Google Exec Released in Egypt

Good news out of Egypt: Google executive and political activist Wael Ghonim was released from government detention on Monday, the State Department told The Wall Street Journal. Reports of his freedom spread like wildfire across Twitter, including reports that he was spotted in Tahrir Square. On Sunday, Egyptian authorities told Ghonim's family he would likely be released. While some local media operations buzzed that Ghonim's pro-democracy stance made him a traitor to his nation (as Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa), the people embraced him as a martyr in the movement of last week's anti-government protests. Suspecting he had been arrested, protesters declared from Tahrir Square that they would not leave until he was freed, while others marched with signs emblazoned with his name. Having been told by Egypt's vice president that Ghonim would be released, Egypt's billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris said on Sunday, "When he is released he will become the living hero of this revolution."