After killing protesters in their sleep, Bahrain's ruling monarchy says demonstrators can stay in Pearl roundabout and they've offered to hold talks with all opposition members. Yemen is still going off, and Human Rights Watch says 84 people have been killed in Libya over the last three days. Here's a look at what's happening across the Middle East and North Africa.

  • Bahrain protesters have retaken the capital city Manama's Pearl roundabout, after the army and riot police pulled out. Earlier this week protesters were killed in their sleep there by the army and government-hired mercenaries. [AJE; BBC]
  • The union that represents Bahrain's flagship airline, Gulf Air, has called for a strike tomorrow. As many analysts have pointed out over the past weeks, the involvement of trade unions in regional protests have greatly helped to tip the balance in favor of demonstrators. [Reuters]
  • Why is Obama treading lightly with Bahrain's ruling family? The country's "enduring logistical support for the United States Navy," that's why! [NPR]
  • Human Rights Watch says at least 84 people have been killed by Libyan security forces over the last three days. [HRW]
  • There are a whole lot of guns in Yemen. Sounds like Texas. [CSM]
  • At least one person was killed when someone threw a grenade from a car into a crowd of anti-government protesters in Taiz, Yemen today, and four more demonstrators were killed in Aden. [UPI]
  • Algeria protesters are still turning out, but in far smaller numbers due to violent government crackdowns. [AFP]
  • The largely irrelevant Arab League is scared of the recent "grave, fateful developments" across the region, and said that next month's summit in Baghdad will go on as planned. Libya wants the meeting postponed. [Reuters]
  • Police allegedly fired on protesters in Djibouti, another "key U.S. ally" yesterday. [Bloomberg]
  • Swiss banks have frozen "several dozen million Swiss francs" of Hosni Mubarak and his associates' loot, according to investigators. [NYT]
  • Anonymous are targeting the website of Iran's brutal Basij militia. [Anonymous Operations]
  • Libyan protesters tear down a Qadhafi portrait (via Arabist):


[Image via AP]