Al Jazeera Blogs

Yemen Live Blog

Al Jazeera Staff

Al Jazeera staff and correspondents update you on important developments in the Yemen unrest.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

The Syrian conflict on the streets of Lebanon

Sue Turton

The sprawling housing estate of Bab al-Tebbeneh north of Tripoli sits cheek-by-jowl alongside the Jabal Mohsen estate. They are neighbours but their allegiances are worlds apart.

To get to the street that split the two communities we have to dart in and out of side streets and alleyways, workshops and backrooms. We sprint through the gaps between the high rise apartment blocks, lest the snipers pick us off. Even the dogs run faster here, sensing the fear.

At times the gunfire is deafening as the residents let off a few rounds to let the guys sitting in the opposite estate know that they're still there. Snipers reply, sometimes inadvertently hitting the minarets of one of the estates' many mosques.

Inner city estates all over the world have gangs that fight against other estates, but rarely with RPGs and AK-47s, and rarely in the name of another country's conflict.

The flag of the Syrian opposition hangs outside some homes in Bab al-Tebbeneh. Residents here are vehemently against President Assad's regime and against Hezbollah, which support his regime. Their neighbours are Assad loyalists. The sight of a banner hung on Thursday night that read "Slaughterer" next to a picture of Assad provoked an angry response in Jabal Mohsen. It didn't take much for that anger to turn to violence.

Women and children look down from their balconies, too scared to come out onto the streets. One apartment above our heads bears the scars of the overnight violence. Two large holes mark where RPGs slammed through the wall at 6am that morning. The family sleeping inside escaped unharmed.

The Lebanese army try to intervene, after asking some of Tebbeneh's gunmen to allow them into the estate. You begin to wonder who is in charge.

Efforts to stop the clashes result in six injured soldiers. Two civilians are killed and over twenty injured.

A Jabal Mohsen MP blames the clashes on the anti Syrian regime faction - they couldn't defend Homs so they were attacking those who sympathised with Assad. There are certainly many residents who have family and friends in that besieged city. And a week of intense bombardments there is having an impact eighty kilometres west in this Lebanese city.

But the violence here won't help overthrow a regime, nor will it persuade the international community to intervene. It merely serves to remind us that Syria sits slap-bang in the middle of a very volatile region and the threat of the conflict spilling into neighbouring countries is all too real.

Syria Live Blog

Al Jazeera Staff

People continue to take to the streets across Syria, where the uprising is becoming increasingly militarised. Activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed since protests began in March last year. The government blames "armed gangs" for the unrest and says more than 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.

We bring you the latest news from various sources.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

Egypt: Revolution or Coup?

Sherine Tadros

Last year, on February 11, I was standing next to the main stage in Tahrir Square when the evening call to prayer rang out.

All you could see was a sea of people in lines, using Egyptian flags as prayer mats. When news filtered through to the crowd that Hosni Mubarak, then Egypt's president, had stepped down, people started shouting, saying that nobody could celebrate until prayers had finished.

On the final prostration, as they stood up, tens of thousands of people looked up to the sky and shouted in unison “Allahu Akbar”: "God is Great". It was the single most incredible moment of my career, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

That moment wasn’t just about a change of regime, it was about the fact that Egyptians had made it happen. They took on their president and they brought him down. Egyptians, who had gained a reputation in the Arab world as political passive, had done the seemingly impossible in just 18 days.

A year later, however, people are still asking how much the resignation was a result of people power, as opposed to military might.

Mubarak’s final hours

On Februray 10, Mubarak gave a televised speech – many, including those in the United States government and members of the Egyptian military, expected that he would announce he was stepping down. A well-placed source told me at the time that the military was livid after the speech: it was not what they had agreed on with Mubarak.

Twenty-four hours later, Mubarak was on a plane to Sharm el Sheikh, handing over power not to Omar Suleiman, his vice-president, but to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

SCAF immediately issued "Communiqué Number One", making it clear that a new era in Egyptian history had begun and that they were at the helm.

In subsequent months, they have acted less like a transitional revolutionary authority and more like a military regime: failing to address the people's grievences and demands, and blaming violence and unrest on the ground on so-called "hidden hands."

