Egypt to open Gaza border crossing

Egypt is to permanently open the Rafah border crossing to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Nabil al-Arabi, the country's foreign minister, has said.

Arabi said Egypt would take "important steps to help ease the blockade on Gaza in the few days to come".

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday, the minister said Egypt would no longer accept that the Rafah border, Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel, remain blocked, describing the decision to seal it off as "shameful".

The announcement came days after Hamas, which controls Gaza, and their secular West Bank rivals Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority (PA), agreed to end their rift and form an interim government to prepare for elections.

In talks before the deal, the two sides had discussed reopening the crossing after positioning PA representatives at the border, a condition in a US-brokered 2005 border crossing agreement between Israel and the PA.

Mahmud Zahar, a senior Hamas official, told the AFP news agency that it was understood that the crossing, which under the 2005 agreement was to be monitored by European Union delegates, would be opened after a unity deal.

Israeli concerns

A senior official in Jerusalem said Israel was "very concerned" about the implications of the Rafah crossing being open.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Hamas had already built up a "dangerous military machine" in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening Rafah.

"What power could they amass if Egypt was no longer acting to prevent that build-up?" the official said.

Earlier this week, unknown assailants in northern Sinai blew up a gas pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan, the second time it has been sabotaged in 10 weeks.

"We are troubled by the developments in Egypt, by the voices calling to annul the peace treaty, by the rapprochement between Egypt and Iran, and by the upgrading of relations between Egypt and Hamas," the Israeli source said.

"These developments potentially have strategic implications for Israel's national security."

Palestinian officials welcomed the Egyptian move, with Saeb Erakat, the PA's chief negotiator, saying it was one step towards loosening the siege on the Gaza Strip.

"We welcome this step by Egypt. We have been pressing them all the time to end the suffering of the people in Gaza, but the real siege is caused by Israel because there are many border crossing with Israel but only one with Egypt," he said.

"We ask Israel to open all the borders to end this crime against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," he said.

Hatem Ewidah, the Hamas official in charge of border crossings in Gaza, also welcomed the move, but stressed it was "important to open the commercial crossing with Egypt" to reduce the impact of the blockade.

Shift in power

In a reminder of the border tensions, which is honeycombed with tunnels that supply Gaza with everything from cars and cattle to guns, police announced hours after Arabi's comments that smugglers had shot dead an Egyptian soldier on Thursday.

The border has remained largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza after fighters snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held.

The blockade was tightened a year later when Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed PA.

The UN has called the blockade illegal and repeatedly demanded it be lifted.

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Morocco steps up security after cafe blast

Moroccan authorities have stepped up security following Thursday's bomb blast at a cafe in Marrakesh in which at least 16 people were killed, including 11 foreigners.

A senior police official said cordons have been erected at the entrances to Morocco's main cities and security forces deployed across the country, "to ensure the internal security of the country".

"Preliminary investigation ... suggests that this was a terrorist act caused by an explosive device," the official MAP news agency quoted Taieb Cherkaoui, the interior minister, as saying on Friday.

Khalid Naciri, a government spokesman, told the Associated Press news agency it was too soon to say who had carried out what he called a terrorist attack.

Interpol, the international police agency, condemned the attack and said it would ensure "the Moroccan authorities investigating this terrible attack have the full support of the global law enforcement community."

French intelligence and anti-terrorism experts will travel to Marrakesh on Friday to help in the probe, a source said.

Police sought to restore calm in the iconic Jamaa el-Fna square, a cultural heritage site frequented by tourists, while investigators worked to determine how it was carried out and who was responsible.

Police were at the site searching for clues on Friday morning, keeping back onlookers who showed up to see the dramatic sight. The explosion ripped off the facade of the Argana cafe, leaving awnings dangling.

Blast condemned

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, condemned the "cowardly attack" and pledged support for Morocco, which is considered a US ally in the region.

