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Al-Jazeera staff in their Cairo office before it was ransacked amid the political turmoil in Egypt. Photograph: Ahmed Khaled/EPA The Cairo office of al-Jazeera was ransacked by pro-government "thugs" today, as the Arabic language news channel also said its news website had come under attack by hackers. Al-Jazeera said its office had been stormed by a "gang of thugs" who burned equipment, on a day of reports of escalating violence against journalists covering the Egyptian uprising . The Qatar-based broadcaster added that the attacks appeared to be an attempt by "the Egyptian regime or its supporters" to hinder its widely watched coverage of the uprising in Egypt . It said its website had been hacked earlier today with a banner advertisement replaced with a slogan "Together for the collapse of Egypt", which linked through to a web page with content critical of the network.
Al-Jazeera office attacked in Egypt protests | Media | guardian.co.uk
We Are All Egyptians - NYTimes.com
Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours that he had needed medical treatment for injuries suffered at the hands of government-backed mobs. But as soon as Mahmood was bandaged, he tottered off once again to the front lines.
Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr. Suleiman, backed by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform.
White House and Egypt Discuss Plan for Mubarak’s Exit - NYTimes.com
Why fear the Arab revolutionary spirit? | Slavoj Žižek | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
An Egyptian demonstrator uses his shoe to hit a picture of President Hosni Mubarak during a protest in Cairo. Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images What cannot but strike the eye in the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt is the conspicuous absence of Muslim fundamentalism. In the best secular democratic tradition, people simply revolted against an oppressive regime, its corruption and poverty, and demanded freedom and economic hope. The cynical wisdom of western liberals, according to which, in Arab countries, genuine democratic sense is limited to narrow liberal elites while the vast majority can only be mobilised through religious fundamentalism or nationalism, has been proven wrong.
Follow live blogging on " This Just In " and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents from the protests. Send your video, images to CNN iReport. Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's burgeoning reform movement drew tens of thousands of people, undeterred by deadly clashes and government crackdowns, to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday for a mass rally with a single message for the president: "Leave." The central Cairo plaza transformed from a bloody battleground to the scene of a largely peaceful political rally dubbed "Day of Departure" as Egyptians gave embattled President Hosni Mubarak until the end of the day to relinquish power.
Protesters in Cairo vow to continue demonstrations - CNN.com
Analysis: Independence key for autocrats who want to hang on | Reuters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Autocrats who are seen by their citizens as beholden to foreign powers stand more risk of being swept away by popular protests than equally repressive ones who pursue more independent policies. Commentators looking at the people's uprisings that have shaken Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks have also focused heavily on the loyalty of security forces as pivotal in what happens to rulers. In Tunisia, President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali fled into exile on January 14 after army chief General Rachid Ammar refused to fire on demonstrators. In the so far unresolved drama in Egypt, the stance of the armed forces also appears critical. By contrast, in Iran in the summer of 2009, police and Basij Islamic militia who showed no signs of wavering crushed protests against presidential elections the opposition said were rigged.
PARIS (Reuters) - Politicians and pundits wondering if Islamists will soon take power in Egypt or Tunisia might usefully ask first what the term "Islamist" means and what the Muslim leaders it describes say they want to do. "Islamist" denotes an ideology that uses Islam to promote political goals. But it is so broad a term that it can apply both to Shi'ite Iran's anti-Western theocracy and to pro-business Sunnis trying to get Turkey into the European Union.
Analysis: Concern about Islamists masks wide differences | Reuters
Egyptian anti-goverment protesters and foreign journalists take cover during clashes with pro-Mubarak demonstrators in Cairo. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images Dozens of foreign journalists were arrested, attacked and beaten yesterday as the Egyptian government and its supporters embarked on what the US state department called a concerted campaign to intimidate the international media. Human rights workers also fell victim to crowd violence, while police raided the offices of two groups in Cairo, the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre and the Centre for Economic and Social Rights, and arrested observers.
Egypt cracks down on foreign journalists | World news | The Guardian
When the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo was raided by state security forces on Thursday, Human Rights Watch researcher Daniel Williams was swept up in the arrests. But before he was carted off to prison, Williams had the presence of mind to call a friend in Cairo and leave his cell phone line open, to broadcast the raid as it unfolded. The Law Center is a hub and meeting space for various human rights and civil society groups in Egypt and has been amazingly active since the protests began Jan. 25. On Thursday morning, a joint squad of police and military personnel in their respective uniforms raided the Center, interrogated all inside, and forcibly transported dozens of Egyptians and foreigners alike to an unknown detention facility, where Williams remains now. Before his cell phone was confiscated, the person on the other end of the line, who must remain anonymous for his own safety, heard the violent details of the incident.
Obama team working behind the scenes to free foreign activists and journalists | The Cable
Call to free Al Jazeera journalists - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
"All three of our staff should be immediately released," the channel said.