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© Khaled Abdullah / ReutersAnti-government protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Sanaa February 18. Crowds of rival demonstrators thronged the Yemeni capital and two other cities on Friday in a show of strength between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's supporters and those demanding an end to his 32 years in power.
Uprisings that only months ago would have been unthinkable have engulfed a region desperate to replicate the toppling of leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. So far, the breadth of demonstrations in Yemen, Libya and Jordan have not reached a tipping point.
As in Bahrain, many leaders in the region are relying on the police and military, pro-government propaganda and intimidation to beat back protesters.
But the death toll and the frustrations are growing.
Protests against the 41-year rule of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi continued in Benghazi on Friday with opposition forces and government troops clashing violently. The tumult in Libya's second-largest city has taken as many as 35 lives there, according to human rights groups, news agencies and hospital officials.
© Hasan Jamali/Associated PressBahraini anti-government protesters pray together at the Pearl roundabout in Manama, Bahrain Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011.
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."
© Unknown
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."
'We are victorious,' demonstrators say as they pour back to Pearl Square, setting up camp for extended stay
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.
© Hassan Ammar/APBahraini 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.
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.
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.
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.
The Egyptian military has banned fresh pro-democracy protests amid labor strikes.
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.
© Agence France-PresseIndigenous Panamanians blocked a major road with their protest
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.
© Agence France-Presse
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.
© UnknownThousands of demonstrators gathered in the eastern Libyan cities of Benghazi, Baida, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Derna on February 18, 2011.
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.
