Electrical & Computer Engineering - Free Educational Resources

"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents Free Educational Resources from MIT in the field of "Electrical & Computer Engineering". Just click the Links to see the resources.

Educational Resources from MIT - Electrical & Computer Engineering - Part 1

Free Educational Resources from MIT - Electrical & Computer Engineering - Part 2

Free Educational Resources from MIT - Electrical & Computer Engineering - Part 3

Physics - Free Educational Resources

"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents Free Educational Resources from MIT in the field of "Physics". Just click the Links to see the resources.

Educational Resources from MIT - Physics - Part 1

Educational Resources from MIT - Physics - Part 2

Educational Resources from MIT - Physics - Part 3

Educational Resources from MIT - Physics - Part 4

Educational Resources from MIT - Physics - Part 5


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Note: All info is shared here "in good faith" and after all thorough research possible. However, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the info that may explicitly and/or implicitly damage anybody's interests. Corrections will, however, be made if any errors in the info are pointed out.
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With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.

Medical - Free Educational Resources

"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents Free Educational Resources from MIT in the field of "Medical". Just click the Links to see the resources.

Educational Resources from MIT - Medicine - Part 1

Educational Resources from MIT - Medicine - Part 2

Educational Resources from MIT - Medicine - Part 3

Educational Resources from MIT - Medicine - Part 4

Educational Resources from MIT - Medicine - Part 5


....................
Note: All info is shared here "in good faith" and after all thorough research possible. However, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the info that may explicitly and/or implicitly damage anybody's interests. Corrections will, however, be made if any errors in the info are pointed out.
....................

We Hope You find the info useful. Keep visiting this blog and remember to leave your feedback / comments / suggestions / requests / corrections.
With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.

Management & Economics - Free Educational Resources

"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team presents Free Educational Resources from MIT in the field of "Management & Economics". Just click the Links to see the resources.

Educational Resources from MIT - Management & Economics - Part 1

Educational Resources from MIT - Management & Economics - Part 2

Educational Resources from MIT - Management & Economics - Part 3

....................
Note: All info is shared here "in good faith" and after all thorough research possible. However, "FATA Awareness Initiative" Team may not be held responsible for any discrepancy in the info that may explicitly and/or implicitly damage anybody's interests. Corrections will, however, be made if any errors in the info are pointed out.
....................

We Hope You find the info useful. Keep visiting this blog and remember to leave your feedback / comments / suggestions / requests / corrections.
With Regards,
"FATA Awareness Initiative" Team.

Osama's Death: Live Updates - اسامہ کی ہلاکت: لائیو اپ ڈیٹس

 بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام :Courtesy

اسامہ کی ہلاکت: لائیو اپ ڈیٹس

امریکی اور پاکستانی حکام کے مطابق القاعدہ کے بانی اور سربراہ اسامہ بن لادن اتوار کی شب پاکستانی شہر ایبٹ آباد میں امریکی فوج کے خصوصی دستوں کی کارروائی میں مارے گئے ہیں۔

یہ صفحہ مسلسل اپ ڈیٹ ہوتا رہے گا اور ٹائم لائن میں دیا جانے والا وقت پاکستان کا ہے

Obituary: Osama bin Laden (Aljazeera English, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Aljazeera English", 2 May 2011

Obituary: Osama bin Laden

With his long beard and wistful expression, bin Laden was one of the most instantly recognisable people on earth.

In his death on May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden kept a promise made in a 2006 audio message.
Alluding to the United States' hunt for him, the al-Qaeda leader stated his determination to avoid capture: "I swear not to die but a free man."
His death ends the largest manhunt in history that began a decade ago involving thousands of US troops in Afghanistan and tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers in the rugged mountains along the border.
Whether reviled as a terrorist and mass murderer or hailed as the champion of oppressed Muslims fighting injustice and humiliation, bin Laden changed the course of history.
Challenging the might of the US, the most powerful nation ever, he masterminded a string of attacks against it and then built a global network of allies to wage a war intended to outlive him.

India maligns Pakistan on Osama's death - ’بھارت کے موقف کو تقویت ملی ہے‘

 بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام :Courtesy

’بھارت کے موقف کو تقویت ملی ہے‘

بھارت کے وزیر داخلہ پی چدامبرم نے کہا ہے کہ پاکستان میں بین الاقوامی دہشت گرد اوسامہ بن لادن کی ہلاکت گہری تشویش کا با عث ہے کیونکہ اس سے بھارت کے ان اندیشوں کو تقویت ملتی ہے کہ پاکستان مختلف دہشتگرد تنطیموں کی پناہ گاہ بنا ہوا ہے۔

’امریکہ کے صدر براک اوباما کے بیان کے اس حصے پر ہمیں کافی تشویش ہوئی ہے جس میں انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ کارروائی جس میں اوسامہ بن لادن ہلاک کیے گئے وہ پاکستان میں رونما ہوئی ہے۔‘

Reactions: Bin Laden's death (Aljazeera English, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Aljazeera English", 2 May 2011
 

Reactions: Bin Laden's death

Global reactions to the news of Osama bin Laden's death.

