2011-01-31

2Share-Emerging Technology

Speech & Voice Solutions

Our high quality voice solutions are mature, stable and guaranteed to work on any industry platform. They have been carefully designed to offer medium to large size organizations in Arabic speaking countries an innovative way to efficiently handle high volumes of incoming (and outgoing) calls. It serves four major sectors.

As opposed to traditional IVR systems which leave many users frustrated, our voice recognition solutions allow callers to quickly and accurately find answers to their questions and queries any time of the day. Callers will often not realize that they're actually conversing with a computer system and not a human being.

  We have invested years developing our Arabic voice recognition solutions to include the many different accents and dialects in the Arab world. So it doesn't matter where you come from or how you talk. If it's Arabic that you're speaking, our system will understand you. No one else in the industry can make such a claim.

Below some of the Solutions we offer in this area.

VOICE SELF SERVICE PORTALS
 
HEALTH CARE SPEECH PRODUCTS
 
INTERACTIVE SPEECH APPLICATIONS

 

Copyright © 2010 2Share, Saudi Arabia. All Rights Reserved.

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2Share-Emerging Technology


About Us

2Share (an Entity of Emerging Technology Holding co.) a 100% Saudi Owned company, based in Riyadh and Established in 2007.

A Leader in gulf region for Speech & Voice Solutions. Mobile Applications Development, Enterprise communications, IVR & Hosting Solutions Media & Content Development and Hosting.

Our experts understand the business objectives of the customer and empower them with IT strategy, and envision them with the business benefits of implementing solutions and help them expand and grow their business.


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2Share Selects Voxeo To Deliver Multi-Channel Communication Portals and IVR Hosting Services | MyHostNews: Web Hosting News, Web Hosting Interviews, Web Hosting Awards and Web Hosting Reviews

Hosting News – Riyadh and Cologne - Voxeo, the leading provider of Unlocked Communications™ solutions and 2Share (Emerging Technology Holding Co.), the pioneer of voice portals & enabler of voice recognition technologies in the Arab world, today announced a partnership that will bring Unified Self-Service™ solutions for phone channels such as IVR, SMS, Instant Messaging, and others to countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Customers will benefit from this relationship since they do not need to invest in hardware, software or IT staff to operate a system that is provided by 2Share and Voxeo.


2Share is the first company in the Arab world that implements a complete unified Voice Portal based on Arabic speech-enabled voice portals for Telco operators, E-Government and public contents providers. The company develops, implements, operates and hosts the most extensive infotainment voice portal within the largest telecommunications company in the Middle East. 2Share provides solutions for the travel industry, e-government, operators and service providers, infotainment voice portals, and other services based on Voxeo’s leading technologies.

“We are very excited about this relationship with Voxeo,” comments Eng. Mansour Al-Obaid, CEO at 2Share. “For us, Voxeo is a strategic partner for the delivery of Voice-enabled hosted services. By partnering with Voxeo, we are a step closer to our vision of being the largest Arabic company in hosted voice services in the Middle Eastern market. We are looking forward to working with Voxeo in this promising market.”

“2Share is a perfect partner for Voxeo,” states Michael Codini, Managing Director Voxeo EMEA. “With the deployment of Voxeo’s Prophecy platform and the VoiceObjects application lifecycle suite, 2Share can now provide solutions and services that help businesses improve customer experience and customer loyalty while at the same time, customer service costs decrease.”

About 2Share
2Share (Emerging Technology) is the leading provider in the area of hosting voice technologies, Arabic enabled Speech Solutions and interactive contact centers in the Arab world. The company is established in 2007 and delivers its customers state-of-the-art applications and solutions that reduce costs, increase customer loyalty and satisfaction, and in the same time increase revenue. Industries such as telecommunications operators, airports, travel, financial institutions, healthcare and many others are already using communications solutions that are powered by 2Share. For more information please visit www.2-share.com.

About Voxeo
Voxeo unlocks communications. We loathe the locks that make voice, SMS, instant messaging, Twitter, web chat, and mobile web unified communication and self-service applications difficult to create, manage, analyze, optimize and afford. Every day we work to unlock the neglected value of these communications solutions with open standards, disruptive innovation and a passion for problem solving–fueled by a company-wide obsession with customer success. We do so for more than 200,000 developers, 45,000 companies and half of the Fortune 100 from our headquarters in Orlando, Beijing, Cologne, and London. For more information, please visit www.voxeo.com.

Tired of web hosts who fail in every regard? Check out www.FindMyHost.com for a list of tested and approved hosts.

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About Carnegie | Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

About Carnegie

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Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an Act of Congress, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center. Its current mission is to support needed transformations in American education through tighter connections between teaching practice, evidence of student learning, the communication and use of this evidence, and structured opportunities to build knowledge.

