Mighty Achievements

The new political sphere of world politics is a somewhat unfamiliar one. The on-again-off-again conscience of the international community appears to have gone into deliberate seclusion. Perhaps to ponder the complexities and the downfalls of intervention and responsibility and the morals involved in doing the former and owning the latter, and conversely the morals involved in failing to respond to the former, effectively disowning the latter.

This is the era of a president of the United States of America having collected a rather amazing recognition in the form of the Nobel Peace Prize on the basis of a world awaiting premise becoming reality. He did, after all, offer hope, reconciliation, a new tomorrow. All achievable, he asserted, by people of goodwill. And he was recognized as having ample goodwill.

Where his predecessors presumed to enter conflicts for the purpose of resolving them or even initiating them to resolve an issue, he promised to avoid the need for such actions.

He would do the right thing. And he did just that. He offered the hand of the man who had entered the office of the most powerful position on the globe, to any who would grasp it in reciprocal goodwill. President Barack Obama was left posturing, his open hand grasping air and nothing more. While those to whom he extended his anticipation for reasonable debate in place of heated rhetoric debased the motion, and scorned the man.

The famous "reset" button with Russia, the peaceful dialogue option with Iran, the statesmanlike diplomacy to take the place of urgent military action stuttered the new world order to an awkward halt in mid-stride. Vladimir Putin, as it happened, preferred his own trajectory, another stab at contesting that world-power status so unfortunately abandoned. China, for the time being, steeped in its resolve to capture world production - of just about anything - cheaply.

And the little irritations like nuclear-owning Pakistan taking huge umbrage at the humiliation imposed by the entrance to its sovereign space for the inconvenient removal of a mass-killer-of-Americans that simply could not be assigned to another time another place another day. A Muslim country busily building as many nuclear warheads as funding from that same U.S. source might allow, generously offering technical assistance to Iran, Libya, North Korea.

In Afghanistan, President Karzai dictates to the U.S. Congress his expectations for financial and military support, on his stringent, non-interfering terms, and finds meek assent. The U.S. administration also sets aside its financial and military injuries to find common cause with a Taliban urged to form part of a new government in Kabul, the while dispatching its members to slaughter more American and NATO soldiers.

Time Photogallery  -- Obama walks a runway to the podium where he delivered his speech, at the base of the Victory Column, Berlin

In Berlin, where once "instability and intolerance" reached its apogee with Hitler's Nazis, the new placidly peaceful Germany that is the economic engine of the continent hears from President Obama that "instability and tolerance" are the engine of Islamist terrorism; perhaps he meant to say 'dissatisfaction' instead of 'terrorism'. He is, after all, a mean of peaceful determination.

He was named a Nobel Laureate, doesn't that prove something?

Egypt's Turmoil

"We must be alert lest we slide into a civil war that does not differentiate between supporters and opponents."
Sheik Hassan al-Shafie, senior cleric, Al-Azhar

The issue obviously is the stark division between supporters and opponents of the Islamist government of President Mohammad Morsi, fully engaged not with the needs of 21st Century Egypt, but the consolidation of power of the Muslim Brotherhood. Not only in Egypt proper, but in the greater Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood has spent almost a century abiding its time as a censured and outlawed religious-social-ideological movement.

One that has conspired to take Muslims back to the pure time of their ancestral devotion of the Prophet Mohammad and the Koranic principles of owing all to Islam, complete submission in every aspect of life from cradle to grave, no side issues required -- for unquestioning faith in Islam fulfills human destiny. Even before the latter years when they achieved a quasi respectability and were permitted unmolested-by-the-state existence as a nascent political body, they waited.

They groomed themselves as a well-organized theocratic ideology and they assiduously courted the approval of the populace, by providing fundamental humanitarian aid to the hosts of poverty-stricken Egyptians. They did this in every country where they have long had a presence, from Somalia to Jordan, Syria to Libya. They are Islamists, not as fanatical as the Salafists, but fundamentalist in their outlook, eager to sacrifice all to a universal Caliphate.

The imposition of Sharia law is the goal, and with it the eventual spread of Islam, to gradually invite non-Muslims into the fold, and to enlarge the ummah, the global spread of Islam into a wider community manipulable by their shared faith into a cohesive, controlled entirety. Since Egypt was its birthplace, the advent of the Arab Spring that brought down the military government and the general-turned-president Hosni Mubarak, presented its first advantaged success.

But under the one-year rule of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists the country has retrogressed with its growing unemployment, its failing economy, its rising crime rate depressing tourism, and its cost of living making the acquisition of the basic needs of its citizens increasingly more difficult. The anniversary of Mohammad Morsi's inauguration has turned into a mass condemnation with his opponents presenting a list of signatures totalling over 22-million who wish him and his party to be gone.

Cairo International Airport, in anticipation of the conflicts between the polarizing views of the secular-socialist part of Egypt and the Islamist demographic, has been flooded with anxious departures, a mass exodus of unprecedented numbers of Egyptians willing to leave their country for fear of what will next result as the opposing sides threaten one another, confront one another and converge in common public areas.

Each side will wait for the police to intervene, to act to secure a measure of calm, but calm is now evasive, as evasive as the responsibility that President Morsi is so unwilling to accept for his role in the destabilization of the most populous country in the Middle East, floundering in social, economic and religious failures. The trusted military hints it will become engaged rather than see civil war erupt, but to do so would return the military to government.

Angry protesters are targeting the vestiges most visible of Muslim Brotherhood control in the country, setting fire to local Muslim Brotherhood headquarters of the Freedom  Justice Party. While supporters of the government have surrounded the presidential palace in Cairo to ensure that no one mounts entry, despite its recently-erected containing wall, built to protect from invading protests.

thenational.ae

A bitter irony that an Arab population in Egypt which deplores the safety-and-security wall that Israel was forced to build to put a halt to the ongoing deadly suicide bombings launched by Palestinians against Israelis, to separate them effectively now has its counterpart, where the government of Egypt has had to erect a similarly-purposed wall, to keep the citizens of Egypt from destroying the edifice representing government and ministerial executive control of the country.

Multiculturalism Baggage

"Unfortunately, the violence was being perpetrated by the family, in general, by the father and the brother. She ended up being killed.
"It's an issue that takes place across many different ethnic communities and cultural communities, but it is a real issue and we need to address violence against women and girls in every community, in every culture in which it exists across Canada.
"This happens every day in communities across the country and you don't hear about it."
Canadian Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose

Minister Ambrose was speaking to volunteers and staff at MOSAIC, a multicultural and immigrant service organization. The occasion was that of an announcement of support by the federal government and a small grant to the organization in the sum of $200,000 to enable it to launch an investigative project into understanding issues behind ethnic gender violence.

That relatively modest sum will also help the organization in its bid to include consultation with men and boys in multicultural communities.

The particular tragedy of which she spoke was the death of 16-year-old Asqa Parvez. Who chafed at the strictures of her family's insistence that she be more modest in her demeanor and her dress, befitting a good Muslim daughter. She sought outside help at a shelter which failed to take her distress and her fear as seriously as the reality of her situation demanded.

 
MISSISSAUGA NEWS Mississauga teen Aqsa Parvez, seen in this undated photo, was found dead in her home on December 10, 2007

She was returned to her family. Where her father and brother murdered her. An honour killing to erase the shame her attitude and behaviour brought upon the family honour. Her tragedy is one of many. Women in Canada are relatively safe in comparison to the dangers to women in much of the rest of the world. But there are more than enough incidents of women being killed by their intimate partners; boyfriends, husbands.

