Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, clinging to power despite unprecedented demands for an end to his 30-year rule, met yesterday with the powerful military that is widely seen as holding the key to Egypt’s future.
Mubarak held talks with Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, whose appointment on Saturday has possibly set the scene for a transition in power, Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, chief-of-staff Sami al-Anan and other senior commanders.
An earthquake of unrest is shaking Mubarak’s grip on power and the high command’s support is vital as other pillars of his ruling apparatus crumble, analysts said.
Egyptians faced lawlessness on their streets yesterday with security forces and ordinary people trying to stop looters after five days of popular protest.
Through the night, Cairo residents armed with clubs, chains and knives formed vigilante groups to guard neighborhoods from marauders after the unpopular police force withdrew following clashes with protesters that left more than 100 dead.
Cairo’s streets were mostly deserted, with the army guarding the interior ministry, and citizens putting their trust in the military, hoping they would restore order but not open fire to keep key US ally Mubarak, 82, in power.
Amid a heavy military presence, nearly 4,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square, which has become a rallying point to express anger at poverty, repression and corruption in the Arab world’s most populous nation.
“Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, both of you are agents of the Americans,” shouted protesters, referring to the appointment of intelligence chief Suleiman as vice president, the first time Mubarak has appointed a deputy in 30 years of office.
Sunday is normally a working day in Egypt, but banks and financial markets were shut. The bourse and the central bank said they would stay closed today.
Meanwhile, 34 members of Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, including seven of its leaders, walked out of prison after relatives of prisoners overcame the guards, a Brotherhood official said.
The relatives stormed the prison in Wadi el-Natroun, 120km northwest of Cairo, and set free several thousand of the inmates, Brotherhood office manager Mohamed Osama told reporters. No one was hurt, he added.
Opposition forces also agreed yesterday to support former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei to negotiate with the government, a leading member of the Brotherhood said
The tumult was affecting Egypt’s tourist industry and the US, Turkey and Iraq said they were offering evacuation flights for citizens anxious to leave. Other governments advised their citizens to leave Egypt or to avoid traveling there.
Egypt said it had shut down the operations of satellite broadcaster al-Jazeera, which has shown footage of the demonstrations taking place in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria and heavy-handed police tactics to the rest of the Arab world.
In Cairo, the biggest immediate fear was of looting as public order collapsed. Mobs stormed banks, supermarkets, jewelry shops and government offices. Some suggested the chaos could herald a security forces crackdown.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
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IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
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