Four people killed in Egypt protests

Two of the major factors that are fueling the protests in the Middle East and North Africa are poverty and corruption. The people protesting want more economic opportunity and don't like the fact that the ones in power are the only ones making money with bribes and graft.

The protests have spread into Egypt and what is happening in that country has really caught the attention of the west. Overnight, four protesters died as the police started to use force against the people.

From IC Scotland, we read more about the protesting that turned deadly.

The two protesters were killed during a demonstration in the city of Suez. The official said one of them had respiratory problems and died as a result of tear gas inhalation and the other was killed by a rock thrown during the protest.

The policeman died during the protest in Cairo. The official said he was hit in the head by a rock.
...

Throughout the day, police blasted crowds with water cannons and set upon them with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas in an attempt to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak" and demanding an end to Egypt's grinding poverty, corruption, unemployment and police abuses.

Tuesday's demonstration, the largest Egypt has seen for years, began peacefully, with police showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy by the government to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely criticised as corrupt and violent.

With discontent growing over economic woes, and the toppling of Tunisia's president still resonating in the region, Egypt's government - which normally responds with swift retribution to any dissent - needed to tread carefully.