The improvement of teaching and learning is central to all of the Foundation’s work. As we bring together researchers, teachers, policymakers and members of organizations with common interests in education, we work to invent new knowledge and to develop tools and ideas that allow us to foster positive change and enhanced learning in our nation’s schools.

In our first several decades, influential Foundation achievements included the landmark “Flexner Report” on medical education, the development of the Graduate Record Examination, the founding of the Educational Testing Service, and the creation of the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America (TIAA-CREF). The Foundation also established the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and was a leader in the effort to provide federal aid for higher education, including Pell Grants, which assist low- and middle-income students.

The Carnegie FoundationIn 1997, the Foundation moved from Princeton, N.J., to the San Francisco Bay area. In 2004, the Foundation built on Stanford University land near the campus.

More recently, the Foundation’s work focused on moral, civic and political education; preparation for the professions (law, engineering, clergy, medicine and nursing); reform of the Ph.D.; and field-building work with teachers at all levels to develop new models for documenting classroom practice in ways that other educators can study, adapt and implement. The Foundation continues to work with community colleges to improve basic skills education in that sector.

Today, the Foundation, using both technology and face-to-face communication, is closely examining how new technological tools and digital world social networking can contribute to learning at every level of the education spectrum. Working through arrangements with public education, universities, the commercial sector—and the connections among these enterprises—the Foundation seeks to transform how we develop and support school professionals; the tools, materials, ideas and evidence with which they work; and the instructional opportunities that we afford students for learning.

We are committed to determining what is working for which students, and in what contexts, and to advancing the process of continuous performance improvement by using evidence from practice to improve practice.

In our current projects, our goal is to double the proportion of students who, within one year of continuous community college enrollment, are mathematically prepared to succeed in further academic study and/or occupational pursuits, regardless of limitations that they may have in language, literacy and mathematics and their ability, on entry, to “do college.”

Governed by a board of trustees, the Foundation is led by its ninth president, Anthony S. Bryk.

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BBC News - Egypt protesters step up pressure on Hosni Mubarak

Egypt protesters vow to step up pressure

Jeremy Bowen reports on Sunday's stand-off in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in central Cairo for a seventh day of protest, calling for a general strike.

Police have been ordered back to the streets, to positions they abandoned on Friday, but it is not clear whether they are returning to central Cairo.

The demonstrators are also planning a huge march to take place on Tuesday.

Protesters want President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power, but he has promised political reform.

The president has ordered his new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to push through democratic reforms and create new jobs.

Correspondents say all the signs continue to suggest that the only change the protesters will settle for is Mr Mubarak's removal from office.

Meanwhile Moodys Investor Services downgraded Egypt's bond rating and changed its outlook from stable to negative, following a similar move by Fitch Ratings last week. Both cited the political crisis.

'Protest of millions'

But there were signs of disagreement within the opposition, with the largest group, the Muslim Brotherhood, appearing to go back on its endorsement of leading figure Mohamed ElBaradei as a negotiator with Mr Mubarak.

An Egyptian demonstrator sits on top of a set of traffic lights in Tahrir Square in central in Cairo, 30 January 2011 Protesters in Tahrir Square say they will stay there until President Mubarak leaves

As demonstrations enter their seventh day, correspondents say there are at least 50,000 people on Tahrir Square in the centre of the city.

Elsewhere the streets are busy and things appear to be returning to normal, with some police returning and seen directing traffic.

But there are no riot police, and the BBC's Jim Muir in Cairo says the government is being quite clever in keeping the unpopular police force out of contact with the protesters.

There are plans for a "protest of the millions" march on Tuesday.

On Sunday, most of the crowd in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square were unfazed by low-flying air force jets and a helicopter.

"Change is coming," promised Mr ElBaradei when he addressed the crowds.

At the scene

The square is still cordoned off by tanks on all the approach road but the army is very relaxed - they're letting people come and go. People on foot are coming through past these tanks, many with "Down with Mubarak" on them and joining the crowds behind me in the square.

There's been a lot of chanting anti-Mubarak slogans but beyond that we don't really know what's expected today.

They're hoping for a demonstration but the focal point may end up being on tomorrow, when they're planning a very big march in town to try to reinvigorate this movement.

A lot of people told me last night they're beginning to worry about what to do next if Mr Mubarak simply stays, and he's showing every sign of doing that.

Mr ElBaradei has been mandated by opposition groups to negotiate with the regime.

But a spokesman for the largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared to reject this position.

"The people have not appointed Mohamed ElBaradei to become a spokesman of them," Mohamed Morsy told the BBC.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is much stronger than Mohamed ElBaradei as a person. And we do not agree on he himself to become representing [sic] this movement, the movement is represented by itself, and it will come up with a committee... to make delegations with any government."

