“I was arrested at 4 p.m., my friends and I started walking away from the protest after security officials cracked down on the protesters and started arresting people. Out of nowhere, a normal car pulls up in front of us and two men wearing civilian attire came out of the car and one of them pointed a gun to my face and asked us to get in the car.”
Sudan Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 6:30 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2050 GMT: Former President Mubarak's portrait is taken down in the Cabinet Room:
Photo: Associated Press
2035 GMT: The State Department has demanded "restraint" in the Algerian regime's handling of demonstrations.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 6:09 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2150 GMT: Prominent activist Wael Ghonim today on CNN, telling the regime, " "If you are true Egyptians, if you are heroic Egyptians, it's time to step down":
0000 GMT: Reports indicate that 3 protesters have been killed and hundreds of others injured in clashes with security forces in in The New Valley (El Wadi el Gedid) today.
2200 GMT: Sultan Al-Qassemi kindly translated parts of Wael Ghonim's Arabic interview on Dream TV, part of which we are posting here:
I am proud of what I did. This is not the time to settle scores. Although I have people I want to settle scores with myself. This is not the time to split the pie and enforce ideologies... On Thursday night, at 1am I was with a friend, a colleague from work. I was taking a taxi, suddenly four people surrounded the car, I yelled "Help me, Help me" I was blindfolded then taken away...
2300 GMT: In Tunisia, the Ministry of Interior has announced that the former ruling party, the Constitituional Democratic Rally, is to be suspended and its offices closed.
2155 GMT: And now, to offer wisdom on the Egyptian crisis, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 5:53 | Josh Shahryar in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
0200 GMT: With relative quiet in Egypt, we're going to take a break until Scott Lucas resumes in a few hours with the Friday LiveBlog.
0118 GMT: Al Jazeera TV just announced that Reuters quoting the New York Times reports that the US is discussing a proposal with Egyptian proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately and for a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman to take power. We cannot confirm this as of yet.
UPDATE 2045 GMT: About 200 students demonstrated outside al-Nilein university in Khartoum today before hundreds of police beat them back and surrounded the university buildings with 20 vehicles.
After Sunday's protests of hundreds throughout Sudan, with at least one student dying in clashes, some developments on Monday....
Journalists said security forces prevented the opposition Ajras al-Huriya and the independent al-Sahafa newspapers from being distributed after they wrote about the protests.
Mohamed Abdelrahman, Sudan 
0845 GMT: The Wall Street Journal has picked up on the Sunday protests, with an article by Sarah Childress.
0820 GMT: A statement from Sudanese police says its forces contained a “limited riot” staged by some students, including some “agitators". According to the police release, 40 students and 30 citizens were arrested, and all students were released on bail.
0755 GMT: Ahlia University in Omdurman has been closed for the rest of the week.
0500 GMT: Mohamed Abdelrahman, a student at Al-Ahlyaa University, was reportedly killed in the Khartoum demonstrations.
Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 7:11 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
The dramatic developments in Tunisia in the past weeks that have seen street demonstrators send former President Zein el-Abedeen Ben Ali fleeing the country may prove to be the historic turning point that many in the Arab world have been predicting and anticipating for decades: the point at which disgruntled and often humiliated Arab citizens shed their fear and confront their leaders with demands for serious changes in how their countries are governed. The overthrow of Ben Ali by fearless citizens who were no longer intimidated by their police and army is historically significant because of four main reasons:
Polls have opened for the second day of voting in southern Sudan's historic referendum to determine whether the region will become an independent nation or continue to be part of Sudan.
On Sunday, the first day of voting passed off largely peacefully but more clashes in the disputed border region of Abyei left at least six dead.
Sudan Special: The Referendum for Secession by the South
In the southern capital Juba, the atmosphere was festive with voters queueing for hours outside polling stations.
