Experiments with Truth: 1/28/11

    • Clashes between protesters and security forces in Egypt have escalated. Protesters have been attacked with (US-made) tear gas, stun guns, rubber bullets, and batons. Police armored cars have been set on fire in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez, some allegedly by the police themselves to justify a crackdown. Police have withdrawn from some areas, overwhelmed by the protesters. An unarmed protester in Sinai was shot and killed after throwing a rock at police. Al Jazeera reports that a woman was killed by a tear-gas canister in Cairo. Journalists have been especially targeted by security forces, including Al Jazeera’s Cairo office. During Friday-afternoon prayers, though, protesters and police shook hands and prayed together in the streets.
    • Between 20 and 50 percent of protesters in Egypt this week have been women, a much higher percentage than usual.
    • Myanmar’s courts have rejected the bid of pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to reinstate her banned National League for Democracy party.
    • British trade union leaders announced plans today for massive strikes and protests against public-sector job cuts.
    • The “Creech 14” activists who protested US drone attacks at a Nevada military base were finally sentenced—to time already served.


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