Those are seen as deplorable and grotesquely dreadful criminal acts perpetrated by psychopaths who just happen to be husbands and boyfriends, people who become temporarily psychologically unhinged, or people who are viciously controlling and violent. The issue of another imported cultural imperative of "honour killings" is one driven by a view of religious and social-historical heritage.

An extradition hearing will resume in the coming month for the mother and uncle of 25-year-old Jassi Sidhu murdered in India for bringing shame to her family through the caste system by marrying a poor rickshaw driver, defying her family's wishes. A year ago Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed Shafia were all found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of their three daughters and the death of the father's first wife.

"We want to learn from men who have used violence. We want to know from them what are the dynamics, what are some of the things that led them to their acts of violence. You do see some attitude changes. You do see people stepping up. You do see men saying no to violence", said Nimu Kang, director of family programs at MOSAIC.

"Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go."

Will He? Will He Not?

Official Canada is in a tizzy of misapprehension. Much depends on how U.S. President Barack Obama decides his environment file.

Not that it is any longer an electoral issue, well into his second mandate. A point of honour, perhaps, to be addressed. On the one hand, rising to the expectations of a core group of excitable environmentalists for whom strangely enough foreign-imported energy represents hysteria, but not the far outdistanced carbon footprint of an outmoded energy source extracted at home.

The president of all Americans must debate with himself and his executive advisers on the ethical feasibility of turning down the prospective Keystone XL pipeline. Which has been the topic of great condemnation, but then all American presidents, and this one is no exception, are plagued with lobbying demands and protective impulses and the need to fulfill international obligations while ensuring the security of energy supplies availability to make certain that nothing interrupts the agenda of the U.S. in furthering its economy.

Was it an inadvertent slip of the tongue, that passing reference to Alberta "tarsands" having to pass yet another test of environmental health? After all, they were named that at a time when it hardly seemed worthwhile to extract and develop that resource. Now that extraction methodology and environmental concerns are being placated by new technologies coming on the scene, they have long since been re-named Alberta "oilsands", nicely white-washing a derogation.

On the other hand, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences came into the picture by releasing a study finding that diluted bitumen was in fact no more of a risk to transport than any other type of oil. The headline on the New York Times edition that released the results of the study read: "Scientists Find Canadian Oil Safe for Pipelines, but Critics Say Questions Remain."

An environmental impact study was already released by the U.S. State Department, concluding "that the net impact of the pipeline on the climate would be small, because even if it was not built, the oil would still be extracted and sold in other markets". The impact on the environment is all Canada's. And it represents a mere 0.16% of all the Greenhouse Gas emissions globally. As for the environmental impact within Canada, that would be 7.8%.

Compare that to the 40% in the United States that the coal-fired electricity industry alone represents. Try shutting down that domestic power source. Try squaring off against that powerful lobby. Come to think of it, why doesn't the environmental lobby go head-to-head with the coal lobby? That kind of encounter might even persuade the coal-energy producers to clean up their act.

As Alberta already has done as the first government on the continent to require industry to reduce GHG emissions - putting a price on carbon in the process.

Questions, anyone?

ahramonline

Live updates 2: Millions on streets for anti-Morsi protests; 4 dead in Upper Egypt

Four killed in clashes in Upper Egypt while Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo is attacked; huge demonstrations in Cairo at presidential palace and Tahrir Square remain peaceful

Hazel Haddon, Nada Hussein Rashwan, Randa Ali, Sherif Tarek, Salma Shukrallah, Bassem Abo El-Abbas, Osman El-Sharnoubi , Sunday 30 Jun 2013

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi gather during a demonstration at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

00:20 That's all for tonight. Today saw unprecedented numbers take to the streets all over Egypt, calling for Morsi to resign. It's hard to estimate numbers, but it's clear that 30 June has been bigger than anyone predicted.

There was deadly violence in Beni Suef and Assiut, and there are ongoing clashes at the Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo, as we close. There were also 30 reported cases of sexual harassment in Tahrir Square - although none reported at Ittihadiya or at the ongoing pro-Morsi demonstration at Rabaa Al-Adawiya.
00:15 There are reports of ongoing clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Mokattam, Cairo, which was earlier attacked by protesters throwing Molotov cocktails. There seem to be clashes between those inside the building and those attacking it, with birdshot and possibly live ammunition. There are a number of injuries reported, but all unconfirmed so far by official sources.

An Egyptian protester attacks Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Muqattam district in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. (AP)

00:10 Crowds have thinned a bit but remain defiant and optimistic at the presidential palace, tooting their horns and calling for the president's resignation reports Ahram Online's Bel Trew. There seems to be strong pro-military sentiment at the palace, most of the people interviewed by Ahram Online were keen for some sort of intervention although they were unsure who should replace the president.

"We didn't expect anything from him but what he did was far worse, he made lost of promises but didn't fulfill any," says Om Maha, 53, housewife referring to the Brotherhood's Nahda (renaissance) project, that was centre peice to Morsi's presidential campaign but was largely dropped. Om Maha added that she didn't like any of the presidential candidates who ran last year such as Amr Moussa and Mohamed ElBaradei, "I don't think any of them are fit for the position, it needs to be someone outside of any existing political movemnet.

"The elections were a contract between the people and the president, he broke the rules and put himself first," says Ahmed Nagah, a 47-year-old English teacher. "I voted for Amr Moussa in the first elections only," Nagah added saying he didn't bother in the second round as he didn't want Ahmed Shafiq or Morsi.

Meanwhile further into the crowds Engineer Abdel-Rehim Kamal, 43, voicing a popular sentiment expressed both on Tahrir Square and at the palace, slammed Morsi for being "the same as [ousted leader] Mubarak."
Back on Tahrir Square, a little earlier, Fikra Mohamed, 52 director of a company showed Ahram Online his protest art: a tree of notices listing the "achievements, mistakes and economic failures," of the president during his first year in power.

"I voted for Morsi and I think I got fooled. I will not leave until Morsi steps down, my sons are with me - one of them has an exam - but he will no do his exam until Morsi resigns. This is not a second revolution, it is a continuation of the first one, we still haven't finished that battle yet."

"Egyptians don't have their basic needs, we have a massive problem of unemployment particularly within the youth, killing continues under his rule, then there is the breakdown of the state like train accidents and electricity outage," says Mohamed Ramadan Badawy, who had travelled from the Southern governorate of Qena to join Tahrir with a delegation of people from Upper Egypt. "Egyptian poverty is on the rise, to the point where people are eating from the rubbish."

00:00 The president's spokesman has just denied that Hatem Bagato, minister of legal and parliamentary affairs, will submit his resignation, as was reported by Ahram Arabic earlier this evening. 
23:55 The 30 June coordinating committee has released a statement.

“Egyptians have shown they are worthy of freedom, democracy and social justice which they have been calling for since the January revolution. We thank the Egyptian people who have revolted in their millions for a free Egypt, free of fascism, tyranny and injustice.”

Despite the fact that millions of people peacefully protested, said the statement, “the presidency has released a statement belittling us and our legitimate demands and our million man marches all over Egypt’s squares.”

