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Friday, March 4, 2011

Egypt's prime minister tenders resignation

Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigned on Thursday and the military asked a former transport minister to form a new government. Shafiq was appointed prime minister by Hosni Mubarak in his final days in office before he was ousted on February 11 after an 18-day popular uprising which shook the Middle East. There have since been protests and political pressure for Shafiq to step down. One Shafiq aide said appointing Essam Sharaf as prime minister would defuse calls for another mass demonstration on Friday after a first modest reshuffle by Shafiq failed to mollify protesters. The Muslim Brotherhood and other political groupings had also been calling for Shafiq and his government to step aside and the army, in an apparent response had vowed to halt any "counter-revolution" from hijacking Egypt s revolution.

New Zealand earthquake

New Zealand authorities have given up hope of finding anymore survivors after last week's devastating earthquake hit Christchurch.  According to officials, seventy-seven people were pulled out alive after the quake caused buildings to collapse trapping people and the last survivor found was the day after the quake hit. The death toll is at 161, but police estimate the final number may be as high as two-hundred and forty. Moving away from the rescue operation will allow the teams to use heavy machinery on collapsed buildings, instead of the methods used when searching for survivors.