Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 5:40 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
0522 GMT: We can now confirm that there will be a countrywide protest in Egypt on Friday. The day has been dubbed the "Friday of Departure" and it aims to force President Hosni Mubarak to once and for all quit and leave the country.
Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 7:18 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
2247 GMT: A German news agency is claiming 19 private planes have departed Cairo Airport carrying Egyptian and Arab businessmen and families.
2245 GMT: Tens of thousands of protesters are still in central Cairo, with food being organised for them.
2240 GMT: A senior police officer has been kidnapped in Damietta, 200kilometres/120miles north of Cairo. Tarek Hammad is Head of Damietta Security.
2230 GMT: Escalating story tonight of at least one sniper in the Ministry of Interior picking off protesters outside the building. Witnesses are saying 10 to 15 people have been shot dead and dozens have been wounded. Dr Muhammad Hassan tells Al Jazeera that dead protestors from the area are flooding the makeshift field hospital.
2225 GMT: Al Jazeera reports the death of Major General Mohammed El-Batran, head of the Investigative Unit at Fayoum Central Jail in middle Egypt, 130 kilometres (80 miles) southwest of Cairo. About 700 prisoners have fled.
The state is currently facing a crucial catch-22 in its history, a situation that has been created in recent years from uninspired economic policies to a lack of genuine political and social reform. After years of attempting to reign in any attempts for true democratic reform on the political level, a struggling economy has emerged. Today, Jordan, and perhaps much of the Arab world is learning one important lesson from Tunisia: the call for political change from the domestic constituency is unlikely to happen in the region unless the economy gets bad, real, real, bad. Governments can take away, censor or control various freedoms, including the right to a free press or the right to an elected government, and people are unlikely to be moved enough to demand widespread change. That’s just the political reality of it; people can’t afford to make such demands. But if you put a man’s livelihood at stake, if their financial situation is in dire straits, then they’ll be forced to react.
Will the events in Tunisia cause asimilar situation to unfold in Jordan?
On Friday, an estimated 8000 people --- in an "unprecedented development" --- protested on the streets of Amman and other Jordanian cities over rising food prices and unemployment. They challenged Prime Minister Sair Rifai with chants, "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh and raises fuel prices to fill their pockets with millions." There were reports of tanks surrounding major cities and the establishment of checkpoints and barriers.
In that context, we note this article from Yasmeen Tabbaa in Muftah:
