Region

Huge crowds poured onto the streets of the Yemeni capital in what the opposition hailed as the biggest protest yet against the President three-decade rule.
The veteran leader, whose supporters staged a large counter-demonstration, dismissed the opposition rally as a copycat action mimicking protests in other Arab countries that he charged had been fanned by Israel and the US.

Over 100,000 people rallied in Madison on Saturday against Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to remove the collective bargaining rights of most public-sector workers. It was the largest demonstration Madison has seen since the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of people marched in solidarity protests nationwide.

Protests meanwhile are continuing across the Middle East. In Bahrain, thousands continue to flood the streets of the capital city of Manama. On Sunday, demonstrators marched to a central court building in their deepest foray into the city so far. The protests come as leading Bahraini Shiite opposition leader Hassan Mushaima has returned from exile.

Fears of a humanitarian crisis in Libya are growing amidst escalating violence between rebels and forces loyal to the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Anti-government groups have seized control of more areas as they close in on the capital city, Tripoli. On Sunday, protesters claimed the town of Zawiyah, just 30 miles from the capital.

The UN refugee agency on Sunday said a “humanitarian emergency” was underway as thousands fled Libya in a mass exodus of foreigners from the strife-torn country by air, land and sea.
“We call upon the international community to respond quickly and generously to enable these governments to cope with this humanitarian emergency,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Forces opposed to Kadhafi took control of several western Libyan towns, an official said on Sunday as the strongman played down rebel gains after world leaders called on him to quit.
Protest leaders established a transitional “national council” in several eastern and western cities seized from the Kadhafi regime and called on the army to help them take the capital Tripoli.

The Security Council today voted unanimously to impose sanctions against the Libyan authorities, slapping the country with an arms embargo and freezing the assets of its leaders, while referring the ongoing violent repression of civilian demonstrators to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
See its Resolution 1970 published here.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is warning thousands of people may have been killed in Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s assault on the growing Libyan uprising. The United Nations is also warning Libya’s food supply network is on the brink of collapse. Deadly clashes are ongoing as anti-government forces close in on the capital city of Tripoli.

Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi continues to unleash a wave of violence as he struggles to wipe out a growing uprising against his rule. Reports continue to emerge of scores of human rights abuses by pro-Gaddafi forces. A number of people were reportedly killed today when Libyan forces attacked a mosque in the town of Az Zawiyah.

Amnesty International has urged the Yemeni authorities to end its crackdown on anti-government demonstrations after two protesters were reported to have been killed in Sana’a.
They would be the first fatalities in the capital since the outbreak of unrest earlier this month and bring the total killed to 16, including 13 in the southern city of Aden.