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Is the Next Mideast Volcano a Little Island in the Gulf?

Angela Shah
Time
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:34 UTC
Image
© Hasan Jamali/Associated Press
Bahraini anti-government protesters pray together at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011.

Talk of revolution in the normally placid Gulf comes down to the opinion and emotions of solidly middle-class Mohamed Ali, 31, a manager in a financial institution in the Bahraini capital of Manama. "We feel that our country is not belonging to us. We gave the government 10 years to resolve these issues," he says. "But what we got only promises."

Ali speaks for many of the thousands who, on Wednesday, were protesting for the third straight day in Manama's Lulu Roundabout, a busy city intersection now turned would-be Tahrir Square. Feeling disenfranchised from their own country Ali and his wife, have joined the ranks of protesters. Says he, "There is no equal opportunity."

Shi'a Bahrainis like Ali form a majority in the Gulf island, which has been ruled for 40 years by a Sunni minority. The Shi'a feel that the best jobs, the best opportunities are reserved for Sunnis and that they are placed behind Sunnis from other countries who get preference above Bahrainis. Since Feb. 14, protesters have converged at Lulu, calling for the removal of the Bahraini prime minister, Sheikh Khanifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who has been in office - unelected - since 1971. By Wednesday, tweets reported that the protest tents were getting bigger and included more families. "Speeches varied," one poster wrote, "from thoughtful to fiery."
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Magnify

U.S. v. Bond: Reexamining the Mysterious 10th Amendment

Garrett Epps
The Atlantic
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:03 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Is smearing toxic chemicals on a mailbox "garden-variety" crime or a federal treaty violation?

When Carol Anne Bond of Lansdale, PA, put deadly poison on her best friend's mailbox, she probably didn't think she was violating an international treaty against chemical weapons. Nor did she probably imagine she'd end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving that most mysterious of Amendments, the Tenth.

Tuesday's oral argument in United States v. Bond will probably focus on the legally important parts of this case -- quasi-theological concepts like the nature of the Article II Treaty Power, the meaning of the Article I "Necessary and Proper" Clause, and the real meaning of the Tenth Amendment -- which from a journalistic standpoint is a shame, because the unimportant parts of the case are so amazing.

I'm pretty sure Bond wasn't thinking about these issues when she committed her crime -- or thinking about of anything, beyond perhaps proving her suitability to appear on a future episode of a daytime talk show called "Highly Educated Microbiologists Who Do Crazy Stupid Things."
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Video

Bahrain protesters reclaim central square


MSNBC.com
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:11 UTC
'We are victorious,' demonstrators say as they pour back to Pearl Square, setting up camp for extended stay

Image
© Hassan Ammar/AP
Bahraini protesters pray and chant slogans as another protester places a Bahraini flag at the Pearl roundabout soon after the military pulled out in Manama, Bahrain, Saturday. Riot police later beat demonstrators and fired tear gas, before they too withdrew.
Manama, Bahrain - Anti-government protesters in Bahrain swarmed back into a symbolic square on Saturday, putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause and confidently setting up camp for a protracted stay.

Crowds had approached Pearl Square in Manama from different directions, creating a standoff with riot police who had moved in earlier to replace troops withdrawn on royal orders.

Suddenly police raced to their buses, which drove away mounting kerbs in their haste to escape.

Emboldened protesters, cheering and waving national flags, ran to the center of the traffic circle, retaking it even before all police had left.

"We are victorious!" they chanted as they marched back into the square.

The crowd waved fleeing policemen through.

"We don't fear death anymore, let the army come and kill us to show the world what kind of savages they are," said Umm Mohammed, a teacher wearing a black abaya cloak.

On orders from the crown prince, troops and armored vehicles earlier withdrew from the square, which they had taken over on Thursday after riot police staged a night-time attack on a sit-in by protesters, killing four people and wounding 231.
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Eye 2

Fresh clashes after Libyan city buries dead


MSNBC.com
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 13:57 UTC
Tripoli - Moammar Gadhafi's forces fired on mourners in the eastern city of Benghazi, wiped out a protest encampment and clamped down on Internet service throughout Libya Saturday as the regime tried to squelch calls for an end to the ruler's 42-year grip on power.

Libyan hospital official said security forces killed at least 15 mourners leaving funeral for protesters, The Associated Press reported.

Libyan protesters were back on the street for the fifth straight day, but Gadhafi has taken a hard line toward the dissent that has ripped through the Middle East and swept him up with it.

Snipers fired on thousands of people gathered in Benghazi, a focal point of the unrest, to mourn 35 protesters who were shot on Friday, a hospital official said.

"Now we have youth coming to the hospital to donate blood," he said. "We are running out of supplies."

