Following weeks of anti-government protests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to a deal that would see him resign from his post in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The leaders of the opposition have conditionally signed on, and will present a counteroffer today—though it remains to be seen if the protestors themselves will sign on. Elsewhere in the region, Libyan government forces reportedly retreated from the city of Misurata, which had seen heavy fighting earlier in the week; in Syria, at least 20 mourners were killed by security forces as part of an increasingly brutal crackdown that resulted in some 75 deaths on Friday. [image of Misrata via AP]

Crazy old coot John McCain landed in the rebel-held eastern Libyan city of Benghazi today. What's the old warmonger doing there? We imagine he's there to size 'em up because, you know, McCain's understanding of Libya's complex system of tribal loyalties probably goes all the way back to Reagan's bombing campaign there in the '80s, and maybe even Back to the Future. He also knows a thing or two about prosecuting a successful war.

Facebook is considering censoring content in some countries because it is "uncomfortable" offering excessive amounts of freedom to some people. The next time you start sympathize with a beaten or jailed protester, try imagining how that violence makes Facebook feel.

Nuclear submarine secrets were exposed in poorly "redacted" documents on a British government website. It turns out all you need to beat 007's team these days are some copy and paste skills.

The U.S. has released its annual report on human rights! And guess who gets called out by name? Yes, duh, it's China, which has been cracking down on dissidents and activists extra-hard lately. Of course, China doesn't take kindly to being told it sucks at human rights, especially by the U.S., so the Chinese government released its own "I Know You Are But What Am I" report telling the U.S. to butt out and maybe stop locking up black kids. "Stop the domineering behavior of exploiting human rights to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," it reads, in part. Guys, guys! You're both massive, cruel prison-industrial complexes with no meaningful avenues for dissent. The U.S. has better TV, though. [Reuters; image via AP]

Two protestors are reportedly dead following an early-morning army raid on a mass demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands had gathered to call for the prosecution of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the resignation of army chief Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the current head of state. The army denied using live ammunition, though, according to The Guardian, "images on social media websites appeared to show spent casings of both blank and live shells." Eyewitnesses said protestors were beaten and taken away in vans; the military, unsurprisingly, doesn't remember it like that:

The U.S. will no longer support jerkoff Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, The New York Times reports, and is actively negotiating for his departure. Which is good, we guess, insofar as Saleh was a brutal, repressive autocrat whose people have been calling for his resignation (or more) for weeks; on the other hand, the deal seems to be that his vice-president will take power until elections are held, an outcome that's unlikely to pacify Yemen's angry protestors. Oh, and, terrorism: One reason the U.S. hasn't called for Saleh's resignation is that Yemen is "because he was considered a critical ally in fighting the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda." (Fret not, however, for the State Department's stated position is that fighting al Qaeda in Yemen "goes beyond any one individual.") Student protestors, meanwhile, are "really very, very angry" with the U.S. for dragging its feet. [NYT; image via AP]

Reuters reports that President Obama "signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi" within the last "two or three weeks." So there's your channel for arming the rebels.

Every once in a while, President Obama has to explain to the nation why he's doing stuff. He doesn't want to do it, because you guys annoy him, and you don't want to listen to it, because Dancing With the Stars is on. But this is how democracy works! And we are currently dropping bombs on Libya, a country (?) in Africa (?), and it is important that you know why we are doing such a thing, because otherwise George Will or someone will whine forever and ever, and also, your tax dollars something something.

President Obama will finally deliver an address tonight on the current bomb-everything campaign being waged in Libya. It may just be vague rhetoric about the moral need to prevent a massacre without addressing the more granular elements of day-to-day strategy and on which one of those specific days it will end. But if you start bombing a country, you should give a single address of any sort to the folks who pay for those bombs.

NATO agreed on Thursday night to take complete command of military operations in Libya. Psych! NATO is only leading the part that involves flying jets around, while the U.S., France and the UK are stuck doing the "actual war stuff" (technical term).

The four New York Times journalists who were just freed after almost a week in the custody of the Libyan government told their story to coworker Jeremy Peters. And it sounds as terrifying as you might expect.

Guatemalan First Lady Sandra Torres wants to run for president. Problem: The Guatemalan constitution forbids close relatives of the president from running to be his (or her!) successor. Solution: Divorce! Torres and her husband, current Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, are seeking "divorce by mutual consent," though her main rival—the right-wing former general Otto Perez Molina—is calling the move a fraud. How will this end? Tune in next season for the shocking conclusion! [BBC; image via AP]

Barely two days after U.N. authorization, the vaunted no-fly zone over Libya has been been "officially enforced" by a coalition of U.S., French and British forces. Here's the latest from the ongoing conflict in Libya:

Yesterday, forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi came under a blistering attack by U.S. and European naval and air forces. Meanwhile, anti-government protests continued today in Syria as U.S.-backed despots violently suppressed those who threaten the status quo. Here's a look at what's happening across the Middle East.

Ray Davis, the CIA and Blackwater contractor who shot dead two Pakistani men in what he claims was an attempted robbery, was indicted for murder today. A "blood money" deal is said to be in the works for his release.

Today France became the first country to officially recognize Libya's rebels — under the Libyan National Council — as the legitimate government in the country. A rep for President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters: "France recognises the National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. There will be an exchange of ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi."

Bracing for a planned "Day of Rage" tomorrow, Saudi Arabia's scumbag foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said that the ruling family will "cut off any finger" that is raised against it. At a press conference yesterday, he told reporters:

The violent government crackdowns on protests across the Middle East this year are apparently starting to weigh on the minds of Western governments who supply despots with the latest, greatest killing machines on the market. Well, sort of.

As deadly fighting in several Libyan cities continues, reports claim that an elite British SAS unit was captured by rebels. Meanwhile, protesters in Bahrain are stepping up pressure on the ruling elite. Here's what's happening across the Middle East.