Supporters of ousted Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri clashed with army troops in the Sunni strongholds of Tripoli and Sidon Jan. 25, as his replacement Najib Miqati took office. The vanquished Hariri and the man being widely hailed as the kingmaker, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, both made live addresses appealing for calm. But Hariri threatened to boycott the new government. "Me and my allies, we will represent the opposition," he said. "What has happened is virtually a coup d'etat, a political coup d'etat." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a Hezbollah-run government would "have a clear impact" on ties with the Washington, which had strongly backed Hariri. (The Guardian, Jan. 25)

Tens of thousands of protesters clashed with police in Cairo Jan. 25, in the largest demonstration in Egypt in a generation. Thousands of demonstrators stood their ground in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square, promising to camp out overnight in a vigil to demand that long-ruling President Hosni Mubarak step down. The occupiers of Tahrir Square have withstood baton charges, water cannons and tear gas. Protests have also broken out in Alexandria, and roads are being blocked by demonstrators in the Sinai Peninsula. Large rallies are reported across the Nile Delta and the Suez Canal region. The government has blocked Twitter communications in a bid to thwart the movement's coordination. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Egypt's government is stable despite the demonstrations, but—in what will surely be interpreted as an ominous signal by Mubarak—added that Egyptians have the right to protest. (Tripoli Post, The Guardian, LAT AP, Jan. 25)

Four people were killed and 14 wounded in an explosion aboard a bus outside the EDSA entertainment complex in Manila's financial district of Makati Jan. 25. In a nationally televised statement, President Benigno Aquino III said government agencies would not stop "until everyone involved in this heinous crime is accounted for." No group has claimed responsibility, but Aquino said authorities suspect Abu Sayyaf, most militant wing of the Moro separatist movement in southern Mindanao region. (Philippine Star, Jan. 26; AP, Jan. 25) On Jan. 9, two suspected Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a gun battle with government troops on the Mindanao region's Basilan Island. (AP, Jan. 9)

A suicide blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport killed at least 35 and injured up to 180 on Jan. 24. No group has claimed responsibility, but an unidentified law enforcement official told Interfax that three North Caucasus natives have been put on a national wanted list. The official said investigators have linked the men to two suspected female suicide bombers, one of whom died in a largely unnoticed blast in a Moscow sports club on Dec. 31. No one but the woman died in the explosion. The second woman, a 24-year-old native of Chechnya, was arrested earlier this month in Volgograd on suspicion of transporting explosives. Russia's National Anti-terrorism Committee (NAC) pledges tough new security measures at the country's airports. (RIA/Novosti, Moscow Times, Jan. 23)

More than 10,000 marched in the northwest Pakistan city of Peshawar Jan. 23 to protest US drone attacks, a day after at least 13 were killed in three drone strikes in North Waziristan region. Activists from the country's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-i-Islami, blocked a main road and staged a six-hour vigil outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial parliament.

In the first major opposition protests ever seen in Yemen's capital, some 2,500 rallied at the University of Sanaa Jan. 22, demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years. In a daring act in authoritarian and impoverished Yemen, protesters mockingly compared Saleh to Tunisia's ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, chanting: "Get out, get out, Ali! Join your friend, Ben Ali!" Grievances include proposed constitutional changes that would allow Saleh to rule for lif. Police responded with tear gas, and some 30 protesters were detained.

Hundreds of protesters battled riot police in Algiers Jan. 22—many waving Tunisian flags in a reference to the protest movement that brought down the president of the neighboring country last week. The opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, which called the protest, draped the Tunisian flag next to the Algerian flag over a balcony at the party headquarters. Protesters chanted "Boutef out!"—a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who has ruled since 1999. Now in his second term of office, Bouteflika has proposed a constitutional amendment that would broaden his powers and allow him to run for office indefinitely. (Albuquerque Express, Jan. 23; BBC News, Jan, 22; Magharebia, Jan. 21)

Chinese troops have been sent to North Korea's Special Economic Zone of Rajin-Sonbong, near the Chinese border, according to reports in the South Korean media. "At midnight on Dec. 15, 2010, more than 50 Chinese armored vehicles and tanks entered North Korea's Hoeryong crossing the Tumen River (Duman River) from China's Sanhe, and residents of Sanhe were awakened by the roar of the armored vehicles," the newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.