The statement added that the 30 June coordinating committee “stand behind the people and their just demands” and calls for continuing the national strike which involves “the use of all democratic means to demonstrate, hold sit-ins and strikes and besiege all state institutions and we demand the trial all those responsible for torture, killing and announcing edicts inciting against the people and calls for terrorism which was called for by the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The committee includes the Revolutionary Youth Union, the Front’s youth organisation, the Maspero Youth Union, the Socialist Youth Union, the Liberal Youth Front, the Justice and Freedom Youth, the April 6 Democratic Front, the Mina Daniel Movement, and the National Salvation Front member parties - the Democratic Front Party, the Constitution Party, the Wafd Party, the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Communist Party, the Egyptian Socialist Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, the Tagammu Party, the Nasserist Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the Karama Party, the Egypt Freedom Party, the Egyptian Popular Current and the National Association for Change.
23:50 Pro-Morsi demonstrators are still camping out at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City, a short distance away from the presidential palace.

Pro-Morsi Demonstration on June 30th

23:45 The president’s office is holding its second press conference of the day. The spokesman stresses the president’s respect for the demands of the street, but says that dialogue is necessary.
"We respect the demands of the streets, and we acknowledge that the political scene in Egypt is continuously changing; however, initiatives are being made constantly and communications are ongoing.
Those who have demands or visions must sit for dialogue," said spokesman Omar Amer who reminded the audience of the president’s ongoing calls for dialogue which have been repeatedly rejected by much of the opposition.
Amer further stressed that the presidency will continue to protect the peaceful protests in assurance of the right for expression. He also praised the "nationalistic role played by security forces" in protecting the protests.
Asked about reports of police officers joining the anti-Morsi protests, Amer stressed that it is a matter to be judged by the ministry of interior, and not by the presidency.
23:40 The Freedom and Justice Party’s administrative office in Upper Egypt’s Beni Sueif was torched by anti-Morsi protesters, reports Ahram Arabic.
According to Ahram, the empty office was bombarded with Molotov cocktails.
23:35 From Damietta in the north of Egypt, Hatem El-Bayaa of the Socialist Popular Alliance tells Ahram Online that demonstrators in the city, estimated to be several thousand, have taken over the governorate headquarters and the offices of the local education authority. In coordination with employees within the governorate offices, anti-Morsi protesters are planning to occupy other government buildings to prevent Damietta governor Tarek Fathallah Khedr from entering his office.
Khedr is a police general who was appointed on 16 June by the president. He is a member of the liberal Ghad Al-Thawra Party, a rare liberal ally of Morsi.
23:25 Some shots of today's protests here.
23:20 In Assiut, the site of today's most deadly clashes, army and police have been deployed at the governorate headquarters and at the Freedom and Justice Party headquarters, located 100 metres apart, reports Ahram’s Osama Sediq.
Police are firing teargas in front of the FJP headquarters, where clashes are still ongoing and sounds of gunshots can be heard.
Clashes started when an anti-Morsi demonstration of several thousand passed by the FJP office. The FJP youth, who were forming a human shield to protect the office, thought protesters were attacking them, so they fired birdshot and live rounds, reports Sediq.
 23:10 Sexual harassment seems to be worsening in Tahrir Square. Tahrir Bodyguards, a civil initiative fighting harassment, tweets:

Lots of reported cases of assault & harassment in #Tahrir. We recommend extreme caution in the area, especially for female protesters #EndSH

Another anti-harassment initiative, OpAntiSH, reports that the number of cases reported to them has gone up to 26, and tweets that:

There are men with sticks at the entrance of the metro station across from KFC in #Tahrir who are attacking women. Please avoid.

23:00 Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya’s Building and Development Party have released a statement claiming that the protester killed in Beni Suef earlier was a member of their group.
Atef Marzouk, a leading member of the Islamist group in Beni Suef, accused opponents of President Mohamed Morsi of initiating the attack by firing birdshot at a pro-Morsi march.
“We defended ourselves until one of us was martyred," said Marzouk.
Earlier, journalist Shaimaa Mafhouz told us that a thousand-strong anti-Morsi rally in Beni Suef was fired at. She said:

"A number of assailants, accused by protesters of being Islamist supporters of Morsi, attacked the rally...Some clusters of protesters scattered and hid inside the mosques surrounding the square; at the same time the armed forces mobilised to contain the situation. Assailants continued briefly to fire at the mosques where protesters were hiding but they ran away when the army arrived," Mahfouz said.

The Beni Suef office of the Egyptian Popular Current, a leftist group led by opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, also claimed in a statement that 30 members of “the jihadist movement” in Beni Suef were the ones who fired at the protest and that several protesters were injured.
Mahfouz told Ahram Online she saw a child injured with a bullet to the shoulder.
Ahram Online has not been able to independently verify what happened in Beni Suef.
22:50 Political forces protesting in front of Ittihadiya presidential palace have announced from the main stage that they will hold an open ended sit-in until “the fall of the regime”, reports state-owned news agency MENA.
They are further calling on all workers and employees at state institutions to go on a general strike starting Monday until July.
22:40 Thousands of protesters, many of them women, are gathering in front of Qubba presidential palace singing and chanting, reports Ahram Online's Ahmed Abdel-Rasoul.
An anonymous source had earlier told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that President Mohamed Morsi was at Qubba presidential palace, which is around three kilometres away from Ittihadiya.
22:30 Ahram Online’s Bassem Abo El-Abbas reports from the presidential palace where he says that fireworks are lighting up the sky as military helicopters continue to scan the palace perimeter.
Fathi Mabrouk, a 36-year-old bearded man in traditional attire told Abbas he is taking part in the protest because he doesn't believe in political Islam, adding that President Morsi “has been unjust to his people and thus he should be forced out of power for he disobeyed Islamic values.”

"I am also against the return of military rule even for another transitional period. I approve of the scenario of the head of the High Constitutional Court replacing Morsi until new elections are held," Mabrouk added.

22:20 Three protesters have been killed in Upper Egypt’s Assiut, chief of security in the city General Abou El-Qassem Abou El-Deif has said in a press statement.
The three people were part of an anti-Morsi protest of thousands which was attacked by unknown assailants as they were marching near the Freedom and Justice Party’s headquarters in the Upper Egyptian governorate.
According to Ahram Arabic, one of the slain, Abanob Atef, was killed after being shot in the head by gunmen on a motorcycle.
At least eight were injured in the attack, including a police officer.
22:15 A military source told Ahram Arabic that the army helicopters hovering over Cairo aim to secure protesters and make sure everything is peaceful.The same source says Egypt's armed forces are securing the borders.
Ahram Online’s Ayat Al-Tawy was in Tahrir around an hour ago, and she reported that the helicopters flying overhead were welcomed with rapturous applause, flag-waving, and pro-army slogans.
She spoke to protester Wafaa Mohamed, who was wearing the full face veil, about why she was in Tahrir today.

“The people in Rabaa Al-Adawiya are brainwashed. Morsi is a hypocrite, a liar; he’s unjust.”

22:05 Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Judge Hatem Bagato, has written his resignation and will submit it on Monday, sources have told Ahram Arabic website.
22:00 Egyptian Health Minister Mohamed Hamed confirms the death of 25-year-old Ammar Gouda, the protester who was killed in Beni Suef earlier when unknown assailants open-fired on an anti-Morsi protest.
Hamed also said that the injury toll across seven governorates had increased to 228 from 174, with 36 being discharged from hospitals. A lot of the injuries are related to the heat and crowds rather than clashes.
21:50 In Assiut, Aswat Masriya reports, unknown assailants riding a motorcycle shot at an anti-Morsi demonstration, injuring one protester who took a bullet in the head. He was transferred to hospital.
Protesters in Assiut have said that they will start a sit-in.
21:45 The 6 April Youth Movement and the liberal Constitution Party have announced that they will hold a sit-in in front of Abdeen Palace in downtown Cairo.
The announcement said they had received information that Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil is currently inside.

