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Biodun@bbcnews.com

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Egypt's Health Ministry says 365 killed in unrest
Topic: elizabeth edwards, bbc news

CAIRO – Egypt's Health Ministry says at least 365 people were killed during the 18-day anti-government uprising that began on Jan. 25.

It was the first comprehensive toll given by the government for the uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

Minister Ahmed Sameh Farid said it was only a preliminary count of civilians killed and did not include police or prisoners.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) — Airport employees protested for better pay Wednesday, textile workers went on strike to demand a corruption investigation and residents of a Suez Canal city pressed for closing a chemical factory they say is dumping toxic waste into a lake in the latest wave of unrest shaking Egypt.

With the nation's economy faltering, the ruling military council issued its second statement in three days calling for an immediate halt to all labor actions. The new warning Wednesday raised expectations of an outright ban on protests and strikes that could easily raise the tension level in a country already growing more nervous by the day over uncertainties about the future.

"We urge citizens and members of professional and labor unions to go on with their jobs, each in their position," a text message sent to Egyptian cell phones from the military said.

So far, the warnings have been defied by people airing grievances everywhere over just about everything, from meager wages to police brutality and corruption. One of the youth groups that helped organize the uprising tweeted Wednesday: "Strikes and protests should NOT stop." The group also promoted a planned march this Friday to Cairo's Tahrir Square, the protest movement's key gathering point.

Click image to see photos of celebrations in Egypt

AP/Tara Todras-Whitehill

The council that took power from longtime leader Hosni Mubarak last Friday says strikes and protests are hampering efforts to salvage the economy and return to normal life after the 18-day democracy revolt that forced the president out of office.

Egypt's economy is in virtual paralysis with the labor unrest, extended bank and stock market closures and an evaporation of tourism — a key source of income for the country.

Hundreds of airport employees protested inside the arrivals terminal at Cairo International Airport to press demands for better wages and health coverage. The protest did not disrupt flights.

In the industrial Nile Delta city of Mahallah al-Koubra, workers from Egypt's largest textile factory went on strike over pay and calls for an investigation into alleged corruption at the factory, according to labor rights activist Mustafa Bassiouni.

Mahallah in April 2008 witnessed the country's largest protests in decades, when demonstrators took to the streets to press demands for better pay and a check on rising food prices. The youth movement behind the Mahallah protest then was a key player in the anti-Mubarak protests that broke out Jan. 25 and eventually forced the authoritarian leader to step down.

Expressions of concern and frustration came from all directions on Wednesday.

A broad swath of more than 60 women's and community groups condemned the new panel formed by the Armed Forces Supreme Council to amend Egypt's constitution, saying it is an all-male group which "excludes half of society."

"This casts doubt on the future of democratic transformation in Egypt after the revolution, and raises questions about ... whether the revolution was seeking to free the whole society or only certain segments," the statement said.

In Port Said, a coastal city at the northern tip of the Suez Canal, about 1,000 people demonstrated to demand that a chemical factory be closed because it was dumping waste in a lake near the city.

Given the instability around this country of 80 million people, authorities decided to put back by another week the reopening of schools and universities across the country, an indication that the country still has some way to go before it returns to full normalcy. Schools and universities were just starting their midyear break when the protests broke out.

Banks are closed Wednesday and Thursday, the last day of the business week in Egypt. There was no word on whether they would reopen Sunday, the start of the business week.

The stock market has been closed for the past three weeks and, again, and it's uncertain when it will resume operating. The market lost nearly 17 percent of its value in two tumultuous sessions in late January before it was ordered shut to halt the slide.

In the wake of a protest Monday and Wednesday outside the office of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, a spokeswoman for the group said it has started giving each refugee a small, one-time payment to help with their immediate needs.

The refugees demonstrating at the UNHCR office on the outskirts of Cairo complained they have been stuck in Egypt for several years, sometimes as long as a decade. Wilkes said there are some 40,000 registered refugees in the country, many from East Africa.

The European Union said Wednesday that its foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton would visit Egypt next week after the Egyptian Foreign Ministry asked the international community for aid. Ashton, already in the region, would be the most senior foreign official to come to Cairo since Mubarak's Feb. 11 ouster. Details of her visit and who she would meet while in Cairo were yet to be announced.

There was one crumb of good news for Egyptian authorities.

The country's chief archaeologist announced the recovery of three of 18 pieces reported missing from the famed Egyptian Museum during the anti-Mubarak uprising.

"God almighty saved the antiquities from this hell because God loves Egypt," Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said.

Posted by biginla at 5:21 PM GMT

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Tuesday, 7 December 2010

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Elizabeth Edwards Dies of Cancer at 61, Family Says
Topic: elizabeth edwards, bbc news

Tue, December 07, 2010 -- 5:07 PM ET

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
-----

(Personal Note: I knew Elizabeth Edwards briefly when I was writing for FireDogLake in 2008, when she was still married to John Edwards. It goes without saying that we will all miss her terribly. May she find the peace that eluded her during her last few years on earth.)

Elizabeth Edwards, who as the wife of former Senator John
Edwards gave America an intimate look at a candidate's
marriage by sharing his quest for the 2008 presidential
nomination as she struggled with incurable cancer and,
secretly, with his infidelity, died Tuesday, her family said.
She was 61.

Posted by biginla at 10:27 PM GMT

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