The ascension to Langley of Gen. David Petraeus—architect of Bush’s Iraq “surge”—comes just as the Obama administration has explicitly taken on a regime change project in Libya.
Police across the United Kingdom raided squats and community centers on the eve of the royal wedding, apparently fearing a replay of last month’s anti-cuts riots during the media spectacle.
Qaddafi forces resumed shelling of the rebel-held Libyan port of Misrata, as the besieged dictator went on TV both to offer a ceasefire and warn NATO against a ground invasion: “Either freedom or death. No surrender.”
Israeli tank fire wounded several people near the central Gaza Strip’s al-Bureij refugee camp as Hamas chief Khaled Masha’al prepares to meet Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo next week to sign a unity deal.
A deadly Marrakesh bomb blast attributed to al-Qaeda came days after thousands of Moroccans marched nationwide to demand sweeping reforms before a new constitution is unveiled in June by King Mohammed VI.
Syrian army units clashed with each other in Daraa following President Assad’s orders to crack down on protesters. Some 50 were shot dead as tens of thousands took part in “day of rage” protests in Daraa and other cities.
The Bolivian Sentate’s Commission on Natural Resources and Environment announced introduction of a Law of Mother Earth, which would officially enshrine the “rights of nature” in the Andean nation’s legal code.
At least one is reported dead in Peru’s southern region of Puno after the National Police fired on protesters during a civil strike or paro called to demand a halt to local mining and petroleum leases.
At least nine were killed and more than 100 wounded as troops opened fire on anti-regime protesters in Sanaa, capital of Yemen. Meanwhile, hundreds have fled repression in Syria to take refuge in neighboring Lebanon.
Israeli army and Border Guard forces clashed with settlers from the extremist “Hilltop Youth” and “Hebrew Cities” movements following deadly violence at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus over the weekend.
Villages are militarized and some 58,000 are displaced on both sides of the border as Thailand and Cambodia step up their local war over a disputed outpost that includes ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples.
Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered ousted leader Hosni Mubarak transferred from a private hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to a prison hospital in Cairo after the ex-president’s doctor cleared him to travel.
