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Live blog Feb 8 - Egypt protests

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.  Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - Feb1 - Feb2 - Feb3 - Feb4 - Feb5 - Feb6 - Feb7

The Battle for Egypt - AJE Live Stream - Timeline - Photo Gallery - AJE Tweets - AJE Audio Blogs

(All times are local in Egypt, GMT+2)

11:55pm  As unrest enters its third week, protesters forge close bonds and explore new ways of making their voices heard. A bakery nearby Tahrir displays cupcakes with the Egyptian flag. Pro-democracy protesters have been urging people to display the flags everywhere as a sign of unity.

11:34pm Mass protests continue across Egypt, a crowd is massing around parliament close to Tahrir [Liberation] Square. Al Jazeera speaks to Alaa Abdel Fattah, an activist and a blogger.



11:15pm Al Jazeeras online producer in cairo that can not be named due to security reasons reports on how central Cairo's Tahrir Square remains the heartbeat of the pro-democracy movement.

In the two weeks that have passed since Egyptians began street protests aimed at overturning president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, central Cairo's Tahrir Square has become the movement’s beating heart and most effective symbol.

Tahrir Square remains the heartbeat of the revolution, a young couple ties the knot there.

[AFP]

Al Jazeera correspondent in Cairo reports on life in Tahrir Square


11:13pm Al Jazeera continuous to cover the events in Egypt under the strict and sometimes dangerous circumstances. Al Jazeera's online producer Gregg Carlstrom recalls the many perils he faced while reporting from the country in upheaval.

"I asked several protesters why they were so angry, and they accused our coverage of bias against the government, of "hyping" the protests. (Al Jazeera has, of course, given ample airtime to the Mubarak government, the ruling National Democratic Party, and its supporters.)

10:00pm More than half of US citizens have heard 'a little or nothing' about the uprising and violence in Egypt, a survey by Pew Research has revealed. The article can be seen here.

9:50pm As the protests in Egypt continue, its neighbour Israel is keeping a close eye on developments.
It is worried about its old ally, President Hosni Mubarak - but could be eyeing up a new friend in his deputy, Omar Suleiman.



9:42pm Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian Vice president, has been criticized by the White House for making remarks about Egypt was 'not ready for democracy'.



9:22pm Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo reported: "There are a lot of first time demonstrators today, Tahrir [Liberation] Square has been packed throughout the day. Parliament building is 500 meters away from Tahrir Square, around 1000 protesters have gathered there, and they say that they will try to stay there as long as possible .

They [Pro-democracy] protesters are camped there because they want to make sure that Parliament is cancelled because they don't think it is legitimate due to the vote rigging that took place in the last elections.


[AFP]

Live blog: Korea tension

19:03 GMT The US plans to consult with allies, including Chin,a to develop a "measured and unified" response to the artillery exchange, the US state department says.

"Everybody involved is stunned by North Korea's provocative actions," Mark Toner, a state department spokesman, said.

"We are working again within an established framework with our partners so we have a deliberate approach to this.

Greece: Some are leaving, others arriving

I spent one day last week interviewing young Greeks who are desperate to leave this country. The two women whom I met in Athens  are intelligent  graduates, in their twenties, looking to launch their careers.

They speak six languages between them. But in this recession-hit economy, they see no prospects. Their pessimism is understandable; new figures show that unemployment for Greeks in their early 20s has reached an appalling 30.8 per cent. The women I met have come of age at just the wrong time, and are now planning to go elsewhere in Europe.

In fact, by the time you read this, one of them will already be in Sweden, looking for work there.

But Greece is full of ironies. Because just the following day, I was up on the Greek-Turkish border, with an EU police force struggling to control the flow of illegal migrants who are desperately trying to get into this country.

Everything and nothing is black and white on Hajj

I had fifteen minutes unfettered viewing of the US Capitol building as my taxi tried negotiating rush hour gridlock towards Washington DC's Dulles Airport. The Greco-Roman architecture, pillars on a carousel holding a majestic dome, this imposing building, which had just had a seat-shuffle after the recent midterms, is a symbol of US power.

Its pearly whiteness was a stark contrast to that other symbol I was about to visit - the Kaaba in Mecca, draped in black.

My transit stop was in Frankfurt, Germany. Pilgrims waited at the boarding gate, men dressed in white unstitched sheets, some wearing the upper piece like a poncho, others imperious, exposing a shoulder, like Greco-Roman warriors who might look quite interesting if they stood outside the aforementioned Capitol in those threads; women were clad mostly in black hijab (veils).