Workers at the Suez Canal went on strike Feb. 19, part of a spreading wave of labor unrest that kept most of Egypt's economy shut down this week. About 1,500 workers in the Suez Canal Authority demonstrated in three cities along the canal, joining tens of thousands of other public-sector workers in a strike to demand higher wages. The stoppages continued despite public warnings from Egypt's new military rulers urging the strikers to return to work "at this delicate time."

Libyan security forces fired on a funeral procession through the city of Benghazi on Feb. 20, as residents buried dozens of dead from a crackdown the day before. Witnesses described "massacres" in Benghazi and other eastern cities, with government troops and "African mercenaries" that have been called in "shooting without discrimination" into the crowds. The uprising, now in its fifth day, is still concentrated in the east of the country, but is spreading west, with protests reported in Misrata—just 200 kilometers from Tripoli, the capital. A tally by Human Rights Watch puts the number of dead in the uprising at 173, but independent sources in Libya gave figures as high as 500. (The Guardian, NYT, Middle East Online, Feb. 20)

A US military tribunal on Feb. 18 sentenced Sudanese Guantánamo Bay detainee Noor Uthman Mohammed to 14 years in prison following a plea agreement in which he admitted to helping al-Qaeda and providing material support to terrorism. Mohammed admitted earlier this week to meetings with al-Qaeda and acting as a weapons instructor and manager at the Khaden military camp in Afghanistan, where hijackers and other members of al-Qaeda trained prior to the 9-11 attacks. Mohammed was charged in May 2008 and has been detained at Guantánamo since his capture in Pakistan in 2002. As part of his plea agreement, Mohammed promised to cooperate with US investigators in ongoing investigations. If he does so, he will likely be released in advance of the 14 years to which he was sentenced.

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 18 denied a petition for writ of habeas corpus of a Yemeni man currently detained at Guantánamo Bay. Judge Ricardo Urbina held that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Mashour Abdullah Muqbel Alsabri provided material support to the Taliban, al-Qaeda or associated enemy forces. The court found that the petitioner traveled to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, stayed at Taliban or al-Qaeda guesthouses, received military training at an al-Qaeda facility, traveled to the battle lines and was captured during armed conflict. The court found no evidence that the petitioner dissociated with these enemy forces at any point prior to his capture. These findings taken together, the court said, support the government's contention that the petitioner was lawfully detained. The petitioner was arrested in 2002 and filed his habeas corpus petition in October 2006.

Fatah leader Tawfik Tirawi called Feb. 18 for a "day of rage" against the United States next Friday after the Obama administration used its veto power to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements on the West Bank. In the previous day's vote, the US directed its UN ambassador to kill the draft resolution even though the 14 other members of the 15-nation Council voted in favor. (Ma'an News Agency, Feb. 19)

Mexican Federal Police allegedly shot radio journalist Gilardo Mota Figueroa as he covered a protest Feb. 15 against President Felipe Calderón’s visit to Oaxaca City. Mota Figueroa told Crónica de Oaxaca that during clashes with Oaxaca’s teachers union, a Federal Police officer opened fire on the crowd from a distance of about six meters. One of the bullets struck Mota Figueroa in the leg. Another 2-4 bullets were embedded in an armored SUV that authorities had left parked on the street.

The sister of a murdered woman from Ciudad Juárez is the latest activist in the border city to suffer an aggression against her person or property. On the evening of Feb. 16, armed men set fire to the house of Malu García Andrade, while she was attending a hunger strike/protest encampment in support of other human rights activists under siege. No one was injured in the fire, but Garcia's home suffered serious damages.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a congressional hearing Feb. 17 that Guantánamo Bay is unlikely to be closed because of security concerns. Responding to a question from the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Gates said that the odds of closing the detention facility are "very, very low," particularly because of congressional opposition, the difficulty in predicting which detainees are likely to return to terrorist activities and restrictions on detainees being brought to the US for trial under the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act of 2011. Gates made his comments one day after CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress that, if captured, Osama bin Laden and his second-in-command would probably be sent to Guantánamo Bay. At his first press briefing on Feb. 16, press secretary Jay Carney said that President Barack Obama still aims to close Guantánamo, despite Panetta's comments.