"Our peaceful assembly in front of Abdeen Palace comes as another instrument of pressure against the government in order to achieve the people's demand of holding snap presidential elections," said spokesman Mohamed Adel in a press statement following the announcement.

21:30 An eyewitness tells Ahram Online that she saw 12 people injured in the ongoing melee at the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters, saying the number of injuries is likely be higher and is expected to further rise the coming few hours.
The 26-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some were injured by birdshot, including a photojournalist who was shot in the eye.
An officer had his back wounded by birdshot, as did a female journalist who sustained a leg injury. According to the witness, the building was first attacked with Molotov cocktails and stones.
The eyewitness also stresses that birdshot is used by both Muslim Brotherhood members and their opponents.
21:20 OpAntiSH, one of the civil society anti-sexual harassment initiatives that is present in Tahrir Square tonight, reports on Twitter that there have been a number of incidents:

The total number of mob assaults in #Tahrir has risen to 13. Three took place near Hardee's,
and we were able to intervene.

Tahrir Bodyguards, another such initiative, tweets that the huge crowds in Tahrir are reducing mobility, creating opportunities for sexual harassment and making it difficult for the group's members to rescue victims.
Ahram Online's Ayat Al-Tawy who is in the square says that she has felt a bit uncomfortable at times, and has seen some minor harassment by groups of men surrounding girls and catcalling them.

"One girl screamed and slapped a guy who was approaching her. I don't know what started it, but a number of people surrounded her and asked her if she needed help."

21:15 The Egyptian health ministry reports that hospitals have received 174 injured protesters today in seven different governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Daqahliya, Gharbiya, Menoufiya, Beni Suef and Beheira.
The ministry said four cases in Gharbiya were from birdshot wounds, with no official confirmation of the Beni Suef anti-Morsi protester who died, according to the city’s police chief.
21:10 It’s now 9:10pm, and millions are filling squares in Cairo and in other locations all over Egytp, protesting against President Mohamed Morsi.
In addition to Tahrir Square and the vicinity outside the presidential palace, squares in Alexandria, in the Nile Delta and in Upper Egypt are also full of protesters.
There is relatively little violence so far, with the exception of brief clashes in Beni Suef where one person was killed. The army broke up the situation after unknown assailants fired on anti-Morsi protesters, and the situation is now calm, with the protest continuing.
Supporters of the president remain gathered at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City, where hundreds of thousands are holding their sit-in for the third day.
20:50 It seems that the protest areas in Cairo are so packed, mobile networks are overloaded and it's hard to get through to people in the area.
20:40 Osman El-Sharnoubi, who is still at the presidential palace in Heliopolis, says that protesters are carrying flags bearing the face of revolution’s slain protesters, like Mohamed ‘Gika’ Gabr who was killed during Morsi’s rule, Mina Daniel who was killed during the rule of the military council, and Khaled Said who was killed under Mubarak.
20:37 Prominent Sunni cleric Youssef El-Qaradawi, known for his support for the Muslim Brotherhood, has released a video statement calling on Egyptians to stay patient with President Mohamed Morsi, stressing that he is expected to make mistakes as he is a human being.

“If we have waited on the Mubarak’s regime for 30 years, and another 30 years before him on the tyrants, why can’t we wait on Morsi for a year?” asked El-Qaradawi.

El-Qaradawi further pointed out that President Morsi has been asking for dialogue.
20:35 Thousands of protesters have joined rallies at Al-Shoun Square in key industrial city of Mahalla.
Protesters are chanting against President Mohamed Morsi, repeating slogans such as “Abdel-Nasser has said it before, the Muslim Brotherhood are not to be trusted,” a famous chant referring to former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser whose era witnessed the persecution of several Islamist figures.
20:30 American journalist Kristen Chick is at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo right now. She reports on her Twitter account that there is a fire in the yard and the sound of shots being fired. She tweets:

"We want to break in" one guy tells me at MB HQ. "why?" "Bc they are choking us" he says."

Headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood (Photo: Al-Ahram)

20:25 Around two hundred protesters are gathering in front of President Mohamed Morsi's house in New Cairo, a wealthy satellite city outside of Cairo, as security forces deploy barriers to keep protesters away from the building.

20:25 An enormous tent made of blankets is being erected near Omar Al-Eslam Mosque in Sidi Gaber for protesters to sleep under, reports Ahram Online’s Yasmine Fathi.

One of the protesters in Alexandria, Wael Nabil, tells Yasmine that he is determined to stay until Morsi leaves, even if it means waiting a year.

“Mubarak repressed us, but at least he gave us services; at least he didn’t cut the electricity, water and petrol like now.”

“Nothing has changed; my salary didn’t increase. My wife is pregnant, how will I provide for my baby?” added Nabil.

20:23 Ahram Online’s Osman El-Sharnoubi reports that the vicinity of the Ittihadiya presidential palace is extremely crowded, with moving even small distances taking a long time. The crowd seems never-ending as one walks away from the palace. Fireworks are being lit from a building overlooking the avenue as the crowds cheer.
According to Osman, it’s not possible to see the end of the crowd.
20:20 Reports of violence at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo.
Around 500 people gathered at headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district, hurling Molotov cocktails and stones at the building, says state news agency MENA, which quoted eyewitness as saying they had heard shots during the melee.
Senior FJP official Gehad El-Haddad says on Twitter:

No police on scene yet in #Moqatam. Security is dealing w/ attacking thugs. They were joined by othrs wearing blackblock uniform w/ firearms

A number of offices of the Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, have been attacked in recent days.
20:15 Ahram Online’s Yasmine Fathi says spirits in Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber are high. “People are playing drums, clapping, waving flags,” she reports.
Occasionally, helicopters pass over the protests and people cheer and wave, reports Fathi.
20:12 In Gharbiya governorate’s Kafr El-Zayat, hundreds are participating in anti-Morsi protests.
 Crowds are chanting: “national unity against the Muslim Brotherhood” and “you who rule in the name of religion, where is justice and where is religion?”
20:10 Leading labour activist Kamal El-Fayoumi, currently protesting in front of Ittihadiya palace in Cairo, tells Ahram Online that he will be heading back to the industrial city of Mahalla tomorrow.

“By then, if the regime hasn’t been toppled we will join the sit-in and the calls for civil disobedience,”added Al-Fayoumi.

Amir Bassam, Shura Council member from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, tells Orbit TV that crowds supporting President Morsi around Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo are more than all the anti-Morsi protesters, not only in Tahrir Square, but all across Egypt.
Given the numbers of people reported in Tahrir Square and at the Ittihadiya presidential palace - both packed to overflowing - this seems highly unlikely.
20:05 The main opposition coalition group, the National Salvation Front, has issued a “revolutionary statement.”

"In the name of the Egyptian people with all their factions, the National Salvation Front announces public endorsement of the ouster of the regime of Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood," the statement reads.
"The Egyptian population continue their revolution and will impose their will, which has become unequivocally clear in all Egypt's squares."
"The Salvation Front also trusts that the Egyptian people will protect its revolution until peaceful transition of power is fulfilled...we also call on all political forces and all citizens to remain peaceful…and refrain from dealing with the failed Brotherhood government until the fall of this tyrannical organisation."

