pantslessprogressive:

A Yemeni army officer, center, salutes as he is lifted along with other officers by anti-government protesters during a demonstration on Sunday, April 10, 2011. [Photo: AP/Muhammed Muhelsen]

Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen Weekend News Roundup

Algeria:

In Algeria, a chill in the Arab spring | Washington Post

HRW: Restore Civil Liberties - With State of Emergency Over, Amend Laws to Restore Rights | AllAfrica

Bahrain:

Two Shiite activists die in Bahraini custody | AFP

Nearly 800 people have been detained since protests began | Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Human rights leader missing, taken by Bahraini police | CNN

Bahrain human rights activist “arrested, beaten up” | Reuters

Bahrain prosecutor to question former editors of main opposition newspaper Al Wasat | AP

Students in Iran Demonstrate in Support of Bahrain’s Shiites | NY Times

Bahrain is the line in the sand | Boston Globe

Bahrain, Syria and Yemen ‘playing with fire’, says EU diplomat | EU Observer

Djibouti:

A Friendly Little Dictatorship in the Horn of Africa: Why the world doesn’t care about Djibouti’s autocracy | Foreign Policy

Ivory Coast:

UN, French attack Gbagbo heavy weapons, damage presidential palace | Reuters

Ouattara Forces Kill, Rape Civilians During Offensive | HRW

Ouattara pledges he’ll establish human rights body, says UN | Reuters

Ouattara’s lawyers want Gbagbo to face trial | Reuters

Mortars fired at Ouattara’s hotel in Abidjan | AJE

Killings keep west Ivorian cocoa farmers in hiding | Reuters

Ivory Coast’s Abidjan risks health disaster, says MSF | Reuters

Ivory Coast fighting sparks fresh influx of refugees in Liberia | CS Monitor

Analysis: Manufacturing Côte d’Ivoire’s ‘Good Guy’ | AllAfrica

AUDIO: A jewel before its decline | NPR

VIDEO: Ignoring Cote d’Iviore | AJE

Beware of internet misinformation: hoax footage of atrocities in Ivory Coast | France24 (h/t news-intercom)

Mapping the conflict in Ivory Coast | Maps With The News (h/t futurejournalismproject)

Saudi Arabia:

Saudi rights activist: Hundreds of Shiite demonstrators demand release of political prisoners | AP

Saudi unemployed graduates protest to demand jobs | Reuters

Top White House aide to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE | Reuters

Swaziland:

Swaziland bans protests | AFP

Pro-democracy campaign groups are calling for an ‘April 12 Uprising’ | AllAfrica (h/t ligao)

South Africa’s largest labour group plans to blockade a key border crossing with Swaziland next week to support planned protests | AFP

Syria:

Syrian rights group says funeral comes under fire in southern city on Saturday | AP

Four Killed on Sunday as Syria Cuts Off City | NY Times

Syria death toll rises as threats of force become more explicit | Guardian

Syrian activists distribute video of protests | The Lede

Iran blames Jordan, Saudi Arabia for Syria | UPI

Ban Ki-Moon voices concern after deadly clashes in southern city | UN News Centre

Tunisia:

Ben Ali’s brother arrested in Tunisia | AJE

Tough transition in Tunisia after “Arab spring” | AP

VIDEO: Tunisia tourism industry struggling‎ | BBC

United Arab Emirates:

UAE detains another pro-democracy activist and an academic in widening crackdown on dissent | Washington Post

Yemen:

24 children killed in Yemen unrest: Unicef | Gulf News

Yemeni forces fire on protesters in 2 cities on Saturday seeking president’s ouster; several wounded | AP

Thousands march in Yemen over protesters’ deaths | Guardian

Gulf bloc calls on Yemeni ruler to transfer power to vice president | AP

Yemen resolution unlikely as president dismisses Gulf plan to end rule | Guardian

Yemen yanks diplomat over Qatar’s resignation talk | AP

WikiLeaks: Yemen tricked Saudis into nearly bombing president’s rival | Guardian

US embassy cables: Saudi defence minister explains targeting of Yemeni rebels with air strikes | Guardian

State cables show rising concern about al-Qaeda in Yemen | Washington Post

Hard-line Islamic enclave in Yemen illustrates militant risk if regime crumbles | AP

The Yemen President’s Pariah Family | The Daily Beast

Comment: Our revolution’s doing what Saleh can’t – uniting Yemen | Guardian

Comment: Western policymakers shouldn’t accept this Saleh spin | Guardian

(Source: pantslessprogressive)

newsflick:

Djiboutians rally to oust president

Thousands of demonstrators have rallied in the East African nation of Djibouti to demand that president Ismail Omar Guelleh resign, the latest in a series of demonstrations spurred on by political protests across Africa and the Middle East.  

Amid a tight police deployment, the demonstrators gathered at a stadium on Friday with the intention of staying there until their demands were met.  

But the demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as authorities used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters.  

Guelleh has served two terms and faces an election in April, but critics are concerned by changes he made to the constitution last year that scrapped a two-term limit.  

Officials from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches at Friday’s demonstration calling for Guelleh to step down.  

The group’s leader, Ismael Guedi Hared, told the AFP news agency before the demonstration that Guelleh should leave power and called for a sustained protest movement.  ”For the moment, our goal is to remove Ismael Omar Guelleh from power,” he said.

Guelleh ran without opposition in 2005. One potential challenger this year, Abdourahman Boreh, is supporting the anti-Guelleh demonstrations but currently lives in the UK.

(Source: newsflick)