Summary: Heavy automatic weapons fire erupted in the Libyan capital Tripoli, the first such outbreak in Muammar Gaddafi’s main stronghold in a two-week-old insurrection against his 41-year-old rule as rebels advance from the east on Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 5, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that John Patrick Bedell, who opened fire at the Pentagon entrance and was killed in a shootout with Pentagon police, was fascinated with conspiracy theories, computer programming, libertarian economics, and the science of warfare.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: The Iraqi capital of Baghdad is virtually locked down, with soldiers deployed across the city searching protesters trying to enter Liberation Square and closing off the plaza and side streets with razor wire. The heavy security presence reflects the concern of Iraqi officials that anti-government demonstrations in Iraq could gain traction as they did in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 24, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that more than eight years after the Taliban was toppled from power, the number of U.S. military fatalities in the Afghanistan war was nearing 1,000, a grim milestone in a resurgent conflict claiming the lives of an increasing number of troops who had survived previous tours of duty in Iraq.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: Iran’s president says he is certain the wave of unrest in the Middle East will spread to Europe and North America, bringing an end to governments he accused of oppressing and humiliating people. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose own country resorted to violence to disperse an opposition rally earlier this month, also condemned Libya’s use of force against demonstrators, calling it “grotesque.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 23, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called on his supporters to take back the streets from anti-government protesters and vowed to fight on and die as a “martyr.” Gadhafi spoke as part of the east of Libya fell to the protesters and was reportedly no longer controlled by the central government. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 22, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Iran said it planned to build two new uranium enrichment facilities deep inside mountains to protect them from attack, a new challenge to Western powers trying to curb Tehran’s nuclear program for fear it is aimed at making weapons.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: After anti-government unrest spread to the Libyan capital and protesters seized military bases and weapons, Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army’s backing and would “fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 20, 2010, Aubrey Immelman featured a rundown of current conspiracy theories and prevalent political paranoia, with special emphasis on conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Michele Bachmann.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: About 2,000 demonstrators attacked government offices in the southern Iraqi province of
Wasit, ripping up pavement stones to hurl at a regional council headquarters in a protest over shoddy public services, leaving dozens of people injured. In the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, hundreds of demonstrators also thronged the streets demanding better services. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 16, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: Protesters have taken to the streets in different corners of the Middle East: Iran’s beleaguered opposition stormed back to central Tehran and came under a tear gas attack by police, while demonstrators faced rubber bullets and birdshot to demand more freedoms in the relative wealth of Bahrain and protesters pressed for the ouster of the ruler in poverty-drained Yemen. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 14, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Vice President Joe Biden belittled Dick Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s commitment to fighting terrorism as either “misinformed” or “misinforming,” saying the Iraq war wasn’t worth it because of “the horrible price” paid.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: More than 20,000 Yemenis filled the streets of Sanaa for a “day of rage” rally, demanding a change in government and saying President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s offer to step down in 2013 was not enough. The protest movement in the Middle East and North Africa also appears to be gaining momentum in Jordan, Syria, and Algeria. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on February 3, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, at a political forum in Rochester, Minn., made the wild claim that President Obama’s health reform proposals, beyond being “the crown jewel of socialism,” could lead to “gangster government” and “absolute abject corruption,” with people terrified to speak out against the government for fear of being blacklisted for denial of health care.

  ::  Read Comments (0)

Summary: As Egyptians take to the streets to call for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, some analysts caution about the prospect of protests in Egypt spreading across the Arab world, with popular revolt erupting in Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and even Saudi Arabia, with grave implications for regional stability and U.S. national security interests. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 31, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Special Forces working with Afghan commandos clashed with Afghan troops manning a snow-covered outpost and called in an airstrike, killing four Afghan soldiers in a case of mistaken identity. Separately, an Afghan interpreter killed two U.S. service members at a combat outpost and U.S. soldiers shot and killed an Afghan imam when his car approached a convoy.

  ::  Read Comments (0)