Like most Libyans who have talked to The Associated Press during the revolt, the hospital official spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
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Stormtrooper

What regime change, what revolution? Egyptian military warns people against further "illegal" demos


Press TV
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:46 UTC
Image

The Egyptian military has banned fresh pro-democracy protests amid labor strikes.
Egypt's military has warned people against staging fresh pro-democracy protests, saying it will not allow constant "illegal" strikes and demonstrations that have wreaked havoc on the economy.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has temporarily taken over power following the historic ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in the North African country, declared in its statement on Saturday that it will "confront" protests with "legal steps," the Associated Press reported.

The military has taken a hard-nosed approach toward continued mass pro-democracy protests at a time when massive walkouts by the public sector staff in protest against low wages and poor working conditions have raised the specter of new multi-million protests akin to the huge demonstrations that put an end to Mubarak's 30-year reign.

According to the military's statement, the warning is aimed at preventing the Egyptian economy from plunging into the abyss. However, labor strikes have continued as employees expressed fury at corruption and abuse of power by the cronies of Mubarak.
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Che Guevara

Panama clashes: Guaymi angry over copper mining law


BBC
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:37 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
Indigenous Panamanians blocked a major road with their protest
Police in Panama have clashed with dozens of indigenous protesters trying to prevent copper mining on their ancestral lands.

Members of the Guaymi indigenous group occupied a bridge on a major highway on the outskirts of Panama City.

Clashes erupted when police tried to move the protesters to clear the way for traffic.

Lawmakers last week approved a law which opens up the western Ngobe-Bugle reservation to foreign mining projects.

Police say demonstrators, some of whom were armed with spears, threw stones at them when they tried to clear the section of the Pan-American highway.
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Pistol

Somali pirates seize American yacht crew off Oman


BBC
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:31 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
Four Americans sailing on a yacht off the coast of Oman have been taken hostage by Somali pirates, an international maritime watchdog says.

The S/V Quest, owned by a retired couple, was hijacked 240 nautical miles (275 miles) off Oman on Friday afternoon, Ecoterra told BBC News.

It is believed the yacht was en route from India to Oman.

While pirates usually attack cargo ships, they have hijacked a number of yachts in recent years.

Ecoterra said the capture of the S/V Quest had been reported by both its sources and by Nato's anti-piracy operation, Ocean Shield. Nato could not be reached immediately for comment.
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Pistol

Libya unrest death toll reaches 84 as Arab governments try to shoot their way to 'safety'


Press TV
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:27 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the eastern Libyan cities of Benghazi, Baida, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Derna on February 18, 2011.
At least 84 protesters have lost their lives and hundreds wounded in Libya in three days of pro-democracy protests in the African country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

According to HRW, security forces killed 20 people in the eastern city of Benghazi, 23 in the eastern Libyan town of al-Baida, three in Ajdabiya, and three in Derna in a matter of days, Reuters reported.

In addition, 35 people lost their lives in Benghazi on Friday, nearly all with live ammunition, said the Human Rights Watch, adding that it has compiled the figures based upon telephone interviews with hospital staffers and witnesses.

It also hit out at the crackdown on protesters in Libya, saying "The Libyan authorities should immediately end attacks on peaceful protesters and protect them from assault by pro-government armed groups."

Anti-government protests sparked by the popular revolutions that deposed long-serving rulers of neighboring Egypt and Tunisia have engulfed Libya this week with thousands of people flocking the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi, and calling for the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in office since September 1969.
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Pistol

Bahraini military and police begin shooting protesters


CNN
Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:23 UTC

Manama, Bahrain - Government forces fired Friday on protesters in Bahrain's capital, killing at least four of them, an ambulance worker told CNN. The violence was the latest in a series of confrontations that began Monday in this Persian Gulf island nation.

"I told everyone to put their hands up as a sign of peace," said one man who was covered in blood. "Then I saw the military crouch down."

Medical sources at a hospital said at least 50 people were treated Friday for injuries in Manama, and five of them were in critical condition, including one with a bullet wound to the head.

Friday's deaths brought to at least 10 the number of people killed since protesters took to the streets in Bahrain, one of several countries in the Middle East and North Africa to face a surge of dissent following the revolts that toppled longtime autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt.
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Attention

Lara Logan, CBS Reporter and Warzone 'It Girl,' Raped Repeatedly Amid Egypt Celebration

Simone Wilson
CBS News
Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:34 UTC
Lara Logan
© unknown
Lara Logan, the 60 Minutes firecracker who was raped at the moment of Egypt's overthrow
Updated after the jump: Commenters respond to bloggers respond to reporters respond to Tweeters respond to the inexcusable crime against Lara Logan.

Breaking news: South African TV journalist Lara Logan, known for her shocking good looks and ballsy knack for pushing her way to the heart of the action, was brutally and repeatedly raped while a crowd of 200 celebrated the February 11 resignation of 30-year Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Logan was in Tahrir Square with her 60 Minutes news team when Mubarak's announcement broke. Then, in a rush of frenzied excitement, some Egyptian protesters apparently consummated their newfound independence by sexually assaulting the blonde reporter:

CBS News reports that "she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration." Then, the horrific assault:
In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
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