…And the World:

We begin today in Egypt where protests continue against President Mohammed Morsi following the second anniversary of revolts that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak.  Morsi has declared a state of emergency, which suspends some judicial and civil rights processes.  Morsi has offered talks with the Opposition, but they have thus far rejected those overtures unless Morsi meets certain conditions.

Across Africa in Mali, French and Malian forces are reported to have entered Timbuktu and possible taken the city from rebels and Islamist fighters.  France sent in military forces to repel an advance on Mali’s capital Bamako, and has shown some success.  However, in fleeing the city, the retreating fighters set fire to a building holding precious manuscripts.  Damage to historical artifacts is not new for the fighters.

To the North in Canada, Ontario, the nation’s most populous province and home to both Toronto and Ottawa, is on course to have its first woman and its first gay Premier.  Kathleen Wynne won party leadership elections over the weekend.  Wynne’s predecessor will inform Ontario’s Lt. Governor of the change in leadership after which, Wynne will form the government.  New elections are expected soon, too.

The Feds:

The item grabbing the most attention nationally this morning is the announcement of a bipartisan framework upon which immigration reform will proceed.  The framework, reached among a group of eight senators, four from each party, would include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but also includes a few giveaways to conservatives.  Marco Rubio, Florida’s junior Republican senator, appears to have driven any of the plan’s rightward turn, although it may only be window dressing.  Jamelle Bouie, writing at the Plum Line, notes that the GOP’s willingness to deal, driven by the drubbing the party received among Hispanics, is unlikely to turn a substantial portion of the demographic to Republicans.

Until last night, the other big story was how the DC Circuit ruled that President Obama overstepped his authority by recess-appointing nominees to the National Labor Relations Board.  If the ruling is upheld, and Senate Republicans refuse to allow votes on any NLRB members, the agency essentially shuts down.

Connecticut begins hearing testimony on gun laws following Newtown under heavy guard.  The Legislative Office Building, adjacent to the Capitol itself, has metal detectors.  Those testifying include victims of last summer’s theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. Daniela Altimari, a Courant reporter, tweeted the heart-wrenching testimony of Veronique Pozner, whose son, Noah died at Sandy Hook.  Pozner’s full testimony is available here.

America’s two biggest cities will have new chief executives next year.  In New York, the field for mayor is clarified a big more as the city’s Public Advocate Bill de Blasio formally launches his campaign.  Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times has a piece on how former LA County District Attorney, Gil Garcetti is hoping he will soon be the father of a mayor.

The State of Things:

The Senate is poised to vote on John Kerry’s nomination to be Secretary of State and by all accounts, everybody is poised for the next step.  Secretary of State William Galvin is prepared to set a primary for April 30 and a general election on June 25.  Congressman Markey, the only declared candidate has called upon any candidates, Democrat or Republican, to back a no-outside advertising pledge similar to the one adopted last year.  Congressman Stephen Lynch, who may announce his plans this week, had called for that earlier in the month.  Meanwhile, under the radar of the below story, there is good reason to think former Senator Scott Brown IS NOT running.  If Kerry is confirmed tomorrow, Gov. Deval Patrick will name Kerry’s interim successor Wednesday.

And if you have not heard about this, Bqhatevwr!

The Republican reported on the continuing saga between Northeast Realty and Peter Picknelly over in Palmer.  Picknelly claims that he left the group and is now working with Penn National’s plan in the North End.  Northeast says Picknelly still has a fiduciary responsibility to the group in Palmer.  Legal action is possible.  However, the Republican claims that Northeast Realty is developing a casino in Palmer.  Our sources say that Northeast is merely the landlord and has no role in Mohegan Sun‘s pursuit of the license or the operation of the casino.

City Slickers:

Mike Dobbs at the Reminder looks at how the City Council’s meddling in development projects in the city have lead to no development in some cases.  Dobbs mentions two projects, including the redevelopment of the Mason Square Firehouse we have previously mentioned.  However, Dobbs focuses on another nearby project that was scuttled at at-large Councilor Bud Williams’ behest, because the sale price was too low.  In the article, the proposed developer explained the low price was due to the large amount of work necessary to repair the building.

Back in Casino-world, Mayor Domenic Sarno has said the city needs more times to review proposals, pushing off the negotiating process until after February 11 according to Northeastern Public Radio’s Paul Tuthill.

Twitter Chatter:

Under normal circumstances, the winner of this week’s tweet prize would be obvious.  However, Senator Scott Brown deleted his infamous tweets, which many think Brown produce while drunk-tweeting.  At the same the response to the ensuing hash tag phenomenon produced so many tweets it is impossible to pick just one (although this one is good).  So, instead, we will go with one of the first.  Slate Magazine’s Dave Weigel caught Brown’s tweets in picture form just before the Twitterverse went mad with “#Bqhatevwr.”  This week we aware the tweet prize to Weigel, for getting their first, but also pairing that photo with among the most classic of hash tags.  Bqhatevwr had yet to catchon in those early few seconds.  Instead, Weigel paired it with “#winning,” a mainstay of Charlie Sheen’s epic meltdown not too long ago, and ultimately others to call Brown’s situation his own “meltdown.”

#winning twitter.com/daveweigel/sta…

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 26, 2013