Matthew Bell

What happened with Egypt’s presidential election this week? And what comes next?

Matthew Bell — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:21:19 +0000

shadi_hamid_052512.mp3 Listen on Posterous

I had a chance to talk with Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution this morning at a cafe in Cairo about today’s news. Unofficial election results put the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Mursi in first place. And the ex-Mubarak era minister and retired air force general, Ahmed Shafiq took second place. The two will face off in a second and final round of voting in mid-June. Here is Shadi making sense of it all.

Smiles on day two of round one in #Egypt presidential election

Matthew Bell — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:51:59 +0000

Presidential race voting results for Egyptians living abroad.

Matthew Bell — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:21:31 +0000

Graph shows percentage of Egyptian ex-pat votes for presidential candidates (from left) Mohamed Morsy, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Hamdeen Sabahy, Amr Moussa and Ahmed Shafiq.

Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Moussa

Matthew Bell — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:21:20 +0000

I just heard there was a call this morning for Egyptians to tear down campaign signs of candidates connected to the Mubarak government. That would include former Egyptian foreign minister, Amr Moussa, and Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

Festival of al-Khader (St George) near Bethlehem

Matthew Bell — Sat, 05 May 2012 13:43:23 +0000

Matthew Bell
PRI’s The World
Sent from my iPhone

Like a lot of Americans, Israelis love flying their national flag. But leading up Israel’s Memorial Day (today) & Independence Day (tomorrow), flags are everywhere.

Matthew Bell — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:13:28 +0000

France is in the home stretch of its presidential campaign. Here’s an elections official putting up posters in Paris on Monday.

Matthew Bell — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:50:46 +0000

I’ve only been here a couple of days, and not really paying close attention because I’m vacation, but this scene seemed so tame compared to the fully amped US presidential race. Campaign posters do not blanket Paris at all. This campaign official was putting up posters for all the candidates. One poster for each space (they are numbered), neatly displayed, only on designated spots for billboards.

#Gaza. This line of cars waiting for fuel to go on sale at a petrol station stretched about a quarter mile.

Matthew Bell — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:29:54 +0000

Waiting to fill up

Drivers in Gaza these days can be forced to wait in line for hours to buy gas (or diesel). Sales might be limited to 10 gallons per customer. The fuel shortage is the worst in years.

Twitter: @matthewjbell

Just back from Birzeit University outside Ramallah, where the green flag of the Islamic Movement (Hamas) is flying for student council elections.

Matthew Bell — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:18:27 +0000

Twitter: @matthewjbell

Short video from Jerusalem funeral today

Matthew Bell — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:58:04 +0000

P1060974.MOV Watch on Posterous

Matthew Bell, Middle East Correspondent
PRI’s The World (www.theworld.org)
Twitter @matthewjbell