Barack Obama - US president
Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda.
Tonight, we give thanks to the counter intelligence officials who have tirelessly worked, we give thanks to the men who carried out this operation.
Finally, let me say to the families, we have not forgotten your loss, today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country.

Osama bin Laden timeline (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden timeline

Key events in the life of the former al-Qaida leader and alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks

• 1957 (exact date never confirmed) Born Osama bin Mohammad bin Awad bin Laden in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the seventh son among dozens of children of a wealthy businessman
• 1970 Father dies
• 1974 Marries distant relative
• 1976 Studies economics and management at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah
• 1979, December Soviet Union invades Afghanistan

Osama bin Laden's death will haunt Pakistan (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden's death will haunt Pakistan

Bin Laden's discovery in a compound 35 miles from Islamabad is a dangerous embarrassment for Pakistan and the ISI

By Simon Tisdall

The extraordinary discovery that Osama bin Laden had been living, possibly since 2005, in a luxury compound in a popular summer resort a short drive from the national capital, Islamabad, is an enormous and dangerous embarrassment for Pakistan's government.
Officials from President Asif Ali Zardari downwards have consistently maintained that the al-Qaida chief was not sheltering on Pakistani soil, suggesting instead that the Americans look for him elsewhere, particularly in Afghanistan. The Pakistani stance was part of a wider policy of denial, dating back to the 9/11 attacks, premised on the argument that Pakistan was not the source and springboard for Islamist-inspired terrorism but rather its principal victim.

Osama bin Laden obituary (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden obituary

Leader of al-Qaida and the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he became the world's most wanted man

By Jason Burke and Lawrence Joffe
To his enemies, whatever colour or creed, he was a religious fanatic, a terrorist with the blood of thousands on his hands, a man who had brought war and suffering to a broad swath of the Islamic world and come close to provoking a global conflagration on a scale not seen for decades. To his supporters, whose numbers peaked in the few years after the attacks of 11 September 2001 in America that he masterminded, he was a visionary leader fighting both western aggression against Muslims and his co-religionists' lack of faith and rigour. For both, Osama bin Laden, who has been killed at the age of 54 by US special forces at a compound near Abbottabad, a town about 40 miles north-east of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was one of those rare figures whose actions changed the course of history.
His life was one of extremes and of contradictions. Born to great wealth, he lived in relative poverty. A graduate of civil engineering, he assumed the mantle of a religious scholar. A gifted propagandist who had little real experience of battle, he projected himself as a mujahid, a holy warrior.

Osama bin Laden's death: What now for al-Qaida? (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden's death: What now for al-Qaida?

What does the death of Osama bin Laden mean for the future direction and leadership of militant Islamism?

By Jason Burke
So what happens to al-Qaida now?
First break down the network into its constituent elements: the hardcore leadership, the various affiliated groups that have some kind of organisational link to al-Qaida and the ideology, al-Qaida-ism.
The hardcore leadership has always been defined as Bin Laden and his Egyptian associate, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a few score associates in Pakistan. Zawahiri is apparently still alive. However, the ageing former paediatrician has none of the charisma of Bin Laden. He is good on ideology, strong on strategy and even organisation but can never be the focal point for active followers, whether aspirant jihadis or veteran militants, that Bin Laden was.

Osama: took years to find him; just minutes to kill him (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden: it took years to find him but just minutes to kill him

Contrary to speculation that Osama bin Laden was in a remote tribal area, he was instead found in an affluent suburb near Islamabad

By Ewen MacAskill in Washington

The trail that led the CIA to Osama bin Laden began with his most trusted courier. It had taken the CIA years to discover first his name and then the home where he was hiding the al-Qaida leader. But it took only 40 minutes on Sunday for US special forces to kill both the courier and Bin Laden.
Contrary to repeated speculation over the past decade that Bin Laden was living in one of the remote tribal areas of Pakistan or even across the border in Afghanistan, the al-Qaida leader was found in an affluent suburb of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Osama killed in US raid (Guardian, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden killed in US raid on Pakistan hideout

'Justice done' and body buried at sea, says US, after al-Qaida leader is killed by special forces at Abbottabad compound

By Declan Walsh in Abbottabad, Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Jason Burke in New Delhi 

Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks and the world's most wanted man, has been killed in a US operation in north-western Pakistan, Barack Obama has announced."Justice has been done," the US president said in a statement that America has been waiting a decade to hear. A US official said Bin Laden had already been buried at sea.

US special forces launched a helicopter-borne assault on a closely guarded compound in Abbottabad, 30 miles north-east of Islamabad, on Sunday night, Obama and US officials said.

Bin Laden resisted the attackers and was killed along with three other men in a firefight. The operation lasted 40 minutes. The dead included Bin Laden's most trusted courier, who carried his messages to the outside world, and one of Bin Laden's sons, according to reports.

The pursuit of bin Laden - By David Ignatius (Washington Post, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Washington Post", 2 May 2011

The pursuit of bin Laden

By David Ignatius

When Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States in the 1990s, he argued that if Muslim terrorists hit hard enough, the United States would retreat. The relentless pursuit that led to bin Laden’s death Sunday proved that narrative of American weakness was wrong.

Al-Qaeda threat more diffuse but persistent (Washington Post, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Washington Post", 2 May 2011

Al-Qaeda threat more diffuse but persistent

By Greg Miller and Joby Warrick

The killing of Osama bin Laden marks the culmination of a counterterrorism campaign that made decapitating the al-Qaeda network its paramount goal.
But al-Qaeda has metastasized in the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, expanding its reach and adapting its tactics in ways that make the organization likely to remain the most significant security threat to the United States despite its leader’s demise.

In recent months, the nation’s top intelligence officials have testified that al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen probably poses the most immediate threat to U.S. interests, and has been tied to a series of near-miss attacks, including the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009.

Osama bin Laden killed: Leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda was 54 (Washington Post, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Washington Post", 2 May 2011

Osama bin Laden killed: Leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda was 54

By Bradley Graham, Updated: Monday, May 2, 9:34 AM

Osama bin Laden, 54, who was born into Saudi riches, only to end up leading a self-declared holy war against the United States as head of one of the most ruthless, far-flung terrorist networks in history, died Sunday in the manner he had often predicted: in a strike by U.S. forces.
As the founder of al-Qaeda, bin Laden demonstrated the power and global reach of a terrorism campaign rooted in centuries-old Islamic beliefs and skilled in modern-day technologies. The militants he inspired have proved surprisingly resilient, and the organization he established continues to pose a substantial threat to U.S. interests overseas and at home.

Although bin Laden was able to elude an intense U.S. manhunt for years, al-Qaeda’s ranks were increasingly weakened by the capture or killing of senior operatives.

Al-Qaida Founder Dead: US Forces Kill Osama bin Laden (Spiegel International, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 2 May 2011

Al-Qaida Founder Dead: US Forces Kill Osama bin Laden

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is dead. US President Barack Obama has announced that bin Laden was killed in a military operation in Pakistan.

Addressing his country on Sunday evening US time, United States President Barack Obama confirmed that top terrorist and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is dead. The US is in possession of his body and bin Laden has been positively identified through DNA analysis.

Crowds gathered in front of the White House singing the national anthem as the news came out. Bin Laden was responsible for the mass terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon in the capital and in a plane crash in Pennsylvania."Justice has been done," President Obama said.

Al-Qaida Loses Its Leader, Osama Bin Laden (Spiegel International, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Spiegel International, Germany", 2 May 2011

Al-Qaida Loses Its Leader: Osama Bin Laden, Prince of Terror

The US government hunted Osama bin Laden for 10 years after he claimed responsibility for the deaths of thousands in the 9/11 attacks. Now American forces have killed the al-Qaida leader in Pakistan. But his death will not mean the end to global jihad.

By Yassin Musharbash

All Osama bin Laden needed for breakfast was olive oil, dried thyme, a few olives and a bit of bread. Even years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as he still lived in relative security in Afghanistan, the founder and head of the al-Qaida terrorist network was fabled for his modesty -- and even more for his sense of humility.

U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden (Wall Street Journal, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal", 2 May 2011

U.S. Forces Kill Osama bin Laden

Obama Says Sept. 11 Attacks Avenged in Commando Assault on Pakistani Compound; Body of Terror Mastermind Captured

By LAURA MECKLER and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington and ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a mastermind of the largest terrorist attack in American history, was killed Sunday in Pakistan in a military operation after the U.S. learned of his location.
The death capped a manhunt of a decade for the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead and dramatically altered U.S. foreign policy and the nation's sense of security.
"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama said from the White House, where he made the dramatic announcement late Sunday. "The United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda and a terrorist who is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children."

