The eyes of the world are focused on Egypt as history once again visits one of the oldest civilizations on earth. Tanks and armed soldiers share the streets with protesters, so far in relative peace, from Cairo to Alexandria, and January 25th or 28th is now referred to by local Egyptian Facebookers and Tweeters much like the 4th of July in the US. The latest:
Mubarak's promise on Friday night to implement reforms in Egypt did little to appease protesters, who defied another government-imposed curfew and took to the streets in droves for a fifth straight day of protests, which have led to the death of dozens of Egyptians and injured hundreds more.
This feed was hogging a lot of bandwidth last I checked, but it's fascinating TV if you can safely play it: Al Jeezera English Live Stream. MSNBC is also doing a bang up job on cable, or online if you can find a stream. The first two links in this morning's abbreviated pundit round up will help bring you up to date on recent events.
Right now events are moving swiftly, the situation is unclear to say the least. There are mixed, anecdotal and official reports of some looting (And even some mention of a possible ongoing coup although that's highly speculative), along with more hopeful signs now appearing on several Twitter hashtags: #Egypt; #Cairo; #Jan25, and a round up of some US politicians' recent tweets.
One unconfirmed report came out that a small fundamentalist group shouting extremist rhetoric was shouted down by a larger crowd of protesters chanting "Muslim, Christian, we're all Egyptian". Accurate or not, to our readers in Egypt and throughout the region, 1) if you can incorporate that kind of inclusive, peaceful sentiment into your demonstrations, not only might you prevent needless tragedy in the days ahead, you'll give leaders all over world the political leeway they need to encourage the people of Egypt to determine their own destiny, and 2) we're very interested in hearing your unfiltered, first-hand reports as history unfolds around you.
The Daily Kos community is keeping on top of events in the recommended mothership diary as well, with lots of good links and discussion.
Update 12:30 PM EDT: just got this interesting link via email on what's been going on in Egypt.