Tunisia LiveBlog: A New Government?

1940 GMT: Tunisian Minister of Interior Ahmed Friaa says 78 people died and 94 were injured in the violence surrounding the downfall of President Ben Ali.

At the time of the clashes, the Government would only admit to between 20 and 30 dead.

1850 GMT: This captioned photograph is making the rounds by e-mail. Former President Ben Ali of Tunisia on left: "Don't be late, it gets lonely." President Hosni Mubarak on right: "You're first, we're next." (h/t Sultan Al Qassemi)

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Tunisia and the Real Net Effect: A First-Hand Account of Why Social Media Matters (Kosina and "S")

"Without the Internet there would be no flow of information, neither within the country nor to the outside world. Without the Internet it would have been possible for the massacre to happen in silence for us and for the outside world. President Ben Ali had censored all the media and especially the Internet (everything except for Al-Jazeera TV)."

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Tunisia Analysis: Battles on the Street, Bigger Battles for A Government

There is a much larger battle going on, away from the clashes on the streets. On Sunday, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi declared, "Tomorrow we will announce the new government which will open a new page in the history of Tunisia." 

The practical steps behind that flourish are that a coalition has been agreed, with former opposition factions such as the Democratic Progressive Party and the Democratic Forum for Labour and Freedoms each getting one post. "Technocrats" are likely to retain their posts, and there will be representatives from trade unions and lawyers' groups.

Is that enough for legitimacy? Two immediate issues emerge.

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US Politics: Can Obama Use a "New Discourse" To Take Control of the State of the Union?

If President Obama can continue his recent "bold leadership and prophetic eloquence" in the State of the Union Address, he has the opportunity to override the bickering in the House of Representatives, imprinting an indelible impression in the minds of the 77% of Americans who believe that compromise is a worthy objective. No one should be naïve enough to think that politics will not return to the heated debate that marked the last Congress, but on 25 January Obama could don the mantle of representing the "silent majority" of moderates of both parties –-- and Independents --– in the US.

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The Latest from Iran (17 January): A Gift from a Political Prisoner to His Wife

2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mousavi campaign Poriya Mousavi has been arrested after a raid on the family home.

Economist Fariborz Reisdana has been released on bail.

Reisdana was arrested a month ago after he gave an interview criticising the Government's subsidy cuts.

1945 GMT: A Note to the President. MP Gholam Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam has jabbed at the President over his failure to fulfil goals in the development plan and his "untrue" remarks about government achievements.

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Turkey Analysis: Ankara Seizes Political Leadership over Lebanon

Ankara's "zero problem with neighbours" policy continues as Hezbollah and its politcal allies walked away from the Lebanese government last week. On Friday, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri was in Ankara, and the visit was followed by a call by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to offer cooperation. Erdogan said, "There is a need for the parties to act with full responsibility and an understanding that keeps Lebanon’s common interests above any sort of [political] consideration."

Ankara, in the role of "firefighter" on the Lebanese crisis, is pursuing its grand strategy of centring itself in regional discussions not only as a "city planner" but as a global architect.

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Israel Snapshot: Netanyahu's Lesson from Tunisia --- Security, Security, and Security

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli Cabinet about the lesson of the developments in Tunisia: "If there is one conclusion, one clear lesson that arises from all that we see around us, it is that we need to lay the foundations of security in any agreement that we make.  We cannot simply say 'We are signing a peace agreement', close our eyes and say 'We did it' because we do not know with any clarity that the peace will indeed be honored."

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Tunisia Latest Video: Protest and Clashes

Rally in Bizerte on the north coast:

There were reports throughout today of gun battles and skirmishes in Tunis between the Army and former elements of the Presidential Guard, with claims that foreign "mercenaries" had been arrested. Two clips of the Army detaining suspects:

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Jordan Feature: Will Protest Move from Tunisia to Amman? (Tarawnah)

The state is currently facing a crucial catch-22 in its history, a situation that has been created in recent years from uninspired economic policies to a lack of genuine political and social reform. After years of attempting to reign in any attempts for true democratic reform on the political level, a struggling economy has emerged. Today, Jordan, and perhaps much of the Arab world is learning one important lesson from Tunisia: the call for political change from the domestic constituency is unlikely to happen in the region unless the economy gets bad, real, real, bad. Governments can take away, censor or control various freedoms, including the right to a free press or the right to an elected government, and people are unlikely to be moved enough to demand widespread change. That’s just the political reality of it; people can’t afford to make such demands. But if you put a man’s livelihood at stake, if their financial situation is in dire straits, then they’ll be forced to react.

Will the events in Tunisia cause asimilar situation to unfold in Jordan?

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Jordan Feature: Protest, The Pressures of Poverty, and the Middle Class

On Friday, an estimated 8000 people --- in an "unprecedented development" --- protested on the streets of Amman and other Jordanian cities over rising food prices and unemployment. They challenged Prime Minister Sair Rifai with chants, "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh and raises fuel prices to fill their pockets with millions." There were reports of tanks surrounding major cities and the establishment of checkpoints and barriers.

In that context, we note this article from Yasmeen Tabbaa in Muftah:

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