Sudanese urge protests on crackdown

Bahrain protesters were gearing up for a mass rally Friday to honour the seven victims of a deadly police crackdown as an anti-regime campaign entered its 12th day.After days of angry protests, demonstrators milled about Pearl Square, the epicentre of the movement, early Friday waving the red-and-white flag of Bahrain, an AFP correspondent said.Many protesters, mainly Shiites demanding an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled for two centuries, were chatting, preparing food, or relaxing in the tent city that has sprung up in the square.

Pro-democracy activists who spearheaded the mass rallies that ousted Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak were poised for a new protest Friday on the eve of a referendum on the military's transition plans.The Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution called the rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square to urge voters to reject an amended constitution intended to underpin fresh presidential and parliamentary elections this year and a swift return to civilian rule.

Beijing (AFP) - Two prominent Chinese political activists went on trial Friday for helping to organise small-scale protests against censorship, their lawyer said, the latest prosecution in a deepening government crackdown on dissent.

CAIRO (Reuters) - A prominent Egyptian blogger said on Tuesday he had been arrested, the latest political activist to be detained in a widening crackdown on dissent by the army-backed government.

WASHINGTON — Two days after thousands amassed in the U.S. capital to protest TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, the project’s proponents gathered Tuesday to extol its virtues and accuse its foes of playing fast and loose with the facts. The contrast between the two events was striking — a sea of placard-waving activists, citizens of all ages and Hollywood celebrities gleefully coming together to demand the pipeline’s rejection compared to a panel of sombre, suit-and-tie-clad business executives who argued just the opposite to a small group of assembled media.

World leaders gave a cool response on Wednesday to Hosni Mubarak's vow to quit in September, with Barack Obama saying change must start now and other leaders demanding he stand down immediately.The 82-year-old, president of Egypt for the last 29 years, had hoped that his promise in a televised address on Tuesday night would buy him some breathing space, both from demonstrators and his fellow leaders.

The international community's mixed response to China's crackdown on dissent -- ranging from public criticism to total silence -- has handed Beijing leeway to maintain its hard line, experts say.Since Chinese authorities, apparently spooked by the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Middle East, began detaining lawyers, artists and other activists in February, a parade of Western leaders have met with Beijing's top brass.Some have slammed China over the clampdown -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this month called it a "fool's errand".