Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: In Control?
Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 7:29
2105 GMT: In Egypt, Al Masry Al Youm grasps the nettle on the recent wave of self-immolations: "Desperate Egyptians setting themselves on fire like their Tunisian counterparts are unlikely to spur wide-ranging protests, but they might serve to pressure the government into providing economic concessions ahead of a pivotal presidential election in September."
And there are two more cases to consider: a pair of workers at a textile factory in Menufia set themselves on fire to protest transfers to other sections.
2045 GMT: Back from a break to find that the Tunisian Cabinet has agreed to lift the ban on all political groups as well as granting an amnesty to all political prisoners.
The parties who can now freely operate include the al-Nadha movement, usually identified as "Islamist".
In other decisions, the Cabinet withdrew university police from campuses, stripped the former ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally of all public assets, and separated senior government employees from the RCD.