Six In The Morning

 

Egyptians vote in landmark presidential election

 Egyptians are voting in their first free presidential election, 15 months after ousting Hosni Mubarak in the Arab Spring uprising

 

Fifty million people are eligible to vote, and large queues have formed at some polling stations.
The military council which assumed presidential power in February 2011 has promised a fair vote and civilian rule.
The election pits Islamists against secularists, and revolutionaries against Mubarak-era ministers.
But the BBC's Wyre Davies, in the second city of Alexandria, says that for many people the election is not about religious dogma or party politics, but about who can put food on the table.
The frontrunners are:

• Ahmed Shafiq, a former commander of the air force and briefly prime minister during February 2011 protests
• Amr Moussa, who has served as foreign minister and head of the Arab League
• Mohammed Mursi, who heads Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
• Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, an independent Islamist candidate

 

Quarter of deposits withdrawn from Greek banks

 But while Greek deposits have fallen over two years, those at Portuguese banks have risen to record highs and Spanish and Italian deposits have fallen just 3% and 2%

• Jill Treanor
• guardian.co.uk,

  Wednesday 23 May 2012 08.49 BST

Almost 25% of deposits have been withdrawn from Greek banks in the last two years but outflows have been small from other banking systems inside the so-called periphery, according to Barclays analysts.
While Greek deposits are falling, those at Portuguese lenders have risen to record highs, and Spanish and Italian deposits have fallen 3% and 2% respectively.
"Talk of a possible exit of Greece from the European monetary union has sparked fears about deposit outflows from other peripheral countries, but these concerns are not new and evidence does not indicate material outflows from Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal," the analysts said.

Manal al-Sharif: 'They just messed with the wrong woman'

She is the Saudi woman who became a symbol of female emancipation when she was filmed behind the wheel of a car. In a rare interview, she tells Guy Adams of the persecution she has endured in her fight for equality – and why she will not be silenced

Wednesday 23 May 2012 

 

She was the plucky young woman who, in splendid defiance of one of the world's most repressive societies, steered a car through the streets of the city of Khobar, railing as she went against the misogyny of laws that make it illegal for women in Saudi Arabia to drive.

Manal al-Sharif was arrested for her pains and spent nine days in jail on suspicion of a crime called "incitement to public disorder". She emerged, almost a year ago, to worldwide fame: an eight-minute film of her protest drive, shot on a friend's smartphone, spread across YouTube, in various iterations, at a rate of a million hits per day.

Mali transition off to a rocky start after attack on president

 Sapa-AFP | 23 May, 2012 08:33

Mali's one-year transition back to democratic rule got off to a shaky start on Tuesday amid fears the process may be derailed after president Dioncounda Traore was attacked by angry protesters.

The Economic Community of West African States mediators of the transition deal threatened sanctions against those responsible for the attack, which they said cast a shadow over the entire process.
The attack was also condemned by the United Nations chief, the African Union and Mali's own parliament, with all urging that authorities ensure security of transitional government officials.
ECOWAS "will carry out the necessary investigation to identify those responsible for this reprehensible attack and will apply the required sanctions," said Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, head of the ECOWAS commission, in a statement.

 Syria and Lebanon stare into the abyss
 By Victor Kotsev

The Syrian infection is spreading. Whether Lebanon will be fully set aflame by the violence in its northern neighbor is as difficult to answer as who precisely started the clashes which engulfed at least two Lebanese cities over the past week.

Regardless, the chaos in both countries is growing, and the United Nations peace plan for Syria (dubbed the "Kofi Annan plan" after the former UN secretary general who spearheads the initiative) has practically collapsed.

Indeed, the current UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said on Monday that Syria had reached a "pivotal" moment and was teetering on the brink of a full-blown civil war.

Filipinos back government on China dispute, but want more diplomacy

While most Filipinos say that their government should not yield to to Chinese pressure in the South China Sea, others say that Manila could improve its diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue.

By Simon Roughneen, Correspondent

 As a territorial row between China and the Philippines continues in the South China Sea – known here as the West Philippine Sea – Filipinos are nervously gauging how that will impact relations between the two countries.

Last week China denied it was increasing military readiness one month into a stand-off, which started April 10 after the Philippine Navy boarded Chinese fishing boats allegedly-poaching near the Scarborough Shoal.
While most Filipinos say that their government is correct in not yielding to Chinese pressure over its claims to the South China Sea, and there has been something of a cooling-off in recent days, others say that Manila could better manage the finer points of its diplomacy and engage the country's Chinese-Filipino community to build bridges with mainland Chinese.