France condemned the blast as being "cruel and cowardly" and confirmed there were French casualties.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, learnt "with consternation of the terrorist attack," his office said in a statement.

"He condemns with the greatest firmness this odious, cruel and cowardly act that has caused many casualties, including French citizens," it said.

The United Nations, Britain, Germany, Spain and the Council of Europe human rights watchdog also condemned the attack.

William Hague, the British foreign secretary, described it as "utterly reprehensible, and said alleged links to terrorism were worrying.

Al-Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa stages regular attacks and kidnappings in neighbouring Algeria.

Morocco, however, has been mostly peaceful since it was hit by five simultaneous terrorist bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 45 people and a dozen bombers believed linked to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

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Anti-government protests hit Syria

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators join the "solidarity for Deraa" rallies across the country.

The Syrian government has mobilised army units across the capital and other cities as thousands of demonstrators, demanding the ouster President Bashar al-Assad's regime took to the streets of several cities, including the coastal town of Baniyas, witnesses have said.

Activists have called for protests following Friday prayers to commemorate the killings of over 100 protesters last Friday.

Al Jazeera correspondent Rula Amin, reporting from Damascus, said today's slogan is "solidarity for Deraa".

The call for mass demonstrations was made in a statement on the Facebook page of Syrian Revolution 2011, a motor of the protests in which demonstrators inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world are seeking greater freedoms.

"To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets ... We will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Deraa," the statement said.

It said demonstrations would also be staged in other flashpoint towns such as Homs in the centre of the country and Baniyas in the northwest.

Meanwhile, eyewitness in Deraa, speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday from close to the Omari Mosque that has been a focus for the uprising, described a scene of death and devastation.

He confirmed earlier testimony from a separate source of a split in the military forces sent by Assad to lay siege to the city.

At least 80 people have been killed since the military assault began on Monday, said the eyewitness, who added that he had collected the names of the dead from different neighbourhoods and counted 25 bodies in his own area.

"Some areas smell really bad due to the bodies rotting in the street. No one can collect them for fear of being shot," he said, the sound of continuous gunfire audible over the phone. Those bodies which have been collected are being stored in refrigerated lorries, he said.

"Deraa is completely surrounded by tanks and armed troops. There are snipers on the roofs of government buildings and tall buildings. They are hiding behind water tanks and some are even hiding in the minarets of mosques."

The source said not all members of the Fifth Division had defected, but those who had were attempting to protect civilians against attacks on them by the Fourth Division, led by Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad.

"Those who have defected are fighting on behalf of the people, helping them with information on the army's movements and trying to protect civilians from attacks," he said.

The eyewitness said he had witnessed the defection yesterday of some 20 soldiers of the Fifth Division who abandoned their unit and ran towards civilian houses. "I saw two soldiers gunned down and killed," he said.

The witness's comments came as Adnan Mahmud, the information minister, told the AFP news agency that the crackdown on protesters would continue, setting the scene for violent confrontations later Friday.

Our correspondent said: "There has been huge security presence: all entrances to capital are manned by security forces."

Muslim Brotherhood backs protests

Significantly, Friday's demonstrations have the backing of the outlawed Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, which was crushed by the regime in 1982.

It is the first time that the Brotherhood has called directly for protests in Syria since pro-democracy demonstrations against Assad, nearly erupted six weeks ago.

A declaration by the Brotherhood, sent to Reuters news agency by its leadership in exile on Thursday, said: "Do not let the regime besiege your compatriots. Chant with one voice for freedom and dignity. Do not allow the tyrant to enslave you. God is great."

So far, Brotherhood has been trying to keep a low profile, as government has been trying to tie them to protests, Amin said.

The looming showdown comes as the UN Human Rights Council prepared for a special session on Syria in Geneva, and the European Union was meeting in Brussels to consider a wide range of sanctions against the Arab state.

The protests have drawn a cross section of Syrian society, which has been under Baath Party rule for the last 48 years.

The younger Assad kept intact the autocratic political system he inherited in 2000 from his father, Hafez al-Assad.

