Egypt protesters supported
CAIRO, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak named a vice president Saturday as protests against his autocratic rule erupted for a fifth day.
Thousands of people ignored a 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew in Cairo and remained in the streets, the Los Angeles Times reported. While most demonstrations were peaceful, looting and arson spread in some neighborhoods.
"We want a government elected by the people, not a government dictated to the people," The Washington Post quoted one protester, Mohammed Ramadan, 40, as saying.
Rallies to express solidarity with the Egyptian protesters were held in numerous cities around the world Saturday, CNN reported.
In London, people chanted and waved banners outside the Egyptian Embassy. One sign read: "From The Nile, To the Sea -- Egypt Soon Will Be Free! Freedom for Egypt!"
"People were clearly voicing their anger at President Mubarak's regime but similarly they were also very passionate about their demands for democracy and political reforms," Amedeo d'Amore, who was at the London protest, told CNN.
In Geneva, Switzerland, people chanted "Get out, Mubarak!" Courtney Radsch, who attended the demonstration, told the U.S. news network.
Rallies also were reported in Toronto and Montreal, Canada, as well as in U.S. cities.
The Post said many of the Egyptian protesters don't see the United States as their ally in their efforts to send Mubarak packing.
"We didn't expect much from the United States," Abdel Nasser Awad, 40, told the Post. "We are not people looking for war. We are looking for freedom."
Another protester, Emad Abdel Halim, 31, said the demonstrators "believe America is against us."
"Until now, [U.S. President Barak] Obama didn't talk to the Egyptian people. He didn't support the Egyptian people," Halim said.
Mubarak selected Omar Suleiman, head of the General Intelligence Directorate, as vice president, the first he has had in 30 years in power. The move appeared to be a signal Mubarak has no intention of stepping down, the Times said.
Few police were visible in Cairo, and some opposition leaders said the government is trying to create anarchy. Soldiers at demonstrations did little to rein them in and appeared friendly to the protesters.
"The government is trying to transform the people's revolution into looting mobs so they can justify cracking down," Cairo University Professor Mahael Said told the Times. "But we are not going to let them do that."
The government said at least 62 people had died in the past two days.
The New York Times said the army, which moved into Cairo in force Friday, had appeared content to stand by and monitor the situation rather than enforce a widely ignored curfew; however, police riot squads took a more aggressive stance and pummeled protesters with tear gas and water cannon.
The Post said the demonstrations remained largely secular in nature despite the long-running bad blood between Mubarak's government and fundamentalist Muslim groups.
Internet and cellphone service remained largely unavailable Saturday due to a shutdown implemented by the government.
Mother charged with killing 'mouthy' teens
TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A Florida woman married to a military intelligence officer shot her son while driving him home from soccer and then killed her daughter, police allege.
Julie Schenecker, 50, has been charged with first-degree murder, The Tampa Tribune reported. After she was booked Friday, she was sent to Tampa General Hospital for treatment of a medical condition and was in intensive care, police said.
A police spokeswoman said Schenecker told officers the children were "mouthy and she was tired of it."
Schenecker allegedly shot her son Beau, 13, Thursday afternoon, using a gun she bought a few days before. When she returned to her home in a gated community in Tampa Palms, she allegedly killed her daughter, Calyx, 16, who was doing her homework.
Pat Powers, Schenecker's mother, who lives in Texas, called police hours later, saying she was concerned because her daughter had not been answering the telephone. Officers who went to the house found Schenecker, covered in blood on the porch.
She allegedly had written a long note saying she planned to kill her children and herself.
Her husband, Col. Parker Schenecker, assigned to U.S. Central Command, was in Qatar.
Bomb threats close 4 Moscow malls
MOSCOW, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Traffic was jammed Saturday as bomb scares shut down four Moscow shopping malls, Russian police said.
No explosives were found at Mega-Belava Dacha or Mega-Tyopli Stan, RIA Novosti reported. Written threats were discovered in both malls.
A telephoned threat triggered another evacuation at OBI, a third mall, which was also searched and found to be clear, police said. At Vegas shopping center, a message claimed a bomb had been planted in the children's play center, and searches were under way.
All the malls are in southern Moscow. Traffic became stalled as hundreds of cars tried to exit at the same time.
Security has been tightened since a suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport Monday left 35 people dead.
Haiti runoff vote slated for March 20
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Haitian election officials say the results of the first round of presidential elections will be announced on Wednesday.
The electoral council said the second round of voting would take place March 20 with the final results announced March 31, the BBC said Saturday.
The preliminary results of the first round of voting held in November stirred up civil unrest and were considered by international monitors to be rigged.
Former First Lady Mirlande Manigat won the first round; however, the vote was too close to call between the second and third-place candidates -- pop star Michelle Martelly and government-backed Jude Celestine.
