In the spirit of the dramatic events of yesterday, we at the Duck want to bring your morning linkage with news of the Zimmerman trial. Err, scratch that, we’ll leave that to CNN. Lots of attention being directed to the dramatic events in Egypt, plus some obligatory posts below about conservation, including reports that Joseph Kony has turned to poaching elephants (what unsavory s–t will that guy not do?).

On Egypt, for me the requisite judgment is, at this stage, ambivalence. I can’t see how the events unfold in a positive way. You have the ouster of a democratically elected leader but one who hardly lived up to (m)any democratic ideals, in terms of his effort to consolidate power and run roughshod over the opposition and more secular forces. But, more sage voices know more:

• Marc Lynch thinks there will be trouble, given the weakness of the political institutions in Egypt that have run Egypt’s economy and system in to a ditch
• Fareed Zakaria bemoans the lost opportunities under Morsi and the choice Egyptians have between military dictatorship and illiberal democracy
• Joshua Keating, drawing on Ozan Varol, assesses the conditions under which a coup might promote democratic development (i.e. when the democratically elected leaders have been acting undemocratically but the military promises a swift return to democracy, among other conditions)
• Senator Leahy suggests that U.S. laws demands that aid be suspended to Egypt; we will see if that comes to pass, probably a move to give the U.S. some leverage over the generals to promise a swift return to democracy
• Gerald Seib argues that U.S. influence is more limited than it once was, that we’re no longer the biggest donor to Egypt (that would be Qatar)
• Marina Ottaway notes that such outside support from Qatar among others has insulated Egypt from having to go to the IMF and make painful economic reforms
• Ashraf Khalil wonders how the Muslim Brotherhood will handle what has transpired (will there be blood?)
• Mohammed Ayoob provides a contrarian perspective and warns of an extremist blacklash, suggesting that Morsi was overly accommodating to other side and to the military, ultimately fatally weakening his government.

In your non-Egypt news, here is a motley set of links:

Environment

• Joseph Kony ups his moral turpitude a notch with news of LRA poaching
• Obama administration announces modest ($10 million) anti-poaching initiative during his trip to Africa
• South Africa proposes selling portion of its stockpile of rhino horn to flood the market as an aim to kill the black market
• the Koch brothers have persuaded 411 sitting lawmakers to sign a no climate tax pledge since 2008
• the European parliament by contrast acted to shore up the ailing EU emissions trading scheme with a move that will delay the auction of some permits and help drive up prices
• David Roberts suggests biggest oversight in Obama climate plan is lack of action to stop sale of coal from public lands in the West for export to China

Health

• Two more patients appear HIV-free after bone marrow transplants
• Gilead pharmaceuticals under pressure to provide a standalone version of effective AIDS drug so it can be bundled with cheaper drugs rather than other expensive drugs in the so-called Quad four-drug combo
• Bush AIDS policies shadow Obama during his Africa trip; people wish he were more like the former president
• Laura Bush and Michelle Obama join forces in Africa to announce expansion of Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon in Tanzania, an effort to detect and treat cervical and breast cancer