20:00 There are reports of deadly violence in Beni Suef in Upper Egypt.
Ibrahim Hodeib, chief of security in Beni Suef, said that one protester was killed and 30 injured following an attack by unknown assailants, in a phone interview with private satellite channel CBC.
Journalist Shaimaa Mafhouz tells Ahram Online that a thousand-strong anti-Morsi rally in El-Modereya Square, the main square in Muslim Brotherhood stronghold Beni Suef, was fired at.
"A number of assailants, accused by protesters of being Islamist supporters of Morsi, attacked the rally...Some clusters of protesters scattered and hid inside the mosques surrounding the square; at the same time the armed forces mobilised to contain the situation. Assailants continued briefly to fire at the mosques where protesters were hiding but they ran away when the army arrived," Mahfouz said.
The Beni Suef office of the Egyptian Popular Current, a leftist group led by opposition leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, claimed in a statement that 30 members of “the jihadist movement” in Beni Suef were the ones who fired at the protest and that several protesters were injured.
Mahfouz told Ahram Online she saw a child injured with a bullet to the shoulder.
Hodeib told Ahram Arabic news website that one suspect behind the violence is Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader in the city named Ahmed Youssef.
Ahram Arabic reporter in Beni Suef Emad Abouzeid says the assailants fired birdshot at the protest, although others said that the assailants used live ammunition.
19:55 Members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) have gathered in Aswan in front of their party headquarters to secure them, reports Ahram Arabic website.
Aswan, in Upper Egypt has also seen a heavy security presence securing police stations.
 19:55 Ayman Masoud, keyboardist for Egyptian band Massar Egbari, tells Ahram Online’s Rowan El-Shimi that "there is a lot of energy among people marching to Tahrir,” adding that in Alexandria, the hometown of the band, they are used to marching everywhere and not having sit-ins.

 “Here everyone is excited and putting their energy into the chants,” added Masoud.

Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi set off fireworks during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 30, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)

19:50 Solidarity protests have been taking place at a number of locations around the world.  Dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank held a small protest in Ramallah in solidarity with Egyptians demanding that President Morsi step down. Protesters held placards saying "No injustice, Egypt is the mother of freedom.”
There were also reportedly protests by Egyptian expats in Jordan and in Norway, according to state news agency MENA.
19:45 Heba El-Sayed, a nurse at the field clinic in Omar El-Islam Mosque in Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber, tells Ahram Online’s Yasmine Fathi that several people have been injured in sporadic scuffles between protesters. So far, however, Alexandria has not seen the kind of violent clashes that have been taking place over the last few days.
19:40 Meanwhile, in Upper Egypt's Luxor, hundreds of boats are reportedly heading down the Nile to voice their opposition to President Mohamed Morsi.
Hundreds of other protesters are marching around the touristic city en route to their rallying-point at the governorate building, where they plan to hold a sit-in until their demands are met.
19:35 “If Morsi or the Brotherhood had any real presence, they would have organised a million-man march either here [Alexandria] or in Cairo, but they could only fill Rabaa Al-Adawiya,” Sarah Mamdouh, one of the protesters at Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber, tells Ahram Online’s Yasmine Fathi.

Mamdouh added that Morsi had lost his legitimacy by “his dictatorial decisions and his inability to listen to other political opinions.

“He made people who were against each other unite against him, even the remnants of the former regime,” added Mamdouh.

Anti-Morsi protesters gather in a main square during a massive protest, in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria, June 30, 2013. (Reuters)

19:30 From the vicinity of the presidential palace, former MP Mostafa El-Naggar tells Ahram Online that “talks of Morsi’s legitimacy is null and void now and is used by the Brotherhood to scare people off the early elections scenario...there is a revolutionary legitimacy now. The legitimacy of millions in the street trumps the previous electoral legitimacy,”
He adds that the army’s role should be to protect the transitional period.
19:30 Welcome to the second part of Ahram Online's live updates. Today, the anniversary of President Mohamed Morsi's first year in power, we are seeing virtually unprecedented numbers of protesters taking to the streets to demand that the president step down. Both Tahrir Square and the vicinity of the Itihadiya presidential palace in Heliopolis are packed with people.
There are also protests all over Egypt, including Mansoura, Damanhour, Alexandria, Mahalla, Suez, Minya and Sharqiya, and there have been some violent clashes reported in Tanta.
There is also a large demonstration and sit-in taking place in Cairo's Nasr City in support of President Morsi.
For the first part of Ahram's live updates, click here.

Protesters across Egypt call for Mohamed Morsi to go

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators line streets to demand president's removal on first anniversary of his inauguration

Egyptians protest against President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo. Photograph: EPA

 

Millions of Egyptians filled streets across Egypt on Sunday calling for the departure of Mohamed Morsi on Sunday, hours after the president told the Guardian he would not resign.

A year to the day after Morsi's inauguration as Egypt's first democratically elected president, up to 500,000 protesters swelled Cairo's Tahrir Square calling for Morsi's removal. They then headed to Itahadiya, the presidential palace in the north-east of the city in the evening.

Security sources said that at least seven people were killed and more than 600 wounded in clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents.

Five of the dead were shot in towns south of Cairo, one each in Beni Suef and Fayoum and three in Assiut.

Two more were killed by gunfire during an attack on the national headquarters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood in a suburb of the capital, medical sources said.

Hundreds of people throwing petrol bombs and rocks attacked the building, which caught fire as guards and Brotherhood members inside the building exchanged gunfire with attackers.

State news agency MENA reported that 11 were treated in hospital for birdshot wounds, and across the country, the health ministry said, 613 people were injured as a result of factional fighting in the streets.

In Alexandria, Egypt's second city, 100,000 rallied in the centre, with similar rallies reported in dozens of other Egyptian cities. The headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's Islamist group, came under attack as night fell.

A spokesman for Morsi said that the president knew he had made mistakes and was working to fix them. Omar Amer added that Morsi was serious in his repeated calls for national dialogue.
"(Morsi) announced to all of Egypt's people that he made mistakes and that he is in the process of fixing these mistakes," Amer told a late-night news conference.

He said Morsi had "extended his hand" for dialogue and wanted to listen to everyone, repeating the president's previous calls for national dialogue, which the opposition has rebuffed as not serious.
"I want to confirm one truth, if there is a total lack of response to this initiative, no listening to it, no interest in it from any side, what do you think the presidency can do?" the president's spokesman said. "The presidency is now waiting for a reaction, no matter how small, so it can build on it." The scale of the protests – which took place on the first day of the Egyptian working week – surpassed predictions made by presidential aides, who had expected only 150,000 people to take part nationwide.

A military source told Reuters that as many as 14 million people in the country of 84 million took part in the demonstrations. There was no independent way of verifying that estimate, though the armed forces used helicopters to monitor the crowds. At one point in Tahrir Square, protesters targeted a military helicopter with lasers in an attempt to disorientate the pilot.

"The scenes of protests are unprecedented in size and scope, and seemingly surpass those during the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak," said Michael Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation and a longtime Egypt analyst.

The scale of protests were even more remarkable, Hanna said, because they were "a bottom-up, grassroots effort and not directed by political opposition leaders. In a sense, they have latched on to this expanding current. While the organisers were diligent and creative, while lacking organisation and funding, this breadth of mass mobilisation could not have transpired unless the protest movement was tapping into deep and growing frustration and disenchantment with the current course of the country and its leadership."

Some senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood spent the day travelling, fearing for their safety. Morsi himself moved from Itahadiya to the Quba palace, a state building in a safer part of Cairo.
"Egyptians are doing it again," said Ahmed Said, a leader of the largest opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF).

"They insist on regaining their hijacked revolution. We have revolted to reclaim our dignity, and reclaim our dignity we will."

