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Recent satellite images show that North Korea has completed a launch tower at its new missile base, a key step in efforts to test a missile which could eventually reach the United States, experts say.
An image taken on January 10 of the Tongchang-ri base on the west coast shows a moveable launch pad and swing arms along with the tower.

A wave of massive protest inspired by the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia continues today across the Middle East and North Africa. In Bahrain, thousands of anti-government protesters are occupying one of the central squares in the capital Manama after two days of strong clashes with the state police and armed forces.

Egypt’s governing military council has announced new steps in its oversight of the transition from the longtime rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. The council says it will hand authority to an elected civilian government in six months. It has also instructed a legal panel to draft a revised constitution within 10 days.

The Obama administration is locked in a diplomatic row with Argentina over allegations a U.S. military warplane brought unauthorized cargo to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. The Argentine government says a U.S. Air Force jet was found to be carrying a number of items, including weapons, drugs and spying devices, without proper clearance.

Estimates of his stolen fortune range as high as $70 billion, more than a third of the entire Egyptian economy.
Time is running out for world governments to freeze Mubarak’s assets before they disappear into a maze of obscure bank accounts — like so many other dictators’ stolen fortunes.
The Avaaz community is launching another international campaign.

This exhibit at the German Historical Museum shows 50 years of history. From 1920 with the appearance of Hitler as the “drummer” announcing the imminent arrival of a saviour to Hitler’s elevation to power in 1933 as the “Fuehrer” to his fiery departure in 1945 and final disappearance with the scattering of his ashes in 1970.

US President Obama urged autocratic Middle Eastern allies to look to Egypt’s example and encouraged the Iranian people to pursue their quest for democracy.
“You can’t maintain power through coercion,” Obama said in a stark message to Arab allies of the United States as protests raged in Algeria, Bahrain and Yemen following the ouster of presidents in Egypt and Tunisia.

In a moment of global optimism following the non-violent revolution that swept through Tunisia and then Egypt, World without Wars and Violence meets to consider the current global situation and plan its strategy for the coming year. “We have not been this inspired at global events since the fall of the Iron Curtain.”

Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for last year’s World March for Peace and Nonviolence talks about Egypt, Tunisia and the implications for the Arab world. Highlighting the essential role of nonviolence de la Rubia pays tribute to the young people who drove the process to its conclusion. “They have given the rest of the world a Master Class in non-violent revolution.”

14 February 2011 marked National Domestic Workers Day in Indonesia that has around 2.6 million domestic workers. As in Hong Kong, these workers play a vital role in the household and overall economy. Yet Amnesty International has received many reports of domestic workers in Indonesia being subjected to physical and psychological abuse, as well as economic exploitation.