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Yemeni Police Violently Suppress Anti-Saleh Demonstrations

(Mosaic Video Alert: March 16, 2011) The BBC reports on violent clashes between anti-government protestors and security forces in the western Yemeni city of Hodeidah. Forces tried to disperse the crowd by using live ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear gas. Demonstrations and rallies are also being held in a number of the country's provinces such as Sana'a, Aden, and Ta'iz to demand that Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. Reports from the eastern provinces of al-Jawf and Ma'rib indicate that the ruling party is planning to organize its supporters to carry out similar protests in several provinces. This will be done in an attempt to counter the regime's opponents and show support for Saleh's decision to stay in power until the end of his mandate in 2013.

 


 

 
 

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Palestinians Rally for National Unity as Syrians Demand Political Reform

(Mosaic Video Alert: March 15, 2011) The BBC reports on pro-democracy protests in Syria in which hundreds of Syrians took to the streets of the capital Damascus, chanting slogans and demanding political reforms. Protestors marched from the Hamadiyah Market to the area of Hariqa calling for freedom. This unprecedented mobilization in Syria was organized on Facebook. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds of protestors gathered in response to a call made by youth groups on Facebook. Dubai TV reports that demonstrators called for an end to internal Palestinian division between Fatah and Hamas. They chanted slogans demanding national unity and appealed to both Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

 

 
 

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Russian Military: Libyan Airstrikes Didn't Happen

(Russia Today: 0926 PST, March 1, 2011) The reports of Libya mobilizing its air force against its own people spread quickly around the world. However, Russia's military chiefs say they have been monitoring from space -- and the pictures tell a different story.

 

According to Al Jazeera and BBC, on February 22 the Libyan government inflicted airstrikes on Benghazi -- the country's largest city -- and on the capital Tripoli. However, the Russian military, monitoring the unrest via satellite from the very beginning, says nothing of the sort was going on on the ground.

 

At this point, the Russian military is saying that, as far as they are concerned, the attacks some media were reporting have never occurred. The same sources in Russia's military establishment say they are also monitoring the situation around Libya's oil pumping facilities.

 

 

 
 

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Tonight on Mosaic: Libya's violence extends to Az-Zawiyah

Al Jazeera's Arabic language channel reports that Gaddafi's forces violently attacked protestors in the Libyan cities of Misurata and Az-Zawiyah this morning. Eyewitnesses say that Gaddafi's troops were armed with machine guns and that dozens of people were injured and killed.

 

Reporters from Dubai TV stationed at the Egyptian-Libyan border state that Egyptian workers are pouring across the Salum border crossing. Thousands of buses wait on the Egyptian side of the border to transport people returning from Libya. Of the 1.5 million Egyptians residing and working in Libya, nearly 20,000 have returned to Egypt in the past few days with haunting stories of the atrocities they witnessed in Libya.

 

In Yemen, BBC Arabic reports that President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered security forces to protect protestors and prevent confrontations between pro- and anti-government demonstrators. This came after two people were killed and eleven were injured in clashes that erupted two days ago near Sana'a University.

 

Protests also persist in Bahrain, where demonstrators have filled Pearl Roundabout to mark the one-week anniversary of "Bloody Thursday." The tens of thousands who continue to protest in Pearl Square say they will not withdraw before their goals of constitutional and political reform are met.

 

New TV reports that in Beirut, many Lebanese youths were disappointed at the poor attendance at an anti-Libyan regime rally organized on Facebook. While many expressed enthusiasm for the rally, only a small number of people attended. A Lebanese Gaddafi impersonator provided extra flair to the protest.

 

NBN also reports on Muammar al-Gaddafi, describing his madness as "laughable and tragic." The Libyan dictator depicted himself as a Greek god and said that he is the one who created Libya and will also be the one to save it. The report includes an interview in which Gaddafi gives his own unique definition of democracy.

 

 

 
 

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