Military Intervention

Sami Anan, the Egyptian chief of military staff, was on a visit to the US when the uprising started (the lines of communication between the military and the US were kept open throughout the 18-day uprising).

During that time, the military stayed neutral, preferring not to get involved in the protests even when they turned ugly. When it started to become clear that Mubarak’s ouster was a question of 'when' not 'if', however, the military assumed the role of natural successors, particularly for the US. Under Mubarak, Egypt had, of course, been a key regional ally for the US.

This way, the US government could have its cake (by appearing to support democracy and the people’s right to choose their government) and eat it (still have a friend in charge), too.

Hassan Nafaa, a writer and professor of political science at Cairo University, says the army was not necessarily pro-revolution, but it was against the idea of Gamal Mubarak taking over from his father, a scenario which was looking increasingly likely before the uprising.

In the final moments of the uprising, they decided that Hosni Mubarak had to go. “I get the impression,” says Nafaa, “that the army forced Hosni Mubarak to leave by offering him guarantees that he would be safe and they would manage the situation.”

Implementing those guarantees, however, proved difficult, with continuous street protests demanding the former president be tried for murder.

Recently, the SCAFmade a statement saying that there is much that the military did in the final days of Mubarak's rule that had not been publicised but that would prove its commitment to the revolution. What is clear is that they played a pivotal role in ousting the president.

Nevertheless, while the military did not start the process of removing Mubarak, it certainly stepped in to occupy the power vacuum he left behind. In a sense, Egypt's revolution was more of an uprising that ended in a coup.

Ironically, history may well prove the real "hidden hand" during the revolution was the military's own.

Cambodia's vulture restaurants take off

Stephanie Scawen

Want to see vultures in the wild? You'd better be prepared to get up early. Like 4:30am early!

And if you want to get in real close, you'd also better be prepared to stand silently in a thatch-covered pit for four or five hours to get that 'special photo'.

At least that's what my cameraman Mark Giddens had to do to shoot the video for our story on Cambodia's last surviving vulture population.

Vultures can be spooked easily, hence the need for silence. But once they have decided to eat, there's no holding them back. A food-fest ensues, with upwards of sometimes 70 birds eating a cow that's been specially slaughtered for them.

The vulture restaurant in Veal Krous is one of several sites across northern Cambodia set up to save the vulture population from extinction.

In South Asia, the birds have been in catastrophic decline over the last 20 years because of the use of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in farming.

You may have used it yourself to ease away muscular aches and pains in creams or gels like Voltaren.

The problem with diclofenac is that it's extremely toxic to vultures, whose diet is exclusively rotting meat.

In Hindu India, the birds used to clean the carcasses of dead cows on the street, left to rot naturally by humans because of religious connotations.

Followers of the Zoroastrian faith also used to place human corpses on their Towers of Silence for vultures to feed on as part of their funeral rites.

With bird numbers now so low in India, the Parsis have had to place mirrors on the Towers to allow reflecting sunlight to speed up decomposition.

Similarly to India, vultures are almost extinct in Pakistan and Nepal. They've disappeared completely in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

But the vultures have hung on in Cambodia, primarily because diclofenac is not really used.

The danger here is the lack of wild game thanks to hunting, poaching and loss of habitat. The vultures may just starve to death. They need to eat regularly to stay healthy.

At first, animal specialists couldn't work out why vultures were dying in such large numbers.

Then they discovered the link with diclofenac. It remains in the muscle tissue of animals that have been administered with it. Just a one per cent concentration in an animal carcass is enough to kill the birds through kidney failure.

Vulture numbers have doubled to around 300 in Cambodia with gains for the white-backed and slender billed vultures. Numbers for the red-headed vulture have stabilised.

A ban has been slowly introduced across Asia and the rate of decline has slowed. If the vulture restaurants really catch on, there is real hope for these birds of prey.

The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Sam Veasna Centre have worked with local villagers to set up the restaurants. The villagers earn money by providing guiding and camping services to visiting tourists and birdwatchers.

The incentive for them, says community advisor Asish John, is the money, which they can use to benefit the entire village.

Dangplat earned more than $6,000 in 2011. Now they have enough cash to build a new well, a vital resource in this dry part of the country.