Bin Laden’s Death Doesn’t Mean the End of Al Qaeda (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Bin Laden’s Death Doesn’t Mean the End of Al Qaeda

By ERIC SCHMITT

The death of Osama bin Laden robs Al Qaeda of its founder and spiritual leader at a time when the terrorist organization is struggling to show its relevance to the democratic protesters in the Middle East and North Africa.
Experts said Bin Laden had been a largely symbolic figure in recent years who had little if any direct role in spreading terrorism worldwide. While his death is significant, these officials said, it will not end the threat from an increasingly potent and self-reliant string of regional Qaeda affiliates in North Africa and Yemen or from a self-radicalized vanguard here at home.
“Clearly, this doesn’t end the threat from Al Qaeda and its affiliates,” said Juan Zarate, a top counterterrorism official under President George W. Bush. “But it deprives Al Qaeda of its core leader and the ideological cohesion that Bin Laden maintains.”

Bin Laden’s Death Likely to Deepen Suspicions of Pakistan (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Bin Laden’s Death Likely to Deepen Suspicions of Pakistan

By JANE PERLEZ

The killing of Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan in an American operation, almost in plain sight in a medium-sized city that hosts numerous Pakistani forces, seems certain to further inflame tensions between the United States and Pakistan and raise significant questions about whether elements of the Pakistani spy agency knew the whereabouts of the leader of Al Qaeda.

The presence of Bin Laden in Pakistan, something Pakistani officials have long dismissed, goes to the heart of the lack of trust Washington has felt over the last 10 years with its contentious ally, the Pakistani military and its powerful spy partner, the Inter-Services Intelligence.
With Bin Laden’s death, perhaps the central reason for an alliance forged on the ashes of 9/11 has been removed, at a moment when relations between the countries are already at one of their lowest points as their strategic interests diverge over the shape of a post-war Afghanistan.

Detective Work on Courier Led to Bin Laden (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Detective Work on Courier Led to Breakthrough on Bin Laden

By MARK MAZZETTI and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — After years of dead ends and promising leads gone cold, the big break came last August.

A trusted courier of Osama bin Laden’s whom American spies had been hunting for years was finally located in a compound 35 miles north of the Pakistani capital, close to one of the hubs of American counterterrorism operations. The property was so secure, so large, that American officials guessed it was built to hide someone far more important than a mere courier.
What followed was eight months of painstaking intelligence work, culminating in a helicopter assault by American military and intelligence operatives that ended in the death of Bin Laden on Sunday and concluded one of history’s most extensive and frustrating manhunts.

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Bin Laden Is Dead, Obama Says

By PETER BAKER, HELENE COOPER and MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the most devastating attack on American soil in modern times and the most hunted man in the world, was killed in a firefight with United States forces in Pakistan, President Obama announced on Sunday night.
In a dramatic late-night appearance in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama declared that “justice has been done” as he disclosed that American military and C.I.A. operatives had finally cornered Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader who had eluded them for nearly a decade. American officials said Bin Laden resisted and was shot in the head. He was later buried at sea.
The news touched off an extraordinary outpouring of emotion as crowds gathered outside the White House, in Times Square and at the Ground Zero site, waving American flags, cheering, shouting, laughing and chanting, “U.S.A., U.S.A.!” In New York City, crowds sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Throughout downtown Washington, drivers honked horns deep into the night.

PPP-Q League Deal Finalised - پیپلز پارٹی اور ق لیگ، شراکتِ اقتدار ہو گیا

  بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام :Courtesy

پیپلز پارٹی اور ق لیگ، شراکتِ اقتدار ہو گیا

ذوالفقار علی

حکمران جماعت پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی اور حزب اختلاف کی دوسری بڑی جماعت مسلم لیگ قاف کے درمیان شراکت اقتدار پر سمجھوتہ طے پا گیا ہے۔

مسلم لیگ قاف کے مطابق پیر کی شام کو مسلم لیگ قاف کے نامزد وزراء حلف اٹھائیں گے۔

اتوار کی شام کو پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی اور مسلم لیگ قاف کی اعلیٰ ترین قیادت کا اجلاس اسلام آباد میں ایوان صدر میں ہوا جو کئی گھنٹوں تک جاری رہا۔

Yemen Crisis Lingers On as Talks Bog (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Deal to End Yemen Crisis Is Faltering as Talks Bog

By ROBERT F. WORTH

WASHINGTON — An agreement to end Yemen’s political crisis appeared to be crumbling Sunday, as talks bogged down yet again between the country’s mutually suspicious political factions and a signing ceremony for the deal was postponed indefinitely.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh would be the third Arab leader to be forced from power.