Thousands rallied in Alexandria and there were also sizeable demonstrations in Mansoura, Damanhour and Suez.

Police were noticeable by their absence so the protests were not marked by the sort of clashes which have left at least 100 people dead since rallies began on Tuesday.

But with continued reports of looting, the Interior Minister Habib al-Adly announced on Sunday that police would be back on the streets to restore order.

Economic impact

The unrest is having an impact on the Egyptian economy, beyond the closure of shops and businesses and the call for a general strike.

Egypt's crisis

  • Most populous Arab nation, with 84.5 million inhabitants
  • Authoritarian rule for 30 years under President Hosni Mubarak
  • Protests against corruption, lack of democracy, inflation, unemployment
  • Triggered by overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia

On Monday, New Zealand joined a growing list of countries warning their nationals not to travel to Egypt if they can avoid it and the US, Japan and China are among states preparing to evacuate their citizens.

Tourism is a vital sector in the Egyptian economy, accounting for about 5 to 6% of GDP.

Meanwhile, Japanese car maker Nissan has announced that it is halting production at its Egypt plant for a week, and it has urged non-Egyptian employees to leave the country.

Global markets are also likely to react. The Nikkei fell in early trading in Tokyo as the Egyptian unrest prompted investors to shun riskier assets.

'Orderly transition'

International pressure is growing for some kind of resolution.

Anti-government protesters walk past wall graffiti reading Antique dictator 4 sale, Cairo, Egypt, 30 January 2011 A slogan on a Cairo wall shows some humor amid the violence

In the strongest language yet, both US President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about the need for an "orderly transition" to a democratic future for Egypt.

The White House says Mr Obama made a number of calls about the situation over the weekend to foreign leaders including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The protests in Egypt are top of the agenda of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

China, meanwhile, has called for a return to order.

"Egypt is a friend of China's, and we hope social stability and order will return to Egypt as soon as possible," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

The unrest in Egypt follows the uprising in Tunisia which ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two weeks ago after 23 years in power.

Egypt flashpoints

More on This Story

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BBC News - Man dies in fire at Bilston Glen protest camp

31 January 2011 Last updated at 10:00

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Man dies in fire at Bilston Glen protest camp

bilston glen scene An inquiry has been launched in to the cause of the fire

A man has died in a fire at a protest camp in Midlothian.

The blaze broke out at Bilston Glen, where environmentalists are camping in protest at the proposed construction of a bypass, at about 0330 GMT.

Lothian and Borders Police said the dead man was in his 20s. A woman is also being treated in hospital.

It is understood the man who died and the injured woman were part of the camp which has been based there since 2002. An inquiry into the cause has begun.

The protest group objects to the proposed A701 bypass.

It claims the plans, by Midlothian Council, would lead to the destruction of the Bilston Glen, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Sad

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BBC News - Bond composer John Barry dies aged 77

31 January 2011 Last updated at 08:57

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Bond composer John Barry dies aged 77

Composer John Barry, famous for his work on Born Free, Out of Africa and the James Bond films, has died in New York of a heart attack aged 77.

Born John Barry Prendergast in 1933, the York-born musician first found fame as leader of the John Barry Seven.

His arrangement of Monty Norman's James Bond theme led to him composing scores for 11 films in the series, among them Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice.

His work saw him win five Oscars, while he received a Bafta fellowship in 2005.

His most recent film score featured in the 2001 war thriller Enigma, while a musical version of Brighton Rock, created with lyricist Don Black, had its London premiere in 2004.

Black, who worked with the composer on his Born Free, Thunderball and Diamonds are Forever theme songs, said Barry remained unaffected by his international success.

"The thing about John that I will always remember was he never changed," he said.

"He was very much the Yorkshireman, whether he was in Beverly Hills or Manhattan."

Continue reading the main story

CLASSIC JOHN BARRY SCORES

  • From Russia With Love
  • Goldfinger
  • Zulu
  • Born Free
  • You Only Live Twice
  • The Lion in Winter
  • Midnight Cowboy
  • Diamonds are Forever
  • Somewhere in Time
  • Out of Africa
  • Dances with Wolves
  • Chaplin

Awarded an OBE in 1999 for his services to music, Barry was renowned for his lush strings, orchestral swells and elegant melodies.

His work found a new audience when Robbie Williams featured music from You Only Live Twice on his 1998 hit single Millennium.

Current Bond film composer David Arnold paid tribute to his predecessor via Twitter.

"I am profoundly saddened by the news but profoundly thankful for everything he did for music and for me personally," he said.

Barry's son-in-law, BBC business reporter Simon Jack, said he "truly loved writing music as much as people enjoyed listening to it".

