The US & the Uprisings: Playing Chess, Playing Go --- Human Rights v. National Security

The Go team in the Obama Administration saw something that the chess team had missed: Libya was the continuation of a pro-democracy movement in the Middle East and North Africa, and this populist movement was the best hope of securing national security in a post-dictator region. Supporting democracy would win the hearts and minds of the people, who are in the position to take over.

Clinton, Rice, and Power also recognized that this fire of revolution was unlikely to stop soon.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Pounding Away

2215: A resident of Daraa in southern Syria says, after a day in which 15 people were killed by security forces:"The city is empty, only the army is in the street. Tomorrow we will be more and more in the streets."

2200 GMT: At least 40 people have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-regime tribesmen in the northern Yemeni governorate of Al-Jawf over the last five days.

Anti-regime tribesmen took over control of the 115th Infantry Division after its commander, Brigadier Abdurabu Hussein, refused to hand over the division to Brigadier Ali Haidara al-Henshi, appointed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh as a replacement.

An official with a non-government organisation said, "Strategic military positions in the governorate are now controlled by anti-government tribesmen and Houthi gunmen. About 20 troops and Houthi gunmen were killed in the latter's attack on the contingent."

2145 GMT: Video from Zintan in northwest Libya, as opposition fighters celebrate atop the regime's tanks and military vehicles. Soon after the filming, the cameraman was killed in the fighting:

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The Latest from Iran: Nowruz Mubarak

1905 GMT: Claimed video from Shiraz of people welcoming in Iranian New Year with political slogans such as "Death to Dictator":

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Iran Video: President Obama's Message for Iranian New Year

President Obama sends greetings to the Iranian people for Nowruz (New Year): "I believe that there are certain values that are universal --- the freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the ability to speak your mind and choose your leaders. And what we are seeing across the region is the insistence on governments that are accountable to the people....The same forces of hope that swept across Tahrir Square were seen in Azadi Square in 2009."

Libya, Yemen, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: No Cease-Fires

2200 GMT: We're going to take an overnight break. Coverage switches to our Live Feed from Al Jazeera English.

2145 GMT: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is now speaking by phone. He says that the coalition attack will launch a second Crusade, which will be countered by the Libyan people. He then asks Africans and South Americans to stand by the regime.

Gaddafi declares that the regime must now open the weapons depots and arm all Libyans. He then ends --- a very un-Qaddafi speech of less than three minutes.

2115 GMT: Activists claim that lawyer Ragia Omran was kidnapped today from a polling station in Egypt during the referendum on the Constiutional amendments.

2110 GMT: French broadcasters, refuting the claims of Libyan State TV (see 2050 GMT), reports that all French aircraft have returned safely from missions over Libya.

2105 GMT: Four Al Jazeera journalists have been detained in western Libya.

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Libya Video: Today's Statement by President Obama

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Is the Noose Tightening Around Qaddafi?

2210 GMT: In Egypt, actor and activist Aly Sobhy, whose detention we noted earlier today (see 1430 GMT), has been released.

Sobhy was seized by the military on Wednesday as he tried to get the names of protesters who had been detained in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

2130 GMT: Another video of today's mass pro-democracy march to Safriya Palace in Bahrain:

2020 GMT: Al Jazeera cameramen, Ali Hassan Al Jaber, has been killed after a crew of the Arabic-language channel was ambushed by regime forces near the town of Benghazi.

Reporter Nasser Al Haddar was also injured by a gunshot.

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Israel Analysis: Netanyahu Cabinet Quarrels Over Peace and Security as Settlements Expand

Speaking in Miami last week, President Obama addressed Israel’s security concerns within the context of the “new” Middle East. He said,“I'm actually confident that 10 years from now we're going to be able to look back and say that this was the dawning of an entirely new and better era.”

The statement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to announce his “grand plan” in May, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders as part of an interim peace agreement.

Netanyahu met resistance from his own Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, who said that immediate immediate action was necessary and sought clarity from the Prime Minister: ""A permanent agreement has a chance only if Israel would be willing to clearly say what would come after it....A permanent agreement has a chance only if Israel would be willing to clearly say what would come after it.”

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Obama and Guantanamo Bay: Scott Lucas on BBC Radio Wales

I spoke with BBC Radio Wales this morning about the Obama Administration's decision, more than two years after it promised to close Guantanamo Bay, to hold military tribunals for the detainees at the facility.

The item starts just after the 1:54:00 mark on the BBC iPlayer.

EA's US Politics and Economy Special: A Half-Time Reality Check on the Federal Budget

It may be that those who are arguing the debt is unsustainable are just doommongers, panicked needlessly by deficits caused by this relatively short-term blip in the economy. Undoubtedly the present deficit numbers have been made worse by more people receiving benefits from the entitlement programs, and less people paying taxes. But, even recognising that possibility, the numbers being presented in various reports on America's fiscal future are sobering reading.

The issue is only going to grow in importance over the next few months, and the partisan extremes in both parties are readying themselves for the mammoth struggle ahead. What we have seen recently are petty squabbles compared to the brouhaha that will erupt when the Americans from The New York Times poll finally realise what is actually at stake in the forthcoming discussions on the debt crisis.

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