Anonymous Israeli security officials told Haaretz newspaper they believe Turkey is preparing a military intervention in Syria, seeking to create a secure buffer zone on the border where armed opposition forces can operate.
Protests rocked Cairo for a sixth day, as security forces again used tear gas in another effort to clear Tahrir Square. Over 30 are now dead in the street-fighting. The Muslim Brotherhood has split over whether to join the protest movement.
Kuwait’s emir has ordered authorities to tighten security in the Persian Gulf mini-state after the parliament building was stormed by dozens of protesters demanding a probe of corruption claims and an end to the ban on political parties.
Up to 20,000 people remain in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with thousands more in surrounding streets, despite ongoing efforts by security forces to remove them in a third consecutive day of protests. Over 20 have now been killed in the protests.
Rodrigo Londoño AKA “Timochenko,” issued his first statement since assuming command of the FARC guerillas, saying official celebrations of the death of his predecessor Alfonso Cano exposed “the macabre face of this beautiful democracy.”
Hundreds of protesters against Egypt’s military rulers remain camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a third day, retaking the plaza in clashes with security forces after being evicted in a police assault. At least 13 protesters were killed.
A funeral procession in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar erupted into clashes with Israeli forces after a Jewish settler fired on the group and Palestinian mourners responded by throwing stones. Israeli forces fired tear gas and live bullets.
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi was captured by fighters from Zintan, who say they will hold him until a new government is formed. The Zintan and rival Jadu militias are refusing NTC pressure to disarm, each fearing reprisals from the other.
Egyptian riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets stormed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square to break up a protest tent camp, sparking clashes that injured at least 500. Protests and deadly repression are meanwhile fast escalating in Syria and Yemen.
Human rights groups staged a demonstration at the headquarters of Ve Wong Corp in Taipei, accusing the snack food giant in the illegal seizure of farmland in Cambodia, and using private security forces to repress peasant protests.
President Barack Obama announced his decision to send 2,500 troops to Australia days after a congressional advisory panel, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, warned of Beijing’s growing military presence in Asia.
Riots broke out in Italy and Greece and thousands marched in Spanish cities as new governments announced austerity measures in response to a financial crisis that has become a “serious emergency” to the entire Eurozone.