"He saw himself as much a dramatist as a composer and his music was inextricably linked to the stories told on the screen."

Jack also remembered him as "a wickedly funny man" whose "passion, genius and sense of humour will be terribly missed by his family and friends".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Born Free star Virginia McKenna said Barry was "a wonderful musician and composer".

Close friend Michael Crawford, meanwhile, said he had written "some of the most memorable and beautiful film scores we could ever wish to hear".

Barry's first Oscars came in 1967 for his Born Free score and its iconic title theme.

John Barry, pictured in 1967 He won Oscars for Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves

More Academy Awards followed for the soundtracks he wrote for The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves.

Barry also won four Grammys, a Bafta for The Lion in Winter and a Golden Globe for Out of Africa.

His work for TV included the themes for Juke Box Jury and The Persuaders, while his non-soundtrack work included the albums Eternal Echoes and The Beyondness of Things.

In 2002 he was named an Honorary Freeman of the City of York, an honour he received at a venue in the city where he once used to play trumpet in the 1950s.

Barry, who lived in Oyster Bay, Long Island, is survived by Laurie, his wife of 33 years, his four children and five grandchildren.

His family said funeral arrangements would be private and that a memorial service would be held in the UK later this year.



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  • 22. Crystal Ball
    59 Minutes Ago

    A giant among modern composers! Out of Africa and Midnight Cowboy showcase the variable depth and beauty of his work.
    A genius that will be sadly missed.

  • 21. Michael Gordon
    1 Hour Ago

    When I was 5 years old, I had a little plastic toy gun, that if you blew down the barrel end, made a sound a little bit like a kazoo. I'd march up and down the street parping out the theme to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. 35 years later I am a composer and in my spare time have re-recorded OHMSS and other Barry classics. Thank you John for profoundly influencing the course of my life. xx

  • 18. Gautam De
    1 Hour Ago

    His compositions are immortal. Who can ever forget the melodies of Born Free, Dances With Wolves and Out Of Africa? A great musician whose work used to mix as flesh and blood with the movies he worked for. I salute you Mr. Barry, for your great works and thank you, for presenting us so many beautiful music to accompany us whole life.

  • 17. David Werrett
    1 Hour Ago

    John Barry's music was instantly recognisable. He used lush strings to create the emotional atmosphere so necessary to accompany the films for which he was writing. His music will never be forgotten.

  • 15. Mark
    1 Hour Ago

    I grew up with John Barry's music and am saddened to learn of his death. What marked him out was not only an innate gift for writing melodies but his abilty, through his soundtracks, to penetrate to the heart of the story and thereby add an additional dimension to the film. His soundtrack to 'Ouf of Africa' exemplifies this best of all. He was unique in this regard and will be greatly missed.

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Egypt protests - live updates | News | guardian.co.uk

Mubarak, Suleiman and Enan From left, Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman and Sami Enan at Egypt's military HQ in Cairo. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

10.51am:CloseLink to this update: There were rumours that Mubarak's son Gamal, who was being lined up to succeed him as president, had fled to London.

The Guardian's Sam Jones has the thankless task of trying to track him down. There was no sign of Gamal in his town house in Wilton Place, this morning, Sam says. Neighbours confirmed that Gamal used to live in the house, on the Belgravia borders, but he hasn't been there for some time.

The Egyptian embassy denied that Gamal had fled to London, but they wouldn't say if he is still in Egypt.

Al-Jazeera is also on Gamal's trail.

10.44am:CloseLink to this update: About 1,000 people have gathered for a protest in the Cairo district of Shubra, about 2km from Tahrir Square, an al-Jazeera correspondent reports from the demo.

The protest began after mid day prayers, he said. Loud chanting could be heard as he spoke.

10.37am:CloseLink to this update: Activists have created a list of missing persons linked to the protests, writes Haroon Siddique.

So far it has 13 names on it but they are asking for help in updating it. Contact @samerkaram or @tinkeyeh on Twitter.

These are the details of the list as it stands.

Wael Ghonim, Cairo
Mohamed Abdelfattah, Alexandria
Shahd Essam, Nasr City
Mohamed Omar, Alexandria
Ziad Bakir, Cairo
Mohamed Aboulazm, Tanta
Kareem Mokhtar, Cairo
Marwan Imam, Cairo
Navine Zaki, Cairo
Ahmed Fouad, Ras Gharid
Mohammad Ghafari, Cairo
The blogger Sandmonkey

10.29am:CloseLink to this update: My colleague Graeme Wearden has more on falling confidence in the Egyptian economy.

Graeme Wearden

Moody's decision to downgrade Egypt's credit rating (see 8.26am) is another reminder of the fragile nature of the country's economy. The protests and the uncertainty over its political future directly threaten tourism, its key revenue stream, and even raise questions
about the Suez Canal.