The agreement, reached last week with the help of Persian Gulf nations, would require President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after almost 33 years in power, in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and his family. Mr. Saleh would be the third Arab leader to be forced from power in the wave of popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world.

Life in Limbo for Japanese Near Nuclear Plant (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

Life in Limbo for Japanese Near Nuclear Plant

By MARTIN FACKLER and MATTHEW L. WALD

TENEI, Japan — For seven generations, Yoshitoshi Sewa and his ancestors have tilled this farm in a gently curving valley filled with green rice paddies. But now he will not let his young grandchildren play outside their tile-roofed home for fear of an invisible and potentially long-lasting threat, radiation.

Yoshitoshi Sewa, 63, a farmer whose farm sits about 40 miles west of Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, had to destroy this spring’s crop of 880 pounds of cucumbers because he could find no buyers.

“Even if the government says it’s O.K., no one here wants to take the risk of radiation,” said Mr. Sewa, 63, whose farm sits about 40 miles west of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant — well beyond the zone where residents have been told to leave or remain indoors.

NATO Strikes Draw Scrutiny After Qaddafi Family Deaths (New York Times, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "New York Times", 2 May 2011

NATO Strikes Draw Scrutiny After Qaddafi Family Deaths

By KAREEM FAHIM and MARK MAZZETTI

BENGHAZI, Libya — NATO officials and Western leaders defended the increasingly aggressive airstrikes in Libya on Sunday after the Libyan government said one barrage had caused the deaths of four members of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s family, raising criticism that the attacks exceeded the Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force.

The airstrikes on Saturday night killed a son and three grandchildren of Colonel Qaddafi, according to the Libyan government, which accused the NATO coalition powers of “a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country” in violation of international law. Qaddafi supporters in Tripoli burned or vandalized the closed American, British and Italian embassies and ransacked United Nations buildings, forcing the evacuation of the 12 remaining international staff members.

New Tension Roils Israel - Wall Street Journal, 2 May 2011

Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal", 2 May 2011

New Tension Roils Israel

By JOSHUA MITNICK, MATT BRADLEY and JAY SOLOMON

Israel froze $88 million in Palestinian funds Sunday, elevating tensions over an Egyptian initiative to broker a power-sharing agreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and raising new concerns about the prospects for peace in the region.
Meanwhile, Egypt's foreign minister urged a visiting U.S. congressman to press Congress and the Obama administration to recognize a Palestinian state. The move follows the Muslim Brotherhood's announcement Saturday that it will increase the number of seats for which the Islamist organization plans to field candidates in Egypt's parliamentary elections scheduled for September.

More Syrian Tanks and Troops in Southern City (Wall Street Journal, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal", 2 May 2011

Syria Sends More Tanks, Troops Into Southern City

By NOUR MALAS

BEIRUT—Syria sent more military tanks and troops into the southern city of Deraa on Saturday, a day after a crackdown on protests across the country killed 66 people, despite a condemnation from the United Nations and a U.S. asset freeze on members of President Bashar al-Assad's family.
Tens of thousands of people defied a government ban on protests on Friday and marched across Syria, including the largest demonstrations yet in the major cities of Damascus and Latakia, according to witnesses and activists. An opposition group also on Friday called on the military to lead a transition to democracy, in one of the first attempts by protesters to bridge the widening gap between backers of the regime and those demanding its end.

Muslim Brotherhood Raises Its Sights in Egypt (Wall Street Journal, 2 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Wall Street Journal", 2 May 2011

Muslim Brotherhood Raises Its Sights in Egypt

By MATT BRADLEY

CAIRO—The Muslim Brotherhood said it will increase the number of seats for which it plans to field candidates in this fall's parliamentary elections, in a sign of the increasing confidence of Egypt's Islamists against a thin field of political competitors.
The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's new political party, will field candidates in about 45 to 50% of voting districts in elections scheduled for September. Brotherhood leaders previously said they were hoping to contest about a third of the seats.

Medvedev set to defy pact with Putin (Guardian, 1 May 2011)

Courtesy: "Guardian, UK", 1 May 2011

Medvedev wants to stay on as Russian president, says leading MP

Medvedev set to defy pact with prime minister Vladimir Putin and seek second term, claims prominent politician

By Tom Parfitt in Moscow

President Dmitry Medvedev is pushing to extend his tenure in the Kremlin against the wishes of Russia's powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin, a senior politician from the country's ruling party has told the Guardian.
Konstantin Zatulin, a prominent MP with United Russia, which dominates parliament and is headed by Putin, said Medvedev's allies were waging a campaign to undermine the prime minister behind a public facade of unity between the two men.