The New York Times Egypt Condemns Western Outrage at Fatal Shooting of Protester Egypt's Foreign Ministry expressed dismay on Tuesday that the killing of a female activist in Cairo, which occurred as riot police used force to disperse a peaceful protest, had drawn widespread condemnation from the West. The Foreign Ministry statement released Tuesday suggested that Western reports focusing more on the shooting of Ms. Sabbagh than on the clashes were "unbalanced." Such "reviews" of the weekend's violence, the ministry said, "failed to convey the reality, choosing to turn a blind eye to acts of killing, burning and horror conducted by supporters of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group," which the authorities blamed for protests on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising. "Western reports have also failed to shed light on an immediate decision by the prosecutor general to open a probe into the murder of activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh and into acts of violence committed by the MB supporters," the ministry added. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/middleeast/egypt-condemns-western-outrage-at-fatal-shooting-of-protester.html?_r=0 All Africa Egypt: As Police, Protesters Clash in Egypt, UN Rights Chief Urges End to Excessive Use of Force "Deeply disturbed" by the deaths resulting from recent clashes between security forces and protesters in Egypt, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has urged for an end to the excessive use of force, his spokesperson said today. According to the UN Office for the High Commissioner (OHCHR), at least 20 people had been killed in the Cairo suburb of Matariya, in Alexandria and in downtown Cairo during protests since last Friday commemorating the fourth anniversary of the 2011 popular protests that had led to the ouster of then-President Hosni Mubarak. The death of a leading female activist, Shaimaa Al Sabagh, had been captured on video and in photographs posted on the Internet, after she had apparently been shot from behind during a peaceful protest in central Cairo, added OHCHR. Read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/201501280136.html The Malaysian Insider Egypt confirms jail terms for leading liberal activists An Egyptian court upheld three-year jail sentences on Tuesday for three prominent liberal activists, judicial sources said, after days of violence around the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. In 2013, a court handed down the sentences against Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel – leading figures of the pro-democracy revolt – for protesting without permission and assaulting police, under a new law suppressing demonstrations. Read more: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/egypt-confirms-jail-terms-for-leading-liberal-activists#sthash.iFX7zGlu.dpuf CNN Obama defends Saudi relationship: 'Sometimes we have to balance' Obama was candid that U.S. pressure to advance human rights or encourage political reforms isn't always appreciated and "oftentimes that makes some of our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated," he said. "And you know, some of them listen and some don't," Obama said. In the list of those who don't, Obama recalled the unraveling of the Egyptian dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt who was overthrown in Egypt's 2011 revolution. Mubarak was one of the U.S.'s closest allies in the region during his three decades in office, thanks in large part to a strong security agreement and Mubarak's work to maintain peace with Israel. Obama said that he warned Mubarak that the massive protests in Tahrir Square were not simply going to vanish, urging Mubarak to "get out in front of reform" and become "the father of the Egyptian democracy." Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/27/politics/obama-saudi-arabia-zakaria/