Reading between the lines of today's statement, Moody's is concerned that the Egyptian authorities will react to the protests by raising wages and subsidies. It argues that Egypt's "weak" public finances, simply couldn't take the strain. Egypt currently runs a large trade
deficit - mainly caused by imports of food and oil, whose prices are subsidised on the streets.

Or as Moody's put it: "Egypt suffers from deep-seated political and socio-economic challenges. These include a chronic high rate of unemployment, elevated inflation and widespread poverty. These, together with a desire for political change, have fueled popular
frustrations. In Moody's opinion, there is a strong possibility that fiscal policy will be loosened as part of the government's efforts to contain discontent."

Egypt's revenues are driven by tourism - thought to bring in around £7bn per year to the Egyptian economy - and taxes on ships using the Suez Canal to avoid the long trip around Africa. The Canal generated almost £6bn of 'remittances' in the last financial year. But Egypt still ran a current account deficit of $802m (£505m) in the third quarter of 2010 - and had to rely on government borrowing to cover the difference.

The Suez Canal is still open today, and authorities point to the "armed guards" that patrol the area to ward against attacks. But the Egypt stock market remained suspended, having fallen by over 16% last week. Officials have just announced that it will be closed tomorrow
too, to prevent investors pulling their money out. Most financial institutions have also been closed in recent days, amid speculation that there could be a major run on Egypt's banks.

10.23am:CloseLink to this update: Harriet Sherwood said there was little sign of the police being deployed back on the streets (see the audio interview earlier). This is confirmed by a new Audioboo clip by al-Jazeera. The reporter also says that a curfew will be imposed an hour earlier today at 3pm (1pm GMT), and that it will be more strictly enforced. But as he says there have been similar claims about enforcement in the last few days.

To listen to the full audio, turn off auto-refresh at the top of the page

10.15am:CloseLink to this update: Below the line in the comments section, archamis translates some of the graffiti that features in that slide show earlier.

Starting from the first:

-Fall Mubarak
-Alaa' (mubarak oldest son) tell your papa lets flee with the mob
-An ass would have understood
-Revolution people... revolution
-NO mubarak, NO Nazeef, NO Soroor
-LEAVE
-The People want the System to fall
-Fall Mubarak, Fall Gamal
-No Mubarak, 30 years of theft.

9.48am:CloseLink to this update: Syria's president Bashar Assad says the protests in Tunisia and Egypt are ushering in a "new era" in the Arab world, but he claimed his country was immune.

In a rare interview Assad told the Wall Street Journal that Syria is stable despite having more "difficult circumstances" than the rest of the Arab world.

arab-leaders-liberation

Assad's regime is considered vulnerable to the same kind of unrest that has gripped Tunisia and Egypt. After the fall of president Ben Ali in Tunisi, Assad appeared earlier this month on a memorable front page of the French newspaper Liberation. It asked Who's next? Mubarak appears next to Ben Ali.

But Assad insisted that Syria was different. In a sometimes rambling interview Assad told the WSJ:

If you want to make a comparison between what is happening in Egypt and Syria, you have to look from a different point: why is Syria stable, although we have more difficult conditions? Egypt has been supported financially by the United States, while we are under embargo by most countries of the world. We have growth although we do not have many of the basic needs for the people. Despite all that, the people do not go into an uprising. So it is not only about the needs and not only about the reform. It is about the ideology, the beliefs and the cause that you have. There is a difference between having a cause and having a vacuum. So, as I said, we have many things in common but at the same time we have some different things.

9.46am:CloseLink to this update: The scenes at Cairo airport are "fairly chaotic", according to the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent Harriet Sherwood who flew in last night. "Crowds of people in the lobbies, every room was booked out, piles of luggage everywhere. We ended up sleeping on the floor with 100 other people," she said.

British passengers told her they were disappointed by the lack of action from the British government.

On the streets of Cairo, vigilante groups continue to control their local neighbourhoods, Harriet said.

To listen to the full audio, turn off auto refresh at the top of the page

9.13am:CloseLink to this update: Human Rights Watch has appealed directly to the head of Egyptian military to help ensure a smooth transition to democracy in Egypt.

Here's the letter:

Dear Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi,

At this critical moment in the history of Egypt and the Middle East, a heavy burden of responsibility falls on the leaders of the Egyptian Armed Forces to ensure a smooth transition from an era of political repression characterised by severe abuse to one in which fundamental human rights are respected.

In the midst of anxious days of popular protest and revolt against police brutality, torture and corruption, and with protesters calling for a new constitutional order in Egypt, the Egyptian Armed Forces now stand as the only security organs of the Egyptian state that retain the trust of the Egyptian people.