The locals are happy because not only can they feed themselves better, they can also ensure the vultures have full stomachs too.

Trading blame over Maldives turmoil

Steve Chao

To the tourist, who has booked a vacation paradise, it is easy for him or her to never see the political turmoil that has gripped the tropical nation of the Maldives.

Upon arriving at the capital’s airport, sun seekers are often whisked away on private boats or charter jets to distant resorts on some of the country's 1200 remote islands.

Even as the unrest has spread beyond the capital of Male, it has mostly taken place on the larger islands, like Addu city, home to some 30,000 permanent residents.

There, police stations, courthouses and other government buildings were burned, as the island’s first democratically elected president, Mohammad Nasheed, announced that he was forced to resign, essentially at gunpoint, by the military in a "coup".

It is a claim the military firmly denies. At a recent press conference, the military’s spokesperson, First Lieutenant Ibrahim Azim, pulled me aside to stress that they only warned Nasheed, in a private meeting, that if he did not step down there could be bloodshed on the streets.

Two very different stories, and who to believe?

Conflicting claims

Already, Nasheed's vice-president, Mohammad Waheed Hassan, has been sworn in as the new leader of the country. He has called for a coalition government made up of the factious political parties.

Hassan also dismisses claims that there was any coup, saying Nasheed overstepped his authority and that ultimately was his downfall.

There is no question that the former President’s decision to order the military to arrest the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, in January, for refusing to proceed in a court case against a government critic, sparked international condemnation.

But were the street protests calling for his resignation over the matter reflective of the majority?

Was it justified for sections of the police in the Maldives to take the side of these protestors, followed by sections of the military?

Nasheed and his party, the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), believe it was all a well-orchestrated plan by remnants of the old “dictatorship” to “seek revenge” and unseat them.

That is certainly what he alleges in an opinion piece published in the New York Times newspaper, warning those involved in the Arab Spring, that the Maldives serves as an example that hard fought freedoms in a fledgling democracy could be undermined by the same powers that were toppled.

Whether that is in fact what has happened may not matter.

Next moves

Calls for international help, by the MDP, have largely been rebuffed. While Britain has sent a diplomatic delegation to speak to all parties, neighbour India has said it believes this is an “internal” matter for the Maldives. Calls for UN troops to step have so far been turned down.

Other political parties say that Nasheed is crying over sour grapes. They accuse him of “acts of terrorism” and trying to mount an “insurgency”, by stirring the people to violence in order to regain control.

“Acts of terrorism” and “insurgency” are highly loaded words.

Nasheed, who has often been called the "Mandela of the Maldives", warned upon stepping down that he believed certain powers would try and find reasons to silence him before an upcoming election in 2013.

An arrest warrant, issued for him, he says, is the first step towards this [no one at the moment is saying just what the charges are against him]. There were high hopes in 2008 when the Maldives held their first free and democratic elections. Nasheed was the international darling at the time. A former political prisoner, he was credited for ushering in many of the reforms.

At Nasheed’s family home, where we met him as he awaited being taken away on the latest charges, he told us he was preparing for yet another long stint behind bars.

The military says it has swiftly restored order and that the situation will calm in the next few days.

“The most important thing is to protect the economy, and ensure that tourism, our most vital resource is not threatened. That is good for all our citizens,” said the military spokesperson Azim.

But political observers, along with Nasheed himself, say that as it stands, civil war is not outside the bounds of possibility. At that point, no vacationer, or island, however remote, will remain unaffected.

Rogge happy to take the heat

Lee Wellings

The temperature outside the IOC headquarters in Lausanne is minus 12, but Olympic president Jacques Rogge is warming up as he talks about the challenges ahead, the London games approaching, and even taking on the mafia.

The 69-year-old Belgian has been in charge for almost a decade, managing to avoid the drama and controversy that has plagued the world's other major sports association - FIFA.

Intelligent and careful, his words are measured. but a flash of intensity surfaces when he maintains security remains the IOC's number one priority.

And then we move on to the dual threat from drugs and corruption.

Is corruption, in the form of illegal betting, REALLY a bigger threat than drugs?

"Ten years ago, we would focus almost exclusively on doping", Rogge told me.

"But nowadays we not only have to focus on doping but on match fixing and illegal gambling.

