Full Story | Top |
Next step for the 'Obamacare' individual mandate
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:57 pm PST
The Christian Science Monitor - Journalists overlooked a key footnote in Monday’s court ruling striking down the new health-care law as unconstitutional. US District Judge Roger Vinson may have intended his legal aside to be incidental. But Congress shouldn’t. Full Story | Top |
Does Snow Hurt the Economy? How Much?
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:47 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - When British officials attributed the U.K. economy's contraction in the fourth quarter of 2010 to wintry weather, we know of at least one snow-hardened Montreal resident who scoffed at the claim. Full Story | Top |
Korean Talks: Compromise on the Horizon?
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:25 pm PST
The Atlantic Wire - South Korea and its counterpart to the North will engage in military talks next week. The encounter will be the first between the two nations since November, when an artillery exchange resulted in the deaths of four South Koreans. The meeting will involve preliminary planning for further discussions of the North's provocative actions such as its nuclear program and the March sinking of a South Korean warship, reports Mark McDonald at the New York Times. That said, no one apart from the politicians issuing soundbytes sounds very optimistic. Full Story | Top |
To oust Mubarak, Egyptian protesters must appeal to vanity, not shame
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:40 am PST
The Christian Science Monitor - Before President Hosni Mubarak visits a certain neighborhood in Cairo, police move in to tow cars and pick up garbage, so he doesn’t have to see what his cluttered, polluted capital really looks like. A student of mine showed me a series of about 30 photographs he took in his neighborhood of police and government workers feverishly removing garbage and cars from a main street before Mubarak arrived in all his eminence. Full Story | Top |
Senator Challenges Clean Air Act
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:39 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, along with seven Senate peers, introduced legislation Monday that would curtail the reach of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. The bill's supporters say the Environmental Protection Agency has used legislation such as the 1970 Clean Air Act for a power grab and is exercising authority it doesn't have. But the heart of the issue, apparently, is not that the EPA has overstepped its mandate, but that limiting greenhouse gasses hurts businesses. The bill wants to overturn limits on seven controlled emissions, including nitrous oxide, sulfur hexaflouride and hydroflourocarbons and wants to prevent global warming from being considered a legitimate reason to limit emissions.Barrasso says Americans don't want this level of government interference: "Americans rejected cap and trade because they know it means higher energy prices and lost jobs," he says, "Washington agencies are now trying a backdoor approach to regulate our climate by abusing existing laws."Barrasso and his co-sponsors are not alone in wanting to scale back or eliminate limits on green house gasses--the National Association of Manufacturers, for one, has his back. In the trade association's blog, Shopfloor, the organization came to Barasso's side, sayingManufacturers are faced with tremendous uncertainty as the EPA and state permitting authorities begin the implementation process of regulating GHG emissions from stationary sources. Sen. Barrasso’s broad-reaching legislation is needed to stem the tide of the EPA overreach give our nation’s job creators the assurance they need to expand their businesses and put Americans back to work. Full Story | Top |
Why Is Obama Giving Up on Mubarak?
Tue, 1 Feb 2011 10:34 am PST
The Atlantic Wire - Hosni Mubarak is now willing to talk to the opposition about reform, but it looks like the offer is too little too late. The Obama administration "sees no scenario" in which the Egyptian president can cling to power, The Wall Street Journal reports. Mubarak's opposition won't talk to him, and the Egyptian army has promised to allow a million-man protest to proceed peacefully in Cairo. Full Story | Top |
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