World Unrest in the Middle East

[The Helper]

TUNIS — Power in Tunisia changed hands again Saturday morning in the aftermath of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s flight from the country as soldiers kept the city under a tight lockdown, sporadic nighttime riots simmered down and clouds of smoke from the burning of a major supermarket hung over the bleached-city skyline.

Bowing to the continuation of the uprising over night, the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, ceded authority to the speaker of the Tunisian parliament. State television announced the change.

Mr. Ghannouchi, 69, a close ally of Mr. Ben Ali from his home town of Sousse, had declared himself interim president on Friday in violation of the Tunisian constitution, and he immediately became a target of the popular anger that brought down Mr. Ben Ali. By late Friday night, Facebook pages that had provided a central forum for the revolt had replaced their slogan “Ben Ali, Out” with a new one: “Ghannouchi, out!”

Some Tunisians on Saturday attributed the continued rioting over night to anger at Mr. Ghannouchi’s “coup,” but in the chaos around the capital it was becoming hard to distinguish protests from looting.

In Tunisia, Clashes Continue as Power Shifts a Second Time (Published 2011)

The swift turnabout raised new questions about what kind of government might emerge from the chaos engulfing the country.

www.nytimes.com

 

[seph ir oth]

Egypt Protests: Thousands Fill Streets To Protest Mubarak On 'Jan 25'

CAIRO (AP) -- Thousands of anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armored police truck, clashed with riot police Tuesday in the center of Cairo in a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power. (Scroll down for live updates.)

Police responded with blasts from water cannons and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak" and demanding an end to Egypt's grinding poverty, corruption, unemployment and police abuses.

Tuesday's demonstration, the largest Egypt has seen for years, began peacefully, with police showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy by the government to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely seen as little more than corrupt thugs in uniforms.

Read more with a live blog here.

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This story mummified me ...

 

[The Helper]

Yemen protests: Thousands call on president to leave

Thousands of Yemenis are demonstrating in the capital Sanaa, calling on Ali Abdullah Saleh, president for more than 30 years, to step down.

This comes after mass protests in Egypt and a popular uprising in Tunisia that ousted its long-time leader.

Yemeni opposition members and youth activists gathered in four parts of the city, including Sanaa University, chanting anti-government slogans.

They also called for economic reforms and an end to corruption.

Read the news here.

 

[Slayer4000X2008]

Egypt's Mubarak agrees to step down -- but not yet

CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election in September but rejected demands that brought a million people on to the streets around the country that he quit immediately.

The veteran president's announcement in a televised address drew angry jeers from demonstrators who again defied a curfew to spend the night in the capital Cairo's Tahrir Square -- epicentre of eight straight days of protests.

His insistence that he would remain at the helm to oversee the transition also fell far short of the demands of opposition groups that have set him a Friday deadline to quit to allow a clear break with his 30-year rule.

A US official described Mubarak's announcement as "significant," but acknowledged it might not be enough to calm the unprecedented wave of protest shaking Egypt.

Despite years of studied ambiguity over whether he would seek a sixth term in September and his refusal until this week to even name a vice president, the 82-year-old insisted he had never intended to stay in office beyond this year.

Full Story Here.

 

[Bronxernijn]

President Obama said in a speech that the change of power in Egypt has to start now. I'm curious if it will have any effect

 

[Ninja_sheep]

He isn't just going to step down without doing anything.

But holy shit. One million people on the streets. That is A LOT.

 

[Wiseman_2]

President Obama said in a speech that the change of power in Egypt has to start now. I'm curious if it will have any effect

He says that now, when everyone's rioting, but when it was all stable the US was perfectly happy pumping money into Egypt to prop up their pro-western regime and creaking economy.

I guess we should just be glad we haven't seen a 21st Century Tiananman... yet.

 

[Bronxernijn]

He says that now, when everyone's rioting, but when it was all stable the US was perfectly happy pumping money into Egypt to prop up their pro-western regime and creaking economy.

Of course nobody expected him to say it if there weren't any economical gains for the USA

 

[Slayer4000X2008]

I feel I should go there and do my part to help. Anybody up for some rioting?

 

[SerraAvenger]

I feel I should go there and do my part to help. Anybody up for some rioting?

Start rioting in your own country. Fare information campaigns, get people interested in their fate, and then start rioting for more democracy, more personal freedom, and depending on your economical viewpoint more or less economic freedom.

 

[BlowingKush]

It's all Obama's fault of course.

 

[Slayer4000X2008]

Sudan announces referendum preliminary results

February 2, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), which organized last month’s vote on the region’s independence, today officially announced the full preliminary results of the exercise whose outcome is certainly in favor of independence.

Polls for south Sudan referendum opened on 9 January and closed on 15 January at 3000 polling stations domestically and eight Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) locations, including Uganda, Kenya, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, the UK and the US.

The vote exceeded the 60% turnout required to validate the results and southerners voted massively for secession.

In a press conference held on Wednesday at the SSRC’s headquarters, the commission’s chairperson Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said that 3.851.994 out of 3.947.676 people who registered to vote had cast their ballots, putting the turnout at 97.85%.

Full Story Here.

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While these results are not official they do give a good look into what will happen.

 

[Wargasm]

obama wanted change..least the people in Egypt went for it

 

[The Helper]

Violence in Egypt

[YOUTUBE]w69Grp6QHdI[/YOUTUBE]

This looked staged to me.

 

[Hatebreeder]

If it were not staged, then it's pretty brutal. And I'd also have a silent minute and be happy that I don't live there.

If it is, then it's pretty authentic
...WHERE IS THE LIKE BUTTON ?!

 

[Pie_Crust]

From what I heard on the news. The people who are in the rebellion believe the President of Egypt is hiring people to make the rebellion look bad. So they will be tricked into needing him and having him look like the good guy again.

 

[YourFace]

Egypt's condition is more severe than I thought! Quick we need to bring out the governmental protection agency! They have waffles

 

[Slayer4000X2008]

This looked staged to me.

I wish this was staged. Truth be told I have heard worse come out of Egypt, I just thought to avoid posting it here.

I find it funny how foreign governments talk about the problem and say it should be fixed peacefully, but they're all too chick shit to do anything about it. It's time for action but clearly the only one taking any is Egypt.

 

[esb]

It'd be another Iraq if US butted in.

 

[XXXconanXXX]

Eastern Bloc and Middle Eastern reformation has taken sway?

Truman's Domino Theory is proving itself true at this point.

Will 317 decide to involve a whole in such an aperture involvement?

Probably not.