World Watch: Mubarak on Trial

* Egypt: Prosecutors in the case of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak requested that he be sentenced to death via hanging.

* Japan: A 593-pound bluefin tuna was sold at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market for a whopping $736,000.

* Iraq: At least sixty-eight people were killed as a result of a series of bombings reportedly targeting Shia Muslims.

* Middle East: A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that the next round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will take place on Monday.

Video Source– YouTube via euronews

Online Sources – CNN, CBS News, Al Jazeera English, Reuters

World Watch: From the Music Stage to the Political Stage

* Senegal: Will Youssou N'Dour follow the lead of Haiti’s Michel Martelly and become the next musician turned president?

* Europe: The Spanish government recently launched a set of anti-piracy laws opposed to by “bloggers, journalists and tech professionals” while Internet users in Belarus will soon face stiff fines if they access foreign-based websites not using the country’s .by domain name.

* Egypt: Prosecutors in the Hosni Mubarak trial claimed that the ex-president and his closest aides are responsible for the deaths of about 850 protesters by the military last year.

* Iran: The E.U. agreed to implement an embargo on Iranian oil imports even though the bloc is “one of Iran's biggest markets for oil.”

Image Source – Flickr via erinc salor (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources – news24, UPI, BBC News, Reuters, Voice of America

World Watch: Presidential problems

* World: Clashes broke out at the trial against former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak while ex-president Jacques Chirac of France faces a maximum ten-year prison sentence if convicted of corruption.

* Africa: The U.N. warned that as many as 750,000 people could die in the upcoming months due to a famine that originated in Somalia.

* Libya: Authorities in China denied a report by Canada's The Globe and Mail newspaper alleging that Chinese firms were planning to sell $200 million in weapons to deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

* Japan: At least 34 people died as a result of one of the worst typhoons to hit Japan in recent years.

Image – Reuters via The Guardian (“Riot police clash with anti-Mubarak protestors on the first day of the former Egyptian president's return to trial.”)

Online Sources- Voice of America, euronews, MSNBC, CNN, BBC News

Weekend World Watch: Japan’s Cinderella story

* Japan: In one of the biggest upsets in women’s soccer history a plucky and determined Japanese squad beat the U.S. to capture the Women’s World Cup.

* Britain: The media phone hacking scandal has claimed the scalps of Scotland Yard police chief Sir Paul Stephenson and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

* Egypt: Ex-president Hosni Mubarak is believed to be in stable medical condition and not in a coma as was originally rumored.

* U.S.: The Chinese government is upset that U.S. President Barack Obama held private talks at the White House with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Image – Mike Hewitt/Fifa via Getty Images via The Guardian (“Japan players celebrate winning the women's World Cup after beating USA on penalties in the final.”)
Online Sources- USA TODAY, The Guardian, BBC News, The Independent

The money trail

What does a former Haitian dictator deposed in an uprising 25 years ago have to do with an Egyptian strongman who quit his post last Friday? As the saying goes, it’s all about the Benjamins.

Hours after Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the Egyptian presidency, Swiss officials began the process of freezing his assets in that country’s banks. "The (government) intends in doing so to avoid any risk of embezzlement of Egyptian state property,” according to a statement issued by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The communiqué also threatened with retaining assets not only from Mubarak but also members of “his circles.”

Estimates of Mubarak’s personal wealth vary and it’s unreported how much he might have stashed away in Swiss private banks. Yet there is the possibility that those funds could be returned to Egypt as part of the Swiss government’s push to peel away at the historic secrecy of the country's banks.

As we mentioned neatly two weeks ago, a Swiss law has gone into effect that could permit the return of assets stolen by corrupt politicians to be returned to their countries of origin. That law was nicknamed after Haiti’s Jean-Claude Duvalier and was created after a court ruling nearly forced the return of millions of dollars from his accounts back into his hands. Instead, the “Duvalier Law” will help in the transfer of approximately $6 million to "programs of public interest aimed at improving the living conditions of the (Haitian) population."

It remains to be seen if the “Duvalier Law” will be applied to Mubarak’s assets though one Swiss official implied that it could be possible. “If a given government holding banks accounts in Switzerland is ousted and there is evidence of corruption, we will react swiftly to see whether there are chances of returning the property to its rightful owners," said Valentin Zellweger, head of the department for international law at the Swiss government, to IPS.

Duvalier, who recently returned from exile, may face trial in Haiti on several charges including corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

Image- AFP via ABC News (Australia)
Online Sources- NPR, The Latin Americanist, CNN Money, The Telegraph, Slate, IPS

World Watch: Gone baby gone

Hosni Mubarak stepped down from the Egyptian presidency and ceded power to the military according to a brief statement read on state TV by Vice President Omar Suleiman. "In these difficult circumstances that the country is passing through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided to leave the position of the presidency,'' said Suleiman at about 6:00 pm local time.

Egyptians protesting the Mubarak regime met Suleiman’s announcement with great joy and relief. As seen in the video below from Al Jazeera English, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square waved Egyptian flags and chanted “we are free!” at the news of Mubarak stepping down immediately:

The celebrations in Egypt also extended to nearby countries such as Tunisia where a popular uprising last month toppled the lengthy rule of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In addition, it remains to be seen if the actions in Egypt will help pro-democracy movements in the Middle East/North Africa region such as Algeria.

Leaders from around the world reacted favorably and with guarded optimism to today’s developments in Egypt. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged that a “transparent, peaceful and orderly” transition take place; hence, reflecting worries that the strengthened role of the military could hinder a transition to civilian, democratic rule.

Some protesters fear that despite Mubarak stepping down the authoritarian regime he led for thirty years will continue. "No to Mubarak, no to Suleiman" cried out demonstrators in Alexandria according to CNN. Nonetheless, a military communiqué issued earlier today tried to quell such worries by promising to carry out constitutional reforms. As mentioned in the following video by Britain’s ITN News, the statement also pledged that the military would not prosecute “honest men” who have urged an end to widespread corruption:

Egyptians living abroad viewed positively the news Mubarak’s resignation. Today’s joy contrasted sharply with yesterday’s disappointment by many Egyptian expats when Mubarak vowed to continue in power until September elections.

The events in Egypt have affected global finance such as a decrease in the prices of crude oil. Stocks indices that were initially falling on Friday morning rebounded quickly after news emerged that Mubarak resigned.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English and ITN News
Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, The Guardian, Reuters, monstersandcritics.com, CNN, CBS New York, CBC, The Telegraph, ABC News

World Watch: Defiant and daft

* Egypt: Despite over two weeks of intense protests against him president Hosni Mubarak said in a televised speech that he will not resign from his post and that he will delegate some powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman.

* Africa: For a second straight day ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor skipped proceedings at his war crimes trial.

* Russia: President Dmitry Medvedev tried to strengthen Russia’s claim over a group of islands that are also claimed by Japan.

* China: “High-profile” human rights activist Chen Guangcheng claimed in a video smuggled out of China that he has been under house arrest for the past five months.

Image – Egypt TV caption via APTN/AP and featured on CSMonitor.com (“Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak makes a televised statement to his nation in this image taken from TV aired on Feb. 10.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, BBC News, Voice of America