But Morsi was defiant in the face of such dissent. "If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down," Morsi told the Guardian in an exclusive interview.While Morsi was elected in free elections, his opponents believe he has failed to uphold the democratic values on which a well-rounded democracy depends. In particular, he has been criticised for using a presidential decree to force through an Islamist-slanted constitution, viewed by many as the act of a dictator.

Among many other complaints, Morsi has been accused of presiding over the oppression of activists and journalists, and a marked drop in living standards.

Once a consensus candidate for Islamist and secular voters, critics say he has alienated secular politicians and failed to achieve the unity he was elected to build. Morsi blames the opposition for failing to meet him halfway.

"Morsi got elected in a democratic way," said one government critic, businessman Hassan Shanab. "But since he took over, everything's been polarised. All of a sudden, we see ourselves part of an Islamic regime like Iran. Morsi's answerable to the Brotherhood, but they are not answerable to us."

As Shanab spoke, a crowd of protesters nearby started pelting a giant poster of Morsi with stones.
The president still has a vocal support base, 20,000 of whom have been camped in east Cairo since Friday in a show of support for his regime and for its democratic legitimacy. Many of them saw the protests elsewhere as counter-revolutionary and some claimed they had been started by forces loyal to former dictator Hosni Mubarak. "I'm here to defend my vote, and to defend a revolution I was part of," said Shaima Abdel-Hamid, a teacher and Morsi supporter.

"We chose a president and now they want to get rid of him when he's dealing with 30 years of corruption. And they want to get rid of him after only a year."

"Seculars will not rule Egypt again," chanted one crowd of Morsi backers, who come not just from the Muslim Brotherhood, but from other Islamist groups such as Gamaa Islamiya, a Salafi movement.
A senior Brotherhood politician, Essam El-Erian, denounced the protests as a "coup attempt". In a statement on the group's website, he challenged the opposition to test public opinion in parliamentary elections instead of "simply massing people in violent demonstrations, thuggery or shedding the precious blood of Egyptians".

Yet many in Tahrir Square emphasised their religiosity, while rejecting what they perceived as the Brotherhood's attempts to run the Egyptian state along religious lines and to arbitrate on the correct interpretation of Islam. "I voted for him," said Haga Zeinab, a niqab-wearing protester in Tahrir. "But it turns out he only thinks his own people can be Muslims."

Anti-regime protesters created a carnival atmosphere in the square, with many setting off fireworks. At Itahadiya, they bobbed to patriotic songs played from a soundsystem resting on a first-floor balcony.

But at the Islamist rally, the mood was tetchy, particularly after several Brotherhood offices were attacked this week, and one former Brotherhood MP was killed. Many donned cycle helmets and builders' hard hats, and held shields and sticks in case of attack, waiting in defensive mode behind six lines of security checks. Some carried homemade shields emblazoned with the slogan: "Legitimacy is a red line" – a reference to Morsi's democratic mandate.

But with senior Muslim clerics warning of the prospect of civil war this week, many of the Islamists promised to act if the presidential palace came under attack from anti-Morsi protesters, and the police or the army fail to defend it.

The police have historically been no friend of the Brotherhood; across Egypt there were isolated accounts of policemen expressing support for anti-Morsi protesters.

"Now we're seeing the revolution being threatened," said Mohamed Sherif Abdeen, an IT teacher and member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was carrying a stick and wearing a hard hat – for self-defence, he said. "We won't do anything if the army and police do their job. But, if not, and they don't protect the presidential palace, we will protect it with our chests."

At Itahadiya, medics were taking precautions, anticipating night-time attacks from Islamist forces or state officials. Tahrir Doctors, who tend to the injured at most Cairo protests, set up three field hospitals, staffed by about 30 medics. "If we get any injured from any side, we will treat them equally," said Dr Amr Shebaita, the group's head.

Egypt has been rife with speculation about what will happen next. Two of Egypt's best-known opposition leaders – leftist Hamdeen Sabbahy and liberal Mohamed Baradei – were photographed marching arm in arm towards Itahadiya on Sunday. Should Morsi fall, both are considered potential key players in any transition scenario. Among Morsi's opponents, the most popular and startling choice of successor – at least in the interim – may be the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah Sisi.

There is widespread support for an army coup, particularly after Sisi hinted at the possibility of military intervention last week. "Come on Sisi," chanted protesters outside the presidential palace on Sunday. "My president is not Morsi."

Demonstrators camped outside Cairo's defence ministry – in yet another protest – shouted: "The people and the army are one hand."

Others feel uncomfortable with such sentiment. The Tamarrod campaign, a new protest movement that spearheaded Sunday's protests, issued a statement rejecting support for Ahmed Shafiq, the former air force chief defeated at the ballot box by Morsi last year. But such arguments may be unnecessary. Allies of the president believe protests will dissipate if he can hang on until the start of Ramadan in ten days' time.

Additional reporting by Mowaffaq Safadi

Taking Outsize Role in Syria, Qatar Funnels Arms to Rebels

The New York Times -- 30 June 2013

Fadi Al-Assaad/Reuters

Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, the emir of Qatar until last week, with his son and successor, left, in Doha in May.

By MARK MAZZETTI, C. J. CHIVERS and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — As an intermittent supply of arms to the Syrian opposition gathered momentum last year, the Obama administration repeatedly implored its Arab allies to keep one type of powerful weapon out of the rebels’ hands: heat-seeking shoulder-fired missiles.

The missiles, American officials warned, could one day be used by terrorist groups, some of them affiliated with Al Qaeda, to shoot down civilian aircraft. 

But one country ignored this admonition: Qatar, the tiny, oil- and gas-rich emirate that has made itself the indispensable nation to rebel forces battling calcified Arab governments and that has been shipping arms to the Syrian rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad since 2011. 

Since the beginning of the year, according to four American and Middle Eastern officials with knowledge of intelligence reports on the weapons, Qatar has used a shadowy arms network to move at least two shipments of shoulder-fired missiles, one of them a batch of Chinese-made FN-6s, to Syrian rebels who have used them against Mr. Assad’s air force. Deployment of the missiles comes at a time when American officials expect that President Obama’s decision to begin a limited effort to arm the Syrian rebels might be interpreted by Qatar, along with other Arab countries supporting the rebels, as a green light to drastically expand arms shipments. 

Qatar’s aggressive effort to bolster the embattled Syrian opposition is the latest brash move by a country that has been using its wealth to elbow its way to the forefront of Middle Eastern statecraft, confounding both its allies in the region and in the West. The strategy is expected to continue even though Qatar’s longtime leader, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, stepped down last week, allowing his 33-year-old son to succeed him. 

“They punch immensely above their weight,” one senior Western diplomat said of the Qataris. “They keep everyone off balance by not being in anyone’s pocket.”

“Their influence comes partly from being unpredictable,” the diplomat added. 

Mr. Obama, during a private meeting in Washington in April, warned Sheik Hamad about the dangers of arming Islamic radicals in Syria, though American officials for the most part have been wary of applying too much pressure on the Qatari government. “Syria is their backyard, and they have their own interests they are pursing,” said one administration official.

Qatari officials did not respond to requests for comment. 

The United States has little leverage over Qatar on the Syria issue because it needs the Qataris’ help on other fronts. Qatar is poised to host peace talks between American and Afghan officials and the Taliban, who have set up a political office in Doha, the Qatari capital. The United States Central Command’s forward base in Qatar gives the American military a command post in the heart of a strategically vital but volatile region. 

Qatar’s covert efforts to back the Syrian rebels began at the same time that it was increasing its support for opposition fighters in Libya trying to overthrow the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Its ability to be an active player in a global gray market for arms was enhanced by the C-17 military transport planes it bought from Boeing in 2008, when it became the first nation in the Middle East to have the durable, long-range aircraft. 