The legitimacy of the Egyptian police and other internal security organs have long been tarnished by a record of human rights abuses, including the systematic use of torture. Furthermore the role of the internal security forces in the attempted suppression of protests in recent days, in which Human Rights Watch and the international media have witnessed countless examples of excessive use of force and other egregious abuses, has further undermined their credibility. Human Rights Watch is already calling for accountability for these abuses and the prosecution of those responsible.

In contrast, the Egyptian military, which was called onto the streets on Friday 28 January, has so far shown commendable restraint and has been welcomed by the majority of protesters. Human Rights Watch is therefore now calling on you and your fellow chiefs of the Egyptian military to maintain this commendable posture of trust and restraint and to remind you of the legal obligations, under international law, of the Egyptian Armed Forces, given their current involvement in policing activities.

First, the Egyptian Armed Forces must respect the rights of the Egyptian people to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest against a government that has ruled through repression and dictatorial whim for decades.

Second, to the extent that the Armed Forces are engaged in protecting public security, they are obliged to abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Under these principles, law enforcement officials may use reasonable and proportionate force to prevent crimes, but firearms should only be used in situations of grave and imminent threats of death or serious injury.

Third, Human Rights Watch draws your attention to the real possibility that failure to abide by these international standards would open individual soldiers, officers and their superiors to investigation and prosecution.

We urge you to reflect on the fact that the current crisis in Egypt and the rest of the region is in great part the result of years of corrupt and abusive government and unlawful torture and repression by its security forces, against which the people are now in open revolt. The solution to this crisis is not further repression, but a swift and orderly transition to a new democratic order in which the basic rights and freedoms of the people of the region are respected. We urge you to shoulder your historic responsibility and to assist in bringing about this transition.

Kenneth Roth (Executive director Human Rights Watch)

Live blog: Twitter

9.04am:CloseLink to this update: There's a heavy military presence in central Cairo today, but there are signs of good relations between the army and the protesters, according to a Twitter update from CNN's Ivan Watson.

Far more soldiers and tanks in the streets today. Military was distributing bread to poor people from a truck off Tahrir square.

Cairo blogger, Wael Abbas gives the protester's perspective:

people spent the night in tahrir square and woke up in high spirits determined to continue

8.26am:CloseLink to this update: David Cameron has just appeared on the BBC 1 breakfast sofa, to call for a reform. Egypt must go down path of reform, not repression, he said according to BBC tweet.

Once again news is coming thick and fast on Egypt.

• Protesters have called for a million people to take to the streets of Cairo tomorrow, al-Jazeera reports.

• The rating agency Moody's has downgraded Egypt to Ba2 status reflect growing anxiety among investors about the continuing unrest. "Moody's decision to downgrade Egypt's government bond ratings is driven by increased event risk," Moody's said in an emailed statement, according to the Wall Street Journal. "This has resulted from escalating political tensions in the country following the recent uprising in Tunisia, with large-scale antigovernment protests taking place."

• Israel has urged the world to temper the criticism of Mubarak, according to the Israeli parper Ha'aretz. "The Americans and the Europeans are being pulled along by public opinion and aren't considering their genuine interests," one senior Israeli official told the paper. "Even if they are critical of Mubarak they have to make their friends feel that they're not alone. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications." A columnist in the Jerusalem Post describes the unrest in Egypt as "worst disaster since Iran's revolution".

8.09am:CloseLink to this update: Mubarak appeared to blame the Muslim Brotherhood for "infiltrating" the protest, in his statement read out on state TV last night.

"The citizens and the young people of Egypt have gone out to the streets in peaceful demonstration asking for their right for the freedom of speech," he said according to a transcript reported on CNN.

"However, their demonstrations have been infiltrated by a group of people who use the name of religion who don't take into consideration the constitution rights and citizenship values."

This is a "desperate ploy" according to the Middle East analyst Juan Cole.

He [Mubarak] contrasted the hooliganism of the Brotherhood with the peaceful aspirations of most Egyptians, and pledged to work for economic and social reform (while giving the pledge no content). Mubarak is attempting to split the movement against him by sowing seeds of doubt among its constituents.

These include Coptic Christians, educated middle and upper middle class Muslims, and non-ideological youth, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. By suggesting that the MB is taking advantage of the protests to conduct a campaign of sabotage behind the scenes, with the goal of establishing a theocratic dictatorship, Mubarak hopes to terrify the other groups into breaking with the Muslim fundamentalists. Since middle class movements such as Kefaya (Enough!) are small and not very well organized, Mubarak may believe that he can easily later crush them if he can detach them from the more formidable Brotherhood.