On Monday, Syrian army backed by tanks and armoured vehicle stormed Deraa resulting in further casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on Deraa has killed at least 50 civilians, with essential supplies in the city running law.

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Microsoft Third Quarter Earnings Up But Still Loses To Apple

Microsoft just presented a report which shows a 31% increase in profits which translates to US$5.2 billion or 61 cents per share. This latest figure however is still not enough to beat Apple’s earnings. This is the first time in 20 years that Microsoft losses to Apple.

One key line of Microsoft which is Windows showed it dropped 4% which can be attributed to the decline in PC sales worldwide.

Although the company has increased its earnings it is now playing catch up with Apple. PC sales which is where Microsoft gets most of its profit due to licensing of its Windows operating system is on a steady decline due to the entry of tablets. These devices run on either iOS of Apple or Android of Google with no viable Microsoft tablet in the market yet.

The recent entry of Microsoft into the smartphone market has also been slowed down and is far behind Android or iOS smartphones.

The strong products of the company seem to lie on their Office productivity suit and their Xbox line. In the long run this may not be enough to sustain them as more and more devices are coming out of the market that does not run on the Windows platform.

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Nintendo: Breaking Stereotypes

Nintendo which is considered to be on of the greatest video game producers in the world announced that the release of their home console and a Wii successor will take place in 2012.

Briefly, Nintendo will present a playable model of the new system and its specifications at the E3 Expo. This annual game showcase will take place on June 7-9, in Los Angeles. Believably, the new home console will be providing players with high-definition gaming which is supposed to be even better than Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

The presence of touch-screen controllers is also possible and they will provide you with the opportunity to get all the images from the central console. But still, nothing is confirmed and it is believed that Nintendo will center on a fresh sort of gameplay. According to Nintendo, it is becoming harder to develop something new and surprise players.

And yet, there are a lot of features that could be updated and made more popular. Now, Wii is considered to be a home console, played in the living room with all the family members. But, Nintendo wants to change this stereotype.

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Sony: Private Information Stolen

The things that happened to Sony’s customers are really frustrating. Sony itself wants to warn its customers about the possibility of their credit card information stolen.

Sony also informs the customers that during the period of April 17 and April 19, 2011, some intrusion which is illegal and unauthorized occurred. As a result, particular information from PlayStation Network user account turned vulnerable.

Seems that Sony is also taking measures to prevent the loss of information. On the first day of this case, they switched off PlayStation Network as well as Qriocity services. They also contacted a security company to start the investigation and to learn what had happened. Thirdly, they took all the necessary steps to rebuild and thus to strengthen the whole network infrastructure which provides more security for the private information of users. Sony is also thanking the customers for the patience and it assures that all the issues will be resolved as soon as possible.

Sony is asking the customers to be careful with answering e-mails, requiring providing any private information as a part of user account information might have been stolen. Such information as Billing Address, Purchase History and all the passwords can also be used by another persons.

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Sony Officialy Reveals Android Tablets

Sony held a press conference this week in Tokyo to reveal their upcoming tablet products. The company will make its initial presence in the tablet scene felt not by one but two tablets. The tablets are called the S1 and the S2 and both will be running on the Honeycomb platform.

The first tablet is the S1 which focuses more on Sony’s Qriocity feature and is shaped like a folded magazine. It will be using a Tegra 2 processor and will have customized features that will set it apart from other Honeycomb devices.

The S2 will be a dual screen clamshell tablet device that comes with a 5.5 inch display capable of resolutions of 1024×480 pixels. It’s designed to fit easily in your pocket.

Both devices will be PlayStation Certified which means it will possess the same gaming capabilities as the recently released Xperia Play smartphone.

Sony is expected to release both devices by fall in the US although this is just an estimated date. As for the pricing of both devices the company has not released any official statement yet however insiders are estimating the price for the S1 to be $599 while the S2 is pegged at $699.

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