Egypt Unrest is Google's (GOOG) Fault Says Russia

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's deputy blamed Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in an interview published on Tuesday for stirring up trouble in the revolution that ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

"Look what they have done in Egypt, those highly-placed managers of Google, what manipulations of the energy of the people took place there," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told the Wall Street Journal.

Such strong comment from one of Putin's most trusted deputies is a clear signal of growing concern among Russian hardliners about the role of the Internet in the unrest which has swept across the Arab world.

Sechin gave no further details on his concerns. Google executive, Wael Ghonim, became an unlikely hero of the uprising in Egypt which led to Mubarak's deposition.



Source:Reuters

Citigroup (NYSE:C), Barclays (NYSE:BCS), HSBC (NYSE:HBC) Evacuate Workers from Egypt

Citigroup (NYSE:C), Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and HSBC (NYSE:HBC), among other financial institutions in Egypt, has evacuated non-Egyptian employees from the region for their safety.

The central bank of Egypt also ordered all banks closed on Monday, as turmoil and danger escalates.

Commenting on evacuating their people, Citigroup said they have about 600 workers in Egypt, with the majority of them being local. Foreign nationals wanting to leave Egypt were evacuated Sunday evening.

Barclays said they pulled out less than 10 of its people, and HSBC said they also pulled out a "small number" of foreign nationals working for them.

Citigroup was trading at $4.78, up $0.07, or 1.38 percent, as of 1:33PM EST.