10/02/2011

Available for over a year

The generals in Cairo: biding their time as events unfold around them. Why they've been debating the succession in Egypt in a glittering ballroom in Vienna. And the Russian woman whose baby workout shocked the blogosphere has some advice for her critics. The extraordinary events in Cairo continue to surprise and confound the watching world. This week, amid suggestions that the protest against President Mubarak was running out of steam, the biggest crowd yet assembled in Tahrir Square and made its feelings known. Some people have now returned to work, some shops and banks have reopened, but Jon Leyne says it's still far from clear what the future holds for Egypt, its rulers and its people. The question of who might succeed Mr Mubarak and when that succession might take place continues to excite speculation far beyond Egypt's borders. The other night it was being discussed amidst the grandeur of the imperial architecture of Vienna, when officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is based in the Austrian capital, gathered for their annual ball. For Mohamed ElBaradei, the man who some see as a future leader of Egypt, used to be the IAEA's director-general. And as Bethany Bell discovered, his future job prospects were the subject of much gossip as his former colleagues took their partners onto the dance floor. A senior Turkish minister recently criticised the European Union for becoming more and more inward-looking. He said it was in danger of becoming a purely Christian club. He was talking about his own country's ambition to join the EU, becoming the first member state with a majority Muslim population. But his comments reflect a view among some of Europe's populist parties that the continent's Christian heritage is being eroded by migration from Muslim countries. Chris Bowlby's been observing how some of these parties get their message across. There are so many different opinions around the world about how children should be brought up. And it's a topic which can generate considerable heat. Take the video of a Russian woman giving her baby a workout. It appeared on the internet and in next to no time was shocking viewers from Vigo to Vladivostok and very probably beyond. But Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says this form of baby exercise is not illegal in Russia. In fact, it's growing in popularity. And its followers don't know what all the fuss is about.