“President Barack Obama said he personally told Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak Friday night to take ‘concrete steps’ to expand rights inside the Arab nation and refrain from violence against protesters flooding the streets of Cairo and other cities. The White House suggested U.S. aid could be at stake,” the Associated Press reports (1/29).

Since 1975, Egypt has received $28 billion in assistance from the U.S., according to USAID, Al Jazeera notes. “While USAID’s website says the funds have gone to programs devoted to health, trade and education – among other things – most U.S. aid goes to Egypt’s military,” the news service writes (Al-Arian, 1/30).

In related news, the Christian Science Monitor looks at whether U.S. aid to Egypt is likely to be cut. “But would the administration end or cut the $1.5 billion in military and economic aid it provides each year to Egypt? That’s unlikely. It’s been a mainstay of U.S. policy in the region ever since Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979,” the publication writes (Knickerbocker, 1/29).