AL JAZEERA ENGLISH BLACKED OUT ACROSS MOST OF U.S. (FULL VIDEO)

WASHINGTON - Canadian television viewers looking for the most thorough and in-depth coverage of the uprising in Egypt have the option of tuning into Al Jazeera English, whose on-the-ground coverage of the turmoil is unmatched by any other outlet. American viewers, meanwhile, have little choice but to wait until one of the U.S. cable-company-approved networks broadcasts footage from AJE, which the company makes publicly available.

American viewers, meanwhile, have little choice but to wait until one of the U.S. cable-company-approved networks broadcasts footage from AJE, which the company makes publicly available. What they can't do is watch the network directly. The result of the Al Jazeera English blackout in the United States has been a surge in traffic to the media outlet's website, where footage can be seen streaming live. The last 24 hours have seen a two-and-a-half thousand percent increase in web traffic, Tony Burman, head of North American strategies for Al Jazeera English, told HuffPost. Sixty percent of that traffic, he said, has come from the United States.

The objections from the cable companies have come for both political and commercial reasons, said Burman, the former editor-in-chief of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "In 2006, pre-Obama, the experience was a challenging one.

Essentially this was a period when a lot of negative stereotypes were associated with Al Jazeera.I think that's changed. I think if anything the Obama administration has indicated to Al Jazeera that it sees us as part of the solution, not part of the problem.

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AL JAZEERA ENGLISH BLACKED OUT ACROSS MOST OF U.S. (FULL VIDEO)

Egypt Protests: Thousands Fill Streets To Protest Mubarak On 'Jan 25' (Pics & Videos)

Egypt Protests: Thousands Fill Streets To Protest Mubarak On 'Jan 25'
CAIRO (AP) -- Thousands of anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armored police truck, clashed with riot police Tuesday in the center of Cairo in a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power.

Police responded with blasts from water cannons and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak" and demanding an end to Egypt's grinding poverty, corruption, unemployment and police abuses.

Tuesday's demonstration, the largest Egypt has seen for years, began peacefully, with police showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy by the government to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely seen as little more than corrupt thugs in uniforms.With discontent growing over economic woes, and the toppling of Tunisia’s president still resonating in the region, Egypt’s government – which normally responds with swift retribution to any dissent – needed to tread carefully.



But as crowds filled downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square – waving Egyptian and Tunisian flags and adopting the same protest chants that rang out in the streets of Tunis – security personnel changed tactics and the protest turned violent.

The bus was taking a tour group on the 115 mile (185 kilometer) journey from Aswan to the ancient temples of Abu Simbel along Lake Nasser, when it ran into the truck carrying sand parked on the side of a single lane desert road, killing six women and two men.The Egyptian driver and a guide were also injured in the accident.Egyptian security officials said the hurt Americans were first transferred to a military hospital for treatment and then 10 of the injured, including two Egyptians, were airlifted to a hospital in Cairo.

Egypt Bus Crash Kills 8 Americans

Road accidents are common in Egypt because of bad roads and poor enforcement of traffic rules, and crashes involving tour groups are not uncommon.Last month, eight foreign tourists were killed when their tour bus lost control and flipped over several times on a winding mountain road near a resort on Egypt's Red Sea coast, while in October six Belgian tourists were killed in a crash in the south.

An estimated 8,000 people die in car accidents annually in Egypt.

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Egypt Protests: Thousands Fill Streets To Protest Mubarak On 'Jan 25' (Pics & Videos)