Links January 26th to January 27th

Links from my del.icio.us account for January 26th through January 27th:

• U.S. Navy ordered to release Iran weapons ship – US Navy conducting searches of Iranian ships in Egyptian territorial waters.
• Bloomberg.com: Mubarak Risks Losing Lead Role in Gaza Talks as Criticism Rises – Would Egyptian failure in its mediation efforts doom a Gamal presidency?
• IkhwanWeb | Egypt’s intelligence blackmails wounded Palestinians to tell about Hamas – Reports on Egyptian intelligence torturing/interrogating Palestinians being treated in Egypt are surfacing.
• Almasry Alyoum | The Butane Gas Cylinder – Magdi Gallad's column in Masri al-Youm illustrates some of the recent problems with shortages of butane gas cylinders – among the most subsidzed item in Egypt's huge subsidy program.
• Le Figaro – International : Souleiman, l’homme qui sait parler à Israël et au Hamas – Profile of Mar Suleiman.
• Israel stymies French push to lift European boycott of Hamas – Haaretz – Israel News – French-Israeli battle over change of policy on Hamas isolation.
• Egypt persecutes Muslim moderates – International Herald Tribune – Quranists got an op-ed in IHT. I don't like their use of the stupid analogy "Islamic Reformation" though.
• VirtualGaza | Break the Information Blockade – Google Earth overlay magic over Gaza.
• Egyptian chronicles: On this day please become our shield not our enemy – On the origins of Egypt's Police Day.
• Lebanon’s Daily Star shut down – International Herald Tribune – Daily Star's gone bust? Too bad.
• Democracy Now! | Noam Chomsky: Obama’s Stance on Gaza Crisis “Approximately the Bush Position” – Still early, Noam. But it's true we've seen nothing new so far.
• Among Egyptians, mixed feelings over Gaza – Yahoo! News – This war really brought into the open the divisions in Egypt over Hamas and the Palestinians more generally.
• TelQuel : Le coup de poing Casanegra – Casanegra, Morocco's hit movie.
• FT.com / Middle East / Arab-Israel conflict – Israelis display ‘grim satisfaction’ – War crimes as group therapy: "Whether through pride, relief or even a sense of triumph, there is no doubt that the Gaza conflict has at last made Israelis feel better about themselves, their leaders and their army."