Shit, it's really kicking off in Egypt....

[headfairy]

watching reuters footage coming in, they've got tear gas and the police are shooting protesters now. Bloody terrifying!

[Memoo]

I'm going to sound like an idiot but what is happening and why? Don't have time to read or watch news atm

[headfairy]

they're calling for the current govt to quit

[Memoo]

Thanks hf

[Chil1234]

Tunisia got the ball rolling. Now Eqypt. Hoping this gives the people of Iran and other oppressed ME countries some encouragement to stand up for democracy...

[Memoo]

So are the current government very bad?

[Niceguy2]

They're not bad by Arab standards but very poor by western standards.

Corruption is endemic. I've had to bribe the police several times. Once even had to "tip" airport security whom then let me board with my huge bottle of water poking out of my laptop bag.

[headfairy]

If there aren't casualties at the end of the day I'll be very surprised.

[KalokiMallow]

Our friend is due to go back to Egypt to see his family soon. :( They live near where it's all kicking off

[DuplicitousBitch]

i very much doubt democracy will prevail

[ThePosieParker]

The USA will have a vested interest in finding a solution for Egypt....Suez and all that!

[BadgersPaws]

The American Navy does use the Suez canal, but I'm not sure if they do it all the time or just in "emergencies".

Another issue will be Israel next door, America is not going to be keen on there being a fundamentalist Islamic Government there. So I'm sure there's some behind the scenes diplomatic poking going on.

[Niceguy2]

I don't think there will be a more fundamentalist government. This is not a riot because of religious beliefs. This is because they're tired of corruption and rising prices.

The Egyptian's in many ways are quite westernised and not so fundamentalist.

[ThePosieParker]

The poverty the 'middle class' endure there is frightening.

[SauvignonBlanche]

Does anyone know what the advice to British tourists is?
DSis going there on honeymoon.

[brimfull]

niceguy2-do you live there?

[earwicga]

'I don't think there will be a more fundamentalist government.'

Are you a fan of the Muslim Brotherhood then?

[BeenBeta]

Its ironic that the inflation in food prices that has destabilised Egypt and the other North African states was caused by massive injection of monetary stumulus into financial markets by the US Federal Reserve.

In effect, US foreign policy is being undermned bu US monetary policy. It gets interesting if this spreads to the Middle East and then Asia.

Will the arab oil producers be hit by regime change, will Iran have a revolution or will Saudi Arabia?

Will Communism be overthrown in China?

Famine has historically marked every major regime change in China for thousands of years.

This is whole thing is a very big issue in the world right now. It really could trigger the next global depression.

[BeenBeta]

Just been listening to a report on CNBC.

The reporter on the ground in Egypt suggested that the Islamists might be about to take advantage of the situation.

No one nows how a chaotic situation like this will turn out.

[BeenBeta]

Syriah has just shut down its internet service.

[orangina]

My pals in Lebanon are waiting for it all to kick off there too.....

(grim)

[LittleMissHissyFit]

DH was due to take off 30 mins ago.

He rescheduled.

Thank God, because they have announced a curfew and the army is being called to the streets as the Police can't contain the situation. Mohammed Elbaradei has been arrested and Ayman Nour is in Intensive Care in hospital after he was pelted in the back of the head with a rock while praying today.

This situation today is potentially world altering. Egypt will never be the same again.

Apparently as the muslims formed a human shield at Christmas in Alex to protect the Christians going to Mass, the Christians protected the muslims who knelt down to pray today in the face of the Special Forces police.

This could be the tipping point where the oppressive regimes all fall like dominoes and one by one the oppressed countries are granted their freedom. Once that happens it'll de-fuel the fanatics, it ought to relieve pressure and aid inter-faith tolerance.... The oppressed will turn their hatred on those that have caused the suffering and not those who don't share the same religious beliefs. Up until now, the only place to be critical was of the other faith, to voice dissent of the authorities, could result in detention, police beatings or worse.

These events could just about end radical islam, it could even enable a movement toward female equality.

If Egyptians can do this (knowing them as I do) then literally nothing is impossible.

We are literally watching the death of the old guard and the birth of freedom in countries where it's not been allowed for decades.

I'll be willing to bet that there is not a President not Head of State in the ME region that will sleep too well tonight... They'll be crapping themselves!

[LittleMissHissyFit]

According to Aljazeera Arabic there are bodies in the streets of Alex.

[earwicga]

Apparently Gaza is being bombed now.

[LittleMissHissyFit]

Oh christ, I have just realised, I referred to 'H' as DH.....

Strange days indeed

[earwicga]

Al Jazeera is still broadcasting, despite police inteference english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/