Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Hull says that the United States must appease the Yemeni public's concerns in order to successfully fight al-Qaida there. "The whole public diplomacy of counterterrorism is extremely important... serving broader interests,"

The dashboard tallies the daily number of tweets about developments in each listed country (the site is currently tracking Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain) and shows the average number of such tweets per minute for each country.

Tens of thousands of people have flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, again voicing their demands for the fall of the government. Protesters shouted "Leave!", signalling their rejection of an offer made by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday to form a new unity government.

The young Arab women and men of Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen have proved that they are willing to die to build a better future. They yearn for freedom, opportunity and democracy. It is doubtful they will accept anything less.

Protesters clashed Friday with security forces in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and fought for control of key eastern cities in the most serious challenge to dictator Moammar Gadhafi's 42 years in power, according to witnesses, online posts and news reports.

Egypt's revolution has been reverberating throughout the Middle East and North Africa, terrifying every dictator and authoritarian ruler, from those of Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia to Algeria and beyond.

In Yemen's capital of Sanaa, progovernment demonstrators – thought to have been brought in by the government – carried posters of President Saleh, plastered their SUVs with posters of President Saleh, and ostentatiously declared their love for President Saleh.

Those who said that 'winds of change' were blowing through the Middle East were right. The past few weeks have seen a stunning series of political shifts in response to widespread discontent and popular opposition that once went unacknowledged.