Power Point GLOBAL ISSUES

BY: DANIEL THOMAS This power point includes information about the Middle Eastern Countries Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, And Syria.

TUNISIA Until January 2011 Tunisia was known mostly as the most European country of North Africa, with a relatively large middle class, liberal social norms, broad gender equality and welcoming Mediterranean beaches. But now it has taken center stage as the launching pad of a wave of revolt that has swept through the Arab world and beyond. For all its modern traits, Tunisia had one of the most repressive governments in a region full of police states, and levels of corruption among its elite that became intolerable once the economic malaise that has gripped southern Europe spread to the country.

ALGERIA Algeria is the second-largest country in Africa, with over four-fifths of its territory covered by the Sahara desert. The country has a population of 35 million people mainly located near the northern coast. The country won its independence from France in 1962 in a war that began in Estimates of the war’s death toll vary but run as high as more than one million Algerians. Algeria’s government has operated under a state of emergency for nearly two decades. Its battle with Islamic militants reached a peak in a brutal civil war in the 1990s, in which more than 100,000 people were killed. That conflict began after the military-backed government canceled elections that an Islamist party appeared poised to win.

EGYPT As fresh violence erupted across Egypt's towns and cities for a third successive day, Mr. ElBaradei urged Mr. Mubarak, the country's president of nearly 30 years, to stand down. With the protesters preparing for their biggest show of force after noon prayers on Friday, the Nobel Peace laureate offered to step in as a transitional leader. If people in particular young people if they want me to lead the transition I will not let them down he told reporters in Vienna before boarding his flight.

LIBYA At the beating heart of the uprising, in Benghazi, Libya's rebels are trying to kickstart a revolution that has stalled less than halfway to the capital. Throughout the sacked city that spawned the revolt, the euphoria of victory is steadily becoming a distant memory. Routine has set into a place that two weeks ago was flush with hope and opportunity. After ousting a dictator of 42 years in less than a weekend, anything seemed possible here. For a while. Shops are now open, streets are teeming and people are again talking about the grind of daily life. Heady predictions of a glorious march to Tripoli have been silenced.

SAUDI ARABIA The visit of King Hammed bin Isa al-Khalifa on Wednesday came just as the aging Saudi ruler, King Abdullah, returned to the country after three months of medical treatment in the United States and Morocco. Even before King Abdullah landed in Riyadh, the capital, the Saudi government announced that it would pour billions of dollars into a fund to help its citizens marry, buy homes and start their own businesses, the government announced. Reuters said the package was estimated at $37 billion. King Hammed had already tried his own payout — offering $2,650 to every Bahraini family in the days before large protests broke out more than a week ago — but the economic concession was not enough to stem the tide of opposition from the country’s Shiite majority. Sunnis, the majority in Saudi Arabia, also form the ruling class in Bahrain, where Sunnis are a minority.

JORDAN Libyan rebels broken by government shelling and air strikes fled back to the oil town of Rasp Lanus Wednesday, just as a huge pipeline blast sent fireballs leaping into the sky, Agencies France Presses reported. A Tunisian court ordered the former ruling Rally for Constitutional Democracy (RCD) Party to be dissolved Wednesday, consigning a key pillar of toppled president Zane Al Abiding Ben Ali’s 23-year regime to the scrapheap. The United States on Wednesday condemned as "unacceptable" violence in a village in Sudan\'s flashpoint Abebi region where some 300 buildings were reported torched by militia linked to Khartoum.

YEMEN Tens of thousands of Yemenis have demonstrated in the capital Sana'a, calling on Ali Abdullah Salah, president for 30 years, to step down. This comes after mass protests in Egypt and a popular uprising in Tunisia that ousted its long-time leader. Yemeni opposition members and youth activists gathered in four parts of the city, including Sana'a University, chanting anti-government slogans. They also called for economic reforms and an end to corruption.

SYRIA The United States anticipating the government stoked protests closed its embassy in Damascus Thursday because of security concerns Syrian riot police were out in force to control the crowd. Some of the demonstrators carried signs harshly critical of the United States, with such messages as America is the sponsor of destruction and wars and We will not submit to terrorism according to scenes shown on Syrian state television.