The Obama administration quietly blessed the shipments to Libya of machine guns, automatic rifles, mortars and ammunition, but American officials later grew concerned as evidence grew that Qatar was giving the weapons to Islamic militants there. 

American and Arab officials have expressed worry about something similar happening in Syria, where Islamists in the north have turned into the most capable section of the opposition, in part because of the weapons from Qatar. Saudi Arabia recently has tried to wrest control from Qatar and take a greater role in managing the weapons shipments to Syrian rebels, but officials and outside experts said the Qatari shipments continue. The greatest worry is over the shoulder-fired missiles — called man-portable air-defense systems — that Qatar has sent to Syria since the beginning of the year. Videos posted online show rebels in Syria with the weapons, including the Chinese FN-6 models provided by Qatar, and occasionally using them in battle. 

The first videos surfaced in February and showed rebels wielding the Chinese missiles, which had not been seen in the conflict previously and were not known to be in Syrian government possession. .  

Western officials and rebels alike say these missiles were provided by Qatar, which bought them from an unknown seller and brought them to Turkey. The shipment was at least the second antiaircraft transfer under the Qataris’ hand, they said. A previous shipment of Eastern bloc missiles had come from former Qaddafi stockpiles. 

The shipments were small, the Western officials and rebels said, amounting to no more than a few dozen missiles. And rebels said the Chinese shipments have been plagued with technical problems, and sometimes fail to fire. The first FN-6s were seen in the custody of groups under the Free Syrian Army banner, suggesting that they were being distributed, at least initially, to fighters backed by the United States and not directly to extremists or groups with ties to Al Qaeda. 

American and Arab officials said that Qatar’s strategy was a mixture of ideology — the ruling family’s belief in a prominent role for Islam in political life — and more hard-nosed calculations.

“They like to back winners,” one Middle Eastern official said. 

In meetings with Mr. Obama, the leaders of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have expressed a host of grievances about the Qatari shipments and have complained that Qatar is pursuing a reckless strategy. 

In Mr. Obama’s meeting with Sheik Hamad at the White House on April 23, American officials said, he had warned that the weapons were making their way to radical groups like Jabhet al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, a Qaeda-affiliated group that the United States has designated as a terrorist organization. 

“It was very important for the Qataris to understand that Nusra is not only an organization that destabilizes the situation in Syria,” said one senior Obama administration official. “It’s a national security interest of ours that they not have weapons.” 

But Charles Lister, an analyst with the IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center in London who follows the Syria opposition groups, said that there was evidence in recent weeks that Qatar had increased its backing of hard-line Islamic militant groups active in northern Syria. 

Mr. Lister said there was no hard evidence that Qatar was arming the Nusra Front, but he said that because of existing militant dynamics, the transfer of Qatari-provided arms to certain targeted groups would result in the same practical effect. 

“It’s inevitable that any weapons supplied by a regional state like Qatar,” he said via e-mail, “will be used at least in joint operations with Jabhet al-Nusra — if not shared with the group.” 

At least some extremists have already acquired heat-seeking missiles and have posted videos of them, although the sources for these arms are not apparent from videos alone. And they appear to have been made principally in the Eastern Bloc, not in China. 

Erin Banco and Mark Landler contributed reporting from Washington, and Karam Shoumali from Antakya, Turkey.

• 
• Assad continues offensive on Homs in attempt to take control from rebels

For a second day Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces bombed the city of Homs, which is currently controlled by rebels. Representatives for the rebels say they are ready for a long battle.

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters / June 30, 2013

• 

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks with his weapon through the damaged Khalid bin al Walid Mosque in Homs Sunday.   Yazan Homsy/Reuters

Amman

President Bashar al-Assad's forces pounded Sunni Muslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the second day of an offensive to expand loyalist control over Syria's strategic centre, activists said.

They said rebels defending the old centre of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday by Assad's forces but reported fresh clashes and deaths within the city on Sunday.

The offensive follows steady military gains by Assad's forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militants, in villages in Homs province and towns close to the Lebanese border.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad must halt his "brutal assault" on Homs. Gulf countries, which back the rebels, urged Lebanon to stop "parties" interfering in the Syria conflict, a reference to Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Opposition sources and diplomats said the loyalist advance had tightened the siege of Homs and secured a main road link to Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and to army bases in Alawite-held territory near the Syrian coast, the main entry point for Russian arms that have given Assad a key advantage in firepower.

At least 100,000 people have been killed since the Syrian revolt against four decades of rule by Assad and his late father erupted in March 2011, making the uprising the bloodiest of the Arab Spring popular revolutions against entrenched autocrats.

The Syrian conflict is increasingly pitting Assad's Alawite minority, backed by Shi'ite Iran and its Hezbollah ally, against mainly Sunni rebel brigades supported by the Gulf states, Egypt, Turkey and others.

Sunni Jihadists, including al Qaeda fighters from Iraq, have also entered the fray.

The loyalist advances have alarmed international supporters of the rebels, leading the United States to announce it will step up military support. Saudi Arabia has accelerated deliveries of sophisticated weaponry, Gulf sources say.

The Sham News Network opposition monitoring group said fighters belonging to the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front had killed five loyalist troops in fighting in the Bab Hud district of Old Homs on Sunday.
Activists said one woman and a child had been killed in an airstrike on the old city, home to hundreds of civilians.

Video footage taken by the activists, which could not be immediately verified, showed the two bodies being carried in blankets as well as a man holding a wounded child with a huge gash in his head.
Rebel fighters also fought loyalist forces backed by tanks in the old covered market, which links the old city with Khalidiya, a district inhabited by members of tribes who have been at the forefront of the armed insurgency.

"After failing to make any significant advances yesterday, the regime is trying to sever the link between Khalidiya and the old city," Abu Bilal, one of the activists, said from Homs.
"We are seeing a sectarian attack on Homs par excellence, The army has taken a back role. Most of the attacking forces are comprised of Alawite militia being directed by Hezbollah."

The Alawites are an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that have controlled Syria since the 1960s, when members of the sect took over the army and the security apparatus which underpin the power structure in the mainly Sunni country.

Located at a major highway intersection 88 miles north of Damascus, Homs is a majority Sunni city. But a large number of Alawites have moved into mostly new and segregated districts in recent decades, drawn by army and security jobs.

Lebanese security forces said Hezbollah appeared to be present in the rural areas surrounding Homs but there was no indication that it was fighting in the labyrinth streets of Homs, where it could take heavy casualties.

Anwar Abu al-Waleed, an activist, said rebel brigades were prepared to fight a long battle, unlike in Qusair and Tel Kalakh, two towns in rural Homs near the border with Lebanon that fell to loyalist forces in recent weeks.

"We are talking about serious urban warfare in Homs. We are not talking about scattered buildings in an isolated town but a large urban area that provides a lot of cover," he said.

Britain's Hague expressed concern over the escalation of fighting in Homs, saying in a statement: "I call upon the Assad regime to cease its brutal assault on Homs and to allow full humanitarian access to the country."

The Syrian conflict has aggravated neighbouring Lebanon's own complex sectarian rivalry, triggering fighting between Alawite pro-Assad and Sunni anti-Assad militia in the northern city of Tripoli that has killed dozens.

Gulf foreign ministers meeting in Bahrain urged the Lebanese government to "commit to distancing itself from the Syrian crisis and to prevent any Lebanese parties from interfering in (Syria) in order to enable it to confront the brutal attacks and crimes conducted by the regime and its allies."