"This is due to the development of broadband internet where you can bet from one corner of the world on a competition in another corner of the world. And we see that mafia gangs are really infiltrating the movement and organising match fixing."

Drug cheats

Hours before the world anti-doping agency had confirmed to me in Lausanne their fears about drug cheats at the Olympics, their analysis and research indicates the figure is one in 10.

Rogge's IOC partly fund WADA and know how important their work remains.

"We should not be naive there's doping around we fight it as hard as possible, we believe the levels has diminished because of many incentives many initiatives that we've taken. Is the sport entirely clean no - is the situation today better than it was yesterday yes."

Let there be no doubt that Rogge is pleased with the London Olympic organisers: on time, meeting budgets and legacy promises in the IOC's view.

Not everyone shares that feel-good factor in the UK in these austere times. but Rogge says the IOC shouldn't be criticised for government's spending of billions of dollars in hosting.

He points to the huge legacy and business benefits financially.

On the finances of Greece after Athens 2004, he says that "Olympic money may be responsible for two per cent of their problem, but what about the other 98?"

The London Games will be his swansong before he has to step down next year. But will all future summer Olympics actually be in Summer?

Qatar 2020

What about the bid of Qatar 2020?

"Outside it would be difficult," says Rogge. "And that's why the Qatar Olympic Committee has requested to move the date of the Games.

"We've agreed to study the possibility to organise them roughly by the end of September to the end of October. The bracket of course is one where the temperature is not so brutal in early July or early August. But we award the Games because we are satisfied that the athletes will be well cared for and the welfare of the athletes is number one.

"That's the first priority. If, by chance, given the great welfare of the athletes, there is another geopolitical consideration or another regional consideration, yes - maybe."

The many issues we discussed over an hour in his Lausanne offices will be seen on a future Talk to Al Jazeera, but two other moments stand out.

Firstly, I thought it as time someone challenged the IOC on the contradiction between their vision of a healthier, fitter world and the big fast-food and confectionary firms who sponsor them. "Get fit and healthy", I say provocatively, "have a chocolate bar."

Fitness issue

Rogge is too clever to be fazed by this and points calmly to the work they insist these companies are required to do in promoting fitness in children particularly.

I remain unconvinced about this, but it's an issue that started long before his time here and will continue to be debated when he leaves office.

Secondly there is a brief technical interruption and the formal interview is halted.

Mr Rogge notices the pink-and-blue wristband I am wearing.

"It's to support the Matt Hampson foundation’, I say, suddenly realising why this will turn out to be of particular interest to Mr Rogge.

Hampson is the inspiring English rugby hero, disabled from the neck down but devoting his life to raising money for others. Mr Rogge is a surgeon by profession, a committed devotee of the Paralympics and a former rugby player himself. He represented Belgium in the sport before competing in three Olympics as a sailor.

His eyes widen with interest: "I must Google this man straight away."

He says it twice more before I depart. The real Jacques Rogge is in front of me, fully thawed and allowing himself a brief diversion from a hectic pre-Olympics schedule.

Football - the love affair

Robin Adams

It's so easy to get caught up in the romance of football. Or maybe it's just me?

Every so often a team comes along, and their story just pulls on your heart strings.

Libya is a prime example.

The national football team qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) proper, despite a war going on in the country. They played most of their qualifying matches outside their own borders.

Sadly they didn't progress pass the group stages, but that won't matter. The mere fact they made it here - while teams like Egypt, the defending champions who failed to qualify, and South Africa, who failed to familiarise themselves with the qualification rule book - was enough for people to praise Libya's efforts.

Sudan won their first Africa Cup of Nations game in over 40 years last week. Remarkably, it was a victory that helped them book a quarter-final spot. I couldn't help but silently cheer for them in their last eight match against Zambia. Sadly Sudan lost, and it was the end of the AFCON road for them.

Then there was Gabon. They'd only ever reached the quarter-finals of the Cup of Nations once. And they were hoping to make it to the semis for the very first time. History would have been made.

I arrived in Libreville just a day before their quarter-final match against Mali. Already there was an air of excitement. Anticipation. Tension.