It is a desperate ploy and unlikely to work. Mainstream Muslim Egyptians and Copts do have some fear of the Muslim Brotherhood as a sectarian and fundamentalist tendency, but their dislike of the Mubarak government for the moment seems to overcome their anxieties about a theocracy.

7.49am:CloseLink to this update: What will happen next?

Writing on his own blog al-Bab, the Guardian's Middle East expert Brian Whitaker, assesses the current stand off and the prospects for the next few days.

Brian Whitaker byline photo

Today, in an effort to restore a semblance of normality, the police will be back on the streets – reportedly with instructions not to confront the protesters. They had been withdrawn over the weekend, apparently to facilitate looting by the regime's thugs and provide the excuse for a crackdown. That move was thwarted by the public, who organised their own unofficial policing.

One of the most striking things about the uprising so far has been the resourcefulness of the protesters and their determination. At the same time though, on the other side, we have President Mubarak – equally implacable and determined to stay put.

The result, for now, is deadlock. But the deadlock is not going to be broken on the streets by the army or the police. At some point there will have to be movement on the political front – and that is not going to happen instantly. (It's worth repeating that the removal of Ben Ali in Tunisia took four weeks; the Mubarak regime is a tougher nut to crack and the uprising began less than a week ago.)

There seems to be widespread recognition, even by some of the regime stalwarts, that Egypt is moving towards "transition". The argument, basically, is whether it will be a transition supervised by Mubarak or not. The protesters' fear is that a transition under Mubarak will merely bring a change of faces without real change in the system they are protesting about. As far as the protesters are concerned, that is a deal-breaker.

Mohamed ElBaradei offered the regime a carrot yesterday by putting himself forward as "leader" of the opposition. Like him or not, this means a channel is now open for dialogue if and when the regime is ready to talk – though on the protesters' side that can't happen until Mubarak goes.

7.44am:CloseLink to this update: Egyptian protesters have called for general strike today after another night of demonstrations in defiance of a curfew.

"The army has to choose between Egypt and Mubarak," one banner read. Cairo blogger Sarah Carr has put together a Flickr slide show of anti Mubarak graffiti (Thanks to the New York Times's Lede blog for the find).

Protester Amr Shalakany conveys the mood in Tahrir Square.

This has nothing to do with any political party. It is truly a popular movement. There is concern about what is going to happen next. We need to continue to experience this with joy. We have to remain peaceful until we get our demands. Look, there are more and more people walking into Tahrir Square.

In a statement read out on state TV last night, Mubarak promised reforms. He is also due to name his cabinet.

You can read how yesterday's events unfolded in Sunday's live blog, but here's a round up of the overnight's news:

• Egyptian opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, addressed the protest in Tahrir Square to predict change will come in "the next few days". The Nobel peace laureate announced that he had been delegated by opposition groups to discuss the formation of a national salvation government.

• Mubarak was shown on state TV conferring with his newly appointed vice-president, the intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and senior generals in an attempt to demonstrate that he enjoys the solid support of the armed forces.

• Al-Jazeera TV was ordered to close because of its coverage of the protests.

• Thousands of prisoners, including Muslim Brotherhood activists, escaped from four jails.

• Large-scale protests erupted in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, after the funerals of victims of the unrest. The death toll over the past six days was reported to have risen to 102.

• British nationals in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez were told to leave if it was safe. The US said it was organising flights to evacuate its citizens and urged all Americans in Egypt to consider leaving.

• There has been International alarm about the political and security implications of continuing unrest. China, Saudi Arabia, and Israel have also expressed anxiety.

• Hamas has closed Gaza's southern border as Israel warns of increase in weapons smuggling during unrest in Egypt.

• David Cameron and Barack Obama discussed Egypt in telephone discussions and called last night for an "orderly transition" to a democratic government.

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MPs on all sides back Lake District forest protest | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Grizedale protests (Left to right) John Woodcock MP, Lord Clark of Windermere and Tim Farron MP tear up a copy of the Public Bodies bill. Photograph: Kim Pilling/PA

The Liberal Democrats' president Tim Farron publicly ripped apart a copy of the government's controversial bill to sell of England's forests at a rally in the heart of the Lake District today.

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale joined Labour and Conservative opponents in denouncing the plan as some 1,500 protesters cheered amid gently falling snow in Grizedale forest.

He promised to vote against the proposal in the Commons on Wednesday and nodded when John Woodcock, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, called on ministers to "wake up and see how badly they have misjudged the issue".

Protesters jammed narrow country lanes in the remote valley to the reach the latest of the spreading wave of demonstrations against the sale or leasing of 258,000 hectares (638,000 acres) of wild land. In spite of grey and chilly weather, familiar in the winter fells, they chanted "save our trees" and roared approval as the MPs tore up the Public Bodies bill.

