Democracy Now!

The pro-democracy protests in Egypt have entered their third week as demonstrators are holding another massive protest in Tahrir Square, downtown at El Cairo, the capital city. While President Hosni Mubarak is refusing to resign, his regime is attempting to offer some new concessions in an attempt to end the protests.

Protesters in Egypt have called for a general strike today and a “million man march” on Tuesday in an attempt to force Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power. Over the past seven days, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have protested in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities in the largest protests Egypt has seen in decades.

Tens of thousands of people are gathering in Egypt today in what is expected to be the biggest display of opposition to President Mubarak so far. The protests come amid a vast security clampdown. Police are firing tear gas into the crowds and have begun to round people up on the streets. A number of journalists have also been arrested including some who have been badly beaten.

In Uganda, funeral services are being held today for a prominent LGBT rights activist beaten to death this week. David Kato was killed after an unknown assailant attacked him in his home. Kato was a leading opponent of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which calls for the death penalty or life imprisonment for some homosexual acts.

The wave of protests sweeping the Middle East in the aftermath of the Tunisian uprising continues today in the two key U.S. allies of Egypt and Yemen. Thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets in defiance of the government’s efforts to clamp down on the biggest demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak in three decades.

The protests that took place today in Yemen and Egypt have drawn inspiration from the uprising in Tunisia that forced the ouster of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The interim Tunisian government is expected to announce the dismissal today of all leftover cabinet members with ties to former President Ben Ali.

Thousands of people have rallied in the northwestern Pakistan zone in order to protest for the ongoing United States drone attacks that killed scores of civilians. On last Sunday, thousands of demonstrators at the Pakistani city of Peshawar, blocked a main road and several small ones helding a vigil to mourn drone attack victims.

The protests that led to Ben Ali’s overthrow gained momentum after unemployed university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. He died earlier this month. Copycat self-immolations have followed in at least 4 other North African states. In Egypt, 52-year-old lawyer Mohamed Farouk Hassan became the latest Egyptian protester to set himself on fire following two others.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has wrapped up a state visit to the U.S. were he delivered an address in which he renounced “hegemony” and “expansionism.”
Hu Jintao: “We will remain committed to the path of peaceful development, continue to strive for a peaceful international environment to develop ourselves and uphold and promote world peace through our own development”.

U.S. Vice President Biden has reaffirmed a U.S. pledge to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of the year. Biden met top officials in Baghdad for the first time since Iraqi lawmakers agreed on a new government last year. Biden says he told the Iraqi government the U.S. is committed to meeting a status of forces agreement that calls for a full U.S. withdrawal this year.