Iraq
Iraq: deadly repression as protests sweep country
Several deaths are reported after security forces fired on protesters in Mosul and Haweija, as thousands marched across Iraq in a national “day of rage.”
Greater Middle East
Tens of thousands march in Arab capitals
Tens of thousands took to the streets in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain to demand political reforms. The march in Tunis was the largest since the fall of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
North Africa
Qaddafi plays al-Qaeda card; neocons assuaged?
As his regime totters, Col. Qaddafi calls the insurrection an al-Qaeda conspiracy. But will it be enough to assure the good graces of his one-time advisor Richard “Prince of Darkness” Perle?
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Taliban open suicide offensive, talk to US?
More than 100 people have died in suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the last three weeks—as the New Yorker reports that the US has entered into exploratory talks with the Taliban.
Afghanistan
Paranoia in Pakistan over gunman’s CIA ties
Was Raymond Davis, the CIA operative held by Pakistan in connection with a shooting incident last month, supplying nuclear and biological warfare materials to al-Qaeda?
Africa
Coup attempt crushed in Comoros
Government troops in the Comoros killed or repelled French-speaking white mercenaries who tried to seize control of part of the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.
Africa
Senegal breaks ties with Iran, citing southern insurgency
Senegal cut diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing Tehran of arming separatist rebels in its restive southern Casamance region, where 16 soldiers have been killed this year.
North Africa
Libya: Qaddafi loses east to insurrection; “crimes against humanity” feared
Moammar Qaddafi’s regime has lost vast swathes of Libya’s east to insurrectionists, with many army troops going over the rebels. Two pilots defected after being ordered to bomb Benghazi.
North Africa
Fidel Castro: NATO to occupy Libya
Fidel Castro writes in his column “Reflections of Comrade Fidel” that NATO’s planned invasion of Libya will begin in “a matter of hours or a few days.”
Greater Middle East
Islamophobes exploit Lara Logan to discredit Egyptian revolution
On David Horowitz’s Front Page Mag, Phyllis Chesler exploits Lara Logan’s sexual abuse in Tahrir Square to portray the Egyptian revolution as a hatefest of Islamic extremism.
North Africa
NATO to intervene in Libya?
Libya’s UN Mission—breaking with the regime of Moammar Qaddafi—called on the UN to impose a no-fly zone over the country. European diplomats say NATO is prepared to enforce a no-fly zone.
Iraq
Iraq gets a Tahrir Square
Thousands of protesters filled Tahrir Square in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, in an ongoing campaign against the entrenched political machine in the Kurdish autonomous region.