Violence in Libya continues today, coinciding with a heated political confrontation between Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the rebel leadership, the Libyan Transitional National Council. The Council has rejected the Libyan regime’s proposal that one of Gaddafi’s sons assume power during a transitional phase. They received an additional boost as Italy announced that it officially recognizes the Transitional National Council as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Al-Jazeera reports that Gaddafi’s regime seems to be looking for an exit strategy after being isolated by the international community and experiencing increasing internal pressure from the revolutionaries. 

The BBC reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is attempting to implement immediate reforms in light of ongoing protests and the dozens of deaths resulting from the security forces' crackdown on demonstrators. President Assad said he would appoint a new governor of Dara'a, the southern state where tensions have been the highest. Prime Minister Adel Safar has been told to form a new government, following the resignation of Naji al-Otari's administration. Safar is affiliated with the ruling Baath Party and his appointment spawned large-scale protests.

Dubai TV is reporting from Yemen, where ongoing clashes between the Yemeni authorities and protestors have left several dead and many injured. As the violence in Yemen escalates, the US, which has long supported President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has quietly shifted its position and said Saleh should be eased out of office.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has decided to hold talks with the Yemeni government and opposition leaders in an attempt to solve the escalating crisis in the country. Nile TV reports that the Council's foreign ministers have accused Iran of conspiring against the region’s countries and of interfering in their affairs by fueling sedition and religious division among their citizens.

New TV features a profile on Ali Shariati, a “philosopher and teacher of the Islamic Revolution.” While he inspired revolutionaries across Iran, he spent much of his life either in exile or in prison and was considered an infidel in Iran because of his criticisms of the authority of religious leaders and their distortion of holy texts.