Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Day to Breathe?

0547 GMT: Scott Lucas will now be starting our LiveBlog updates for Friday. I will be back in 10 hours or so. 

0513 GMT: A small ray of hope emerges in the form of a twitter user from inside Egypt after the massive internet blackout. Amr El Beleidy, co-founder of touringa.com, tweets from Cairo: 

Until now mobinil & vodafone mobile networks working, and data connection on mobinil and noor dsl working #jan25

I have access to twitter and facebook with no problems / no proxies#Jan25

Sorry my mobinil data connection is not working, phone had shifted to wifi! Sorry about that! #Jan25 #BeginnersMistake

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Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Day to Watch in Cairo?

2210 GMT: It is now after midnight in Egypt, and we are taking a few hours' break. We leave you for the moment with this image from tonight in Tahrir Square in Cairo,as protesters move away from a tear gas canister:

2200 GMT: Tonight's statement from protesters calling for the fall of the Egyptian Government and for a continued sit-in:

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Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Sitting In for Change

1930 GMT: Picture of the Day? Army Chief of Staff Rachid Ammar addressing protesters in Tunis today (see 1720 and 1755 GMT):

1920 GMT: In Egypt, a man tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists as about 20 people gathered in front of the Supreme Court to commend the police’s work and criticize protests planned for Tuesday.

Civil servants have received a written warning not to participate in the demonstrations for a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment". Those who defy the instruction could lose their jobs.

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Yemen: Get Ready for the New American "Drone War"? (Miller/Jaffe/DeYoung)

In the aftermath of the recent "cargo bombs" incident, chatter has escalated over American intervention in the Arabian Peninsula country of Yemen. This week, three Washington Post writers put forth the latest spin of the Obama Administration: the US is preparing for a campaign of airstrikes by unmanned aircraft. The missiles and bombs only await the gathering of sufficient intelligence on the location of the bad guys.

But note another possible complication: "Yemeni officials...indicated that they had deep reservations about weapons they said could prove counterproductive."

So is this article the sign of a war to come or just a bit of Administration puffery --- in the wake of the latest terrorist scare --- to fend off the demands of US critics to Do Something?

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