Additional reporting by Angus McDowall and William Maclean in Dubai

Egypt Morsi: Mass political protests grip cities

BBC News online -- 30 June 2013

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from inside Tahrir Square

Huge protests calling for the resignation of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and early presidential elections are taking place in the capital, Cairo, and other cities.

Tens of thousands of opponents have massed in Tahrir Square and outside the main presidential palace.

Protesters accuse Mr Morsi of failing to tackle economic and security problems since taking power a year ago.
A presidential spokesman urged them to respect the democratic process.

Morsi supporters massed in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City with banners denouncing the opposition.
The president's critics say the country's first Islamist president has put the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood party ahead of the country's wider interests.

Analysis

Aleem Maqbool BBC News, Cairo

Many of those on the streets feel betrayed by a president who has been uninterested in uniting Egyptians despite once promising to be inclusive. They feel that he has instead governed purely in the interests of his own party.
For his part, the president insists he has invited opposition groups to enter into dialogue but that they have not co-operated. His supporters say that whatever the considerable problems Egypt is facing, Mohammed Morsi must see out his full term in office for the sake of stability.
Some pro-Morsi demonstrators have decided to stage their own sit-ins, an there are fears of clashes between opposing groups.
The coming hours, and the way the situation is handled by the authorities, are likely to give us clear indications about whether or not Egypt's president can survive in office as he insists he will.

In Cairo, they have been chanting: "Irhal! Irhal!" ("Leave! Leave!"), reports the BBC's Aleem Maqbool.

Demonstrations are being reported across the country

• In Alexandria, the second-biggest city, thousands of protesters gathered for a march to the central Sidi Gaber area, BBC Arabic's Rami Gabr reports

• A big stage has been erected in the main square of the Suez Canal city of Port Said, and protesters are checking the identities of those going in and out of the square, BBC Arabic's Attia Nabil reports

• Rallies are also expected in Suez, Monofia and Sharqiya - the birthplace of President Morsi.

Windows in the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo were reinforced with sandbags ahead of the protests.

Some Morsi supporters in Nasr City are wearing banners saying that they are willing to be martyrs for the cause of keeping the president in power.

Cairo's Tahrir Square swarmed with protesters on Sunda

Presidential spokesman Ihab Fahmi called on all Egyptians to "unite and listen to the sound of wisdom".

"Political diversity necessitates on all parties to abide by the democratic process," he said.
He told reporters that the presidency was open to a "real and serious national dialogue".

Mohammed Morsi's first year

• June 2012 - Narrowly wins presidential election. Orders parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it
• July 2012 - Submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid
• August 2012 - Dismisses Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan, and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution
• November 2012 - Rescinds a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, after popular protests
• December 2012 - Public vote approves draft constitution boosting the role of Islam and restricting freedom of speech and assembly
• March 2013 - Court halts his plans to bring parliamentary elections forward to April, citing failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court
• June 2013 - Puts Islamists in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships - controversially he appoints a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor

The chants in Tahrir Square alternate between humorous songs and angry protestations, all calling for the president to step down.

Egyptians have been talking about this day for many weeks - with the opposition vowing not to leave until Mr Morsi steps down and calls early presidential elections, our correspondent says.
But supporters of Mr Morsi point out that he was elected and say he should see out his full term in office, so there is a real split in Egyptian society at the moment, he adds.

Opposition activists say more than 22 million people have signed a petition seeking a snap election.
The grassroots movement Tamarod (Rebellion) is behind the petition, which has united liberal and secular opposition groups, including the National Salvation Front.

However, many ordinary Egyptians - angered by Mr Morsi's political and economic policies - are also taking part in the rally in Tahrir Square.
Hanan Bakr, who travelled specially from Dubai where she lives, to join the "second Egyptian revolution", told the BBC: "I'm hoping to stay on the streets until the whole regime of the Brotherhood is brought down.

"If Egypt falls under Islamist extremism, this will affect the whole region."
President Morsi earlier this week offered a dialogue - a move rejected by his opponents.
Mr Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair.

His first year as president has been marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

Canadian Politics

‘Shine has come off the Trudeau Express’: Liberal support dropping as Tories make up ground

Allison Cross | 13/06/28 | Last Updated: 13/06/28 2:32 PM ET

Adrian Wyld / CP files   Support slipped for the Federal Liberals and surged for the Conservatives as new poll data shows Justin Trudeau's party would win a minority government if an election were held today.

Support slipped for the Federal Liberals and surged for the Conservatives this month as new poll data shows Justin Trudeau’s party would win a minority government if an election were held today.
Thirty-eight per cent of Canadians polled said they would vote Liberal, a dip from last month’s all-time high of 44%, according to a Forum Poll for the National Post.

Support for the Conservative party grew three percentage points compared to last month, with 30% of those polled saying they’d cast a vote for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Tories.

“It appears a bit of the shine has come off the Trudeau Express since last month,” said Lorne Bozinoff, Forum Research president.
“Whether it’s a temporary blip or the new normal remains to be seen.”

Support for the NDP remained stable at 20% while 6% said they would vote for the Bloc Quebecois and 4% for the Green Party.

The new slump in electoral support for the Liberals means they’d win a minority government of 150 seats, compared to last month’s majority government of 192 seats.

AFP / Getty Images and The Canadian Press     The Tories would win 133 seats, a boost from 77 last month. The NDP would win 39 seats, up from 37 last month. Green Party leader would retain her single seat and the Bloc would take five seats, up from just one last month.

With a major cabinet shuffle all but certain sometime this summer, speculation is again swirling around the futures of Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

MacKay saw two longtime aides announce their departures this month, an unprecedented overhaul of the defence minister’s office, which has been one of the most stable of the Conservative-government era.
MacKay’s longtime director of communications Jay Paxton announced this week that he is leaving the defence minister’s office at the end of the month.
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The Tories would win 113 seats, a boost from 77 last month. The NDP would win 39 seats, up from 37 last month. Green Party leader would retain her single seat and the Bloc would take five seats, up from a single seat.

Thirty-three per cent of Canadians polled approve of the job Harper is doing, up from 29% last month. Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians also think it’s time for Harper to retire.

The majority of Canadians — 61% — believe it’s time for a change in Ottawa, while 31% do not and 8% are unsure.

If Harper did retire, the poll says 9% of Canadians would choose Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall to replace him as the leader of the Conservatives over the others on a list of possible candidates.
That list included: Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (6%) Tony Clement (6%), Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (4%), Jim Prentice (4%), Parliamentary Secretary Michelle Rempel (3%) and Heritage Minister James Moore (2%).

Thirty-eight percent of those polled said they didn’t have an opinion on Harper’s replacement, while 29% said no one on the list would make a good leader.

The poll results are based on the results of an interactive voice response phone survey on June 18 of 1,525 Canadian adults selected at random. The results are considered accurate +/- 2%, 19 times out of 20.

A major Conservative cabinet shuffle is all but certain sometime this summer. Harper has asked his ministers whether they plan to run in the next election as he prepares for the shuffle in advance of a run to 2015.

Peter MacKay is already widely expected to be moved from his post as minister of defence, a portfolio he has filled since 2007 and reportedly enjoys, and some believe it would make sense for the minister to decide now is the time to step aside.

Rumours are also circulating of the planned resignation of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.
It’s expected that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will be shuffled from finance against his wishes due to questions about his health and likelihood of running in the next election.

Baird, Kenney and Moore are also expected to be moved as Harper attempts to put a new face on his government for 2015.

National Post, with files from Postmedia News