NPR– As the center of the political whirlwind that toppled President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year, Cairo’s Tahrir Square became synonymous with revolution in Egypt.

Now, the protesters have returned: Nearly three weeks ago, demonstrators unhappy with the pace of change in Egypt began camping out in the square, hoping to revive the spirit that shook the country six months ago.

Tahrir, or Liberation, Square has become a political festival — with singing, dancing, face-painting and arguing. It’s a sit-in, a camp-in, a tent city — a place of artistic expression and political freedom unlike anything Egypt has seen in decades.

It was created primarily by the young, and protesters like 26-year-old Ramy Muhammad Abdullah don’t want to give it up.

People in Tahrir Square walk by graffiti showing a protester with an Egyptian flag in front of the sun on Saturday.

“Every day I finish my work and I come here [to] Tahrir Square. I’m trying to do my best to achieve our goals. Because our revolution until now didn’t achieve anything from our goals,” he says.

That’s become the mantra of Cairo’s protest movement: The military council that is Egypt’s caretaker government has moved too slowly; the revolution has stalled. Flags and posters and banners in the square announce that message — sometimes expressed with anger, other times with humor and sarcasm.

Take the fight over the word “thug.” When the protesters march, the military calls them thugs. The protesters counter that the military employs thugs to squash the revolution. Semantics clash on banners flapping in the wind.

Tahrir Square is not a quiet place. The air is filled with the sound of speeches and chanting, which breaks out all the time.

Read more about Revolutionary Spirit Returns To Egypt’s Tahrir Square

© 2011 National Public Radio

Photo by Flickr user madmonk

ECONOMIST– On the topic of Tibet, Xi Jinping, the man widely expected to be the next leader of the Chinese Communist Party, sounds much like his predecessors. Speaking on July 19th in the capital, Lhasa, in front of the Potala Palace, former residence of the Dalai Lamas, Tibet’s spiritual leaders, he celebrated the way Chinese rule had led Tibet “from the dark toward the light”. 

In material terms, he has an obvious point. Tibet is far better-off than in 1951, when a young Dalai Lama reached a “17-point agreement” ceding Chinese sovereignty over the territory. He also has a point that, before 1951, Tibet was not some idyllic Shangri-La of tinkling temple bells, lowing conch shells and smiling people, but a highly stratified society relying on mass monasticism and serfdom.

The difficulty Mr Xi and his predecessors face, however, is that large numbers of Tibetans resent Chinese rule. Many are still loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile with some 80,000 of his followers after the crushing of an anti-Chinese uprising in 1959. Since then the region has been scarred by periodic riots, including a bloody outburst of anti-Chinese violence in Lhasa in 2008.

This year has seen a confrontation at the Kirti monastery in a part of historic Tibet now incorporated in the Chinese province of Sichuan, after a young monk burnt himself to death in March. Hundreds of monks have been taken off for “patriotic education”. This year has also seen a heavy security crackdown to prevent any unrest to mark the 60th anniversary of the 17-point agreement, or the Party’s 90th birthday on July 1st.

China, in public at least, blames the Dalai Lama for the continued Tibetan disaffection. So its spokesmen fume when he is received by foreign leaders, especially America’s. On July 16th Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama in the White House. After the meeting, the White House emphasised that, besides underlining America’s support for Tibetans’ cultural identity and human rights, Mr Obama also repeated America’s acceptance of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. 

Nevertheless, the People’s Daily called the meeting “an unscrupulous trick of pragmatism” that undermined the United States’ position as a great world power. Mr Obama has partly himself to blame for the accusation of pragmatism. In 2009 he postponed a meeting with the Dalai Lama in order not to sour the atmosphere for his trip to China a few months later—in effect conceding that such meetings are not matters of pure principle.

Read more about Tibet, China, and America: Towards The Light?

© 2011 The Economist

Photo by Flickr user Tanya Nagar

THE NATION– Amid the economic and social upheaval of Greece’s beleaguered capital city, where demonstrators have been protesting government-imposed austerity measures, forty activists from across the United States began training this week to nonviolently confront the Israeli military blockade of Gaza. The Americans are part of a flotilla of ten ships—from France, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Greece, Sweden and other countries—planning to set out for Gaza’s main seaport in the next week to relieve the siege.

With an age gap of sixty years between the youngest and oldest passenger, the diverse group of Americans have taken over a hotel in a trendy Athens neighborhood for days of nonviolence training and preparation.

Israel has stated that it will enforce its naval blockade by any political, military and economic measures at its disposal. This week it submitted an urgent request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking for international cooperation in stopping the flotilla. Ban embraced the Israeli government’s position, arguing in a public statement that aid should be delivered to Gaza only through “legitimate crossings and established channels,” all of which are controlled by Israel. Ban added that the flotilla is not helpful in assisting the economy of Gaza and encouraged organizers to cancel their voyage.

Read the full article about Israel Attempts To Shut Down Humanitarian Gaza Aid.

© 2011 The Nation

Photo by Flickr user Zingaro

RT– The Bilderberg Group, an invitation-only meeting of the world’s most powerful people, is taking place in Switzerland. Just what the political insiders, media moguls and industry magnates will actually discuss, remains top secret.

­This year the Bilderberg Group has occupied the grand Suvretta House Hotel among the magnificent hills and lakes of St. Moritz resort, Switzerland. The world’s most powerful group of some 150 will be meeting there behind closed doors to discuss whatever they need to in the next few days and, perhaps, carry out decisions that will determine the future of the whole world.

Bilderberg attendees of the past include kings, presidents, captains of industry and heads of the world’s most powerful corporations. Rumors have been spread of Juan Carlos I of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and board members from IBM, Royal Dutch Shell, and Nokia having attended the Bilderberg Group meetings. Various officials and politicians such as Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have also been claimed to be on the participants’ lists.

Still, there is little media coverage of the group: official lists of participants are not revealed, neither is the agenda publicized. Press releases are not expected to be issued after the meeting.

Since the 1950s, when the group started, there has been much speculation regarding the purposes and possible agendas of the meetings. The group has been accused of plans to crop 80 per cent of the world’s population, of masterminding the global financial crisis of 2008–2010, or even secretly coming up with the original plan to implement the euro.

A dedicated Bilderberg Group watcher Jim Tucker believes this year’s meeting will focus on the Arab Spring. He thinks that the group will want to create a mastermind behind the conflicts in Arab countries to protect Israel. Tucker expects the group to try to prolong the war in Libya, but the increasing opposition to it in the US Congress might curb their plans.  

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the IMF head’s succession will be another topic of the Bilderberg Group this year, Tucker thinks.

© 2011 RT

Photo by Flickr user Sheraton Hotels and Resorts