Thousands and thousands of Gabon fans packed the Stade de l'Amitie (French for friendship stadium - though I reckon they were in no mood to be friendly) to cheer on their team. The Mali supporters were completely outnumbered. Still they soldiered on. Their cheers drowned by the might of the Gabon faithful.

When Mali eventually won the match on penalties and marched into the semis - the cheers got louder. Maybe the fact that the disappointed Gabon supporters, who were leaving the stadium in droves and in an awful hurry, had something to do with it.

I must admit - I really wanted Gabon to win. I got completely caught up in the moment, in this belief that it would be so nice to experience Africa Cup of Nations history being made. It wasn't to be, of course.

Keita's peace appeal

Time for the next romantic football moment. Time for the heart strings to be tugged on a little, again.

Mali. A war ravaging the country. One of the country's most instrumental footballers, Barcelona star Seydou Keita, used the quarter-final post-match press conference to make a passionate plea for his country's people to stop killing each other. "It's not normal," he said. "Malians should not kill Malians. It's not normal!"

Ivory Coast, Mali's semi-final opponents on Wednesday, know all too well the effects of war. Their players made a similar plea for peace in their last Cup of Nations.

Ivory Coast, fondly referred to as the Elephants, are hoping to be crowned continental champions for a second time. While Mali - the Eagles (have landed?) - have ambitions of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy for the very first time.

There will, quite obviously, be a lot of emotion attached to this last four match in Libreville.

I guess I'll just have to man up and stop the tears from coming at the sound of the final whistle.

I hope I'm not going soft. Well - not too soft, I mean!

Egypt Live Blog

Al Jazeera Staff

Al Jazeera staff and correspondents update you on important developments in Egypt.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

An African Spring in Senegal?

Barnaby Phillips

For more than a year, opposition supporters in some of sub-Saharan Africa's more repressive countries have hoped that the wave of pro-democracy protests will spread south from Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

By and large, the wait has been in vain. There is some irony in that the latest candidate mooted for "people power" is Senegal, one of the few African countries with a genuine democratic tradition in the post-independence era.

Senegal has strong institutions, and is the only country in west Africa never to have suffered a military coup.

The current president, Abdoulaye Wade, first come to power in 2000 when he defeated the incumbent in one of the most exciting and transparent African elections of the post-independence era.

But now, to the fury of many, Senegal's constitutional court has ruled that Wade will be allowed to run for a third term in presidential elections due at the end of this month.

'Constitutional coup'

The court decided that Senegal's two-term limit does not apply to Mr Wade, because it took effect after he became president. (In fact, he introduced it himself.)

This sophistry certainly appears to be in violation of the spirit with which term-limits were conceived, whatever one makes of opposition accusations that the constitutional court is manipulated by Mr Wade.

The court has also ruled that the world-famous singer Youssou N'dour cannot stand as president, because of concerns about the alleged authenticity of the signatures on his application form.

When I met Youssou N'dour in Dakar, he was angry. He describes the court's decisions as "a constitutional coup".

He appealed to the international community "to speak sense to Wade, otherwise we'll have a catastrophe in this country".

Divided opposition

It is true there have been riots in several cities, and the clumsy police response has made an already volatile situation even worse.

But, I have to say, my feeling during five days in and around Dakar was that a popular uprising in Senegal is not imminent.

For a start, the opposition is divided, and somewhat confused.

Some believe that Wade is beatable in the elections, and want to get on with the campaign. N'dour, on the other hand, believes the process is a sham, but even he is not advocating a boycott of the polls.

Wade, who is believed to be 85 years old, shows a depressing determination to cling onto power.

My friend Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, a long term Dakar resident, writes here how his star has faded.

Real story

There are superficial similarities with some of the dictators of the Arab world who have been toppled in the past year; a partiality for garish monuments, the apparent grooming of a son as a successor, and the constitutional meddling.

Another similarity is the huge number of unemployed, frustrated young men in the cities.

But there are also differences. Wade is not a vicious dictator. Senegal has a more open tradition of parliamentary democracy than Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and, in fact, just about every Arab country.

The next few weeks will be crucial.

The presidential elections are due on February 26. The country is divided. There is the risk of a violent campaign and a disputed election.

Never mind superficial comparisons with the Arab Spring; the real story is that Senegal's democratic credentials are under threat.