Welcome to The Faster Times update. In today's edition, we bring you a special report from Egypt, redefining rape, military spending in Egypt, Halle Berry, and a refreshing change from the Academy. Enjoy!

As I watched events unfold after January 25 I was incredibly inspired by the strength of the Egyptian protesters and their civil behavior and the reports of people forming committees to protect their neighborhoods and picking up garbage after the protests. As I sat in Istanbul, I desperately wanted to be in Cairo with my friends and colleagues as they took part in a major turning point in the history of the Middle East. It took me a while to decide whether or not to go, but then I made my mind. About an hour after I had booked my ticket, things in Egypt seemed to take a turn for the ugly.

Seemingly taking a page from Whoopi Goldberg’s enlightened classification system of “rape” and “rape-rape,” the Republican-sponsored (no surprise there!) “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” contains a provision that would drastically rewrite (and limit!) the definition of rape and incest, while also making the Hyde Amendment, which bars Medicaid funding for abortions, permanent. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, this consequently makes it extremely difficult for low-income women to finance abortions and severely limits their rights to reproductive health care.

With the announcement by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he will not run in the September presidential elections the protests in Egypt have reached a crossroads. Anti-government protestors may continue to voice their opposition and push for greater change – including the immediate removal of Mubarak, or wait to see if the 82 year-old President follows through on his vow to step down after serving his final seven months in office. More than likely the protestors will seek to ride their momentum in hopes the 29-year Mubarak reign comes to an end sooner rather than later.

Dear Hall Berry and Gabriel Aubry:

For the love of Nahla, please stop issuing statements about your on-going custody dispute.

Does anybody ever get riled up about Foreign Language Oscar nominees? Haven’t we just been taking that category for granted for a while now, counting on heartwarming universal tales of triumph over adversity, or “current events” with cosmopolitan airs, and never really getting around to watching them? “Dogtooth,” from Greece, delivers a new opportunity to wonder what the Academy was thinking. In a good way.