Children with placards reading "Save our Roots" and "Free the trees" joined the throng in the former gardens of Grizedale Hall, a Liverpool manufacturer's Victorian mansion, demolished in 1957. Its last role in political controversy was during the second world war, when its 40 rooms were denounced as too cushy and costly for their role as a Nazi officers' prisoner of war camp.

Lord Clark of Windermere, a schoolboy during the war whose first job was as a Forestry Commission labourer, told the rally: "This land is ours and we need to keep it as ours. I am so pleased that so many of you have taken time out today to come and tell the the government what you think of their proposals to give away and to sell our birthright."

Lord Clark, who served as a Labour cabinet minister before heading the Forestry Commission for a decade, said that access would be threatened by a plan which would not even save money for the hard-pressed Treasury. Even the quarter or so of the estate earmarked for charitable owners would require a subsidy approaching £55m a year, he said.

The broadcaster Eric Robson, who chairs Cumbria Tourism, warned that the potential effects on the Lake District's lifeblood of visitors were dire.

Some 40 forests in the national park, including the huge estates of Grizedale and Whinlatter, were "absolutely crucial" to the area's economy, he said.

"I knew we had a problem when I heard a forestry minister last week describe the place where we are today as 'Greezedale'," he said, to roars of approval. "This is one of the shoddiest pieces of work to come out of Whitehall for a very long time.

"It completely ignores the importance of forestry and the forestry estate for the heritage of the nation's wellbeing. It is also a sham. It is a sham that I believe working together we can put a stop to."

Before his speech, Woodcock sent out a quick post on Twitter: "Privilege to speak at the Grizedale rally today. Fantastic turnout. Tory-Lib Dem government have seriously misjudged this." He then told the rally: "Governments have to govern with the consent of the people, and on this issue you are making it very clear that they simply do not have that consent."

Protesters included Edwina Freeman from Bolton, who said: "We have two seats and a glade of trees here in memory of members of our family. The trees were planted with the idea that our future family could come and enjoy this area – but obviously if someone else takes over it's not ours anymore."

Martin Smyth, 41, from Barrow-in-Furness, said: "This is just the first step – things are only just getting started. They've got another thing coming if they think we're going to go away."

Mike Morton, from the new pressure group Save Lakeland Forests, which organised the rally, said: "Everyone's here, from sports people, farmers, bird-watchers, 'right-to-roam' activists, families – all united behind the same cause."

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Starbucks, Mazda and Argos sign up for Facebook Deals - Brand Republic News

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Starbucks, Mazda and Argos sign up for Facebook Deals

By Ed Owen, marketingmagazine.co.uk, 31 January 2011, 09:40AM

The UK version of Facebook Deals launches today (31 January), offering Facebook users who "check in" using the Facebook Places feature on their mobile app, access to special offers and other deals.

Facebook Deals: UK version launches today

Facebook Deals: UK version launches today

People using the Facebook app already have the opportunity to check in to show friends where they are, and restaurants and shops are already popular check-in spots.

Once checked in, users will now gain access to deals offered by third parties.

Starbucks will give away 30,000 cups of coffee to people who check-in today.

Debenhams will give away 1,000 sets of mascara and makeovers.

Mazda will give away five cars, every month for five months. Those who check-in will get a 20% discount on certain models.

Argos and Benetton will have deals linked to charitable donations. Yo! Sushi will give away 1,000 free plates and O2 have also signed-up and will offer PlayStations on Saturday.

Theme park Alton Towers will be offering free entry to all users who check-in on Friday 18th February. There will also be free rooms for the first 100 people to check in at one of the park's two themed hotels.

Joanna Shields, vice-president of Facebook for Europe, the Middle East and Africa said: "For the first time in history we can make these deals at scale, at real time and for free."

Gap, Starbucks, McDonald's and H&M are some of the brands to have partnered with Facebook for the US launch of Facebook Deals, each offering something to users who check in at their stores.

The Facebook Deals service initially launched in November in the US, but for iPhone users only. Facebook released an update for Android users on Friday.

The service will roll out in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany today.

Facebook Deals combines the mass-buying potential of Groupon with the location-based gaming of Foursquare. Facebook's launch should prove a major challenge to both services.

Facebook has yet to announce whether it will enter into mobile payments services. Redemptions of Facebook offers will only be able to be fully tracked once mobile payments systems launch through Orange and O2 later this year.

Deals and loyalty schemes have been highlighted as effective ways to drive the use of mobile payments.

Apple is believed to be moving into mobile payments with the launches of both the iPhone 5 and iPad 2.

Last week, Dan Rose, vice-president of platforms and product marketing for Facebook, said the company is investing equally in both its own digital space and developing tools for third parties.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk

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