Author: WHES

Mubarak orders crackdown, with revolt sweeping Egypt

CAIRO — With police stations and the governing party’s headquarters in flames, and much of this crucial Middle Eastern nation in open revolt, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt deployed the nation’s military and imposed a near-total blackout on communications to save his authoritarian government of nearly 30 years.

Côte d’Ivoire: Fear descends on the North

With no sign at present of an end to the political deadlock in Côte d’Ivoire, the country remains partitioned. The economic repercussions of the crisis are being felt in both south and north. In Abidjan and the south, where Laurent Gbagbo and his administration are still in control, in the face of regional and international condemnation and isolation, prices of key commodities have risen dramatically. In the north – long held by former rebels Forces Nouvelles, and providing the main support base for Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognized as the elected president – livelihoods are being crippled and basic services reduced to a minimum in regions which have been marginalized for decades.

Poverty’s new reality; there is a lot less of it in the world

The World Economic Forum convening this week in Davos, Switzerland, is organized around the theme of “Shared Norms for the New Reality.” As in past years, the conference will feature plenty of debate about how to solve global challenges in a multipolar, interdependent world. This “new reality,” however, is getting a little old.

Violent clashes mark protests against Mubarak’s rule

CAIRO — Tens of thousands of people demanding an end to the nearly 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak filled the streets of several Egyptian cities on Tuesday, in an unusually large and sometimes violent burst of civil unrest that appeared to threaten the stability of one of the United States’ closest Arab allies.