Rains in some parts of Uttar Pradesh kept voters away from polling booths, early Wednesday, but polling picked up later in the day. The elections in this state of 200 million people will be held in seven stages in the coming weeks.

Although the main battle is being fought between two regional parties, the outcome will indicate the shape national politics will take in the next two years.

The Bahujan Samaj Party is headed by chief minister, Mayawati, a low caste icon.  The main opposition comes from the Samajwadi Party. They are among several regional parties which have emerged as powerful players in Indian states, marginalizing national parties like the Congress Party.

Stakes are equally high for the Congress Party, which heads the federal coalition. It is not looking for an outright victory, but hopes to extend its influence in a state which sends 80 lawmakers to the national parliament.

In a sign of the importance of these polls, Rahul Gandhi, son of the party head Sonia Gandhi, has campaigned in the state for months.

Political analyst Ajoy Bose says a good showing in Uttar Pradesh could help the Congress Party regain momentum after being hit by corruption scandals and waning support.

“The Congress Party, which is now almost negligible in the U.P. assembly, if they are able to have a substantial increase, then they would see that as a revival of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and that, many feel would be the beginning of the comeback trail of the Congress,” Bose said.

A victory for a party allied to the Congress Party in the state could also empower the national government by giving it a reliable coalition partner at a time when its existing allies have turned rebellious.  But a poor showing would dent its standing at the national level even further.

There is also much at stake for Rahul Gandhi - widely seen as a future prime minister. A strong showing in Uttar Pradesh could enhance the credibility of the latest leader of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, who has yet to prove his political mettle.

He has been promising better development - more water, electricity and roads for one of India’s poorest states.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Mayawati has been campaigning among low caste voters who form her key base.  She says she has improved their lives through welfare projects during her five-year rule. The chief minister has emerged as a controversial politician, accused by her detractors of amassing personal wealth.

Political analyst Ajoy Bose says it is difficult to predict the outcome in Uttar Pradesh.

“I think that U.P. and, to some extent, the rest of the country, caste and community play a very important factor," Bose said. "But, to some extent, issues like development, issues like corruption are increasingly becoming important for India’s electorate and these also will play a role.”

Uttar Pradesh is one of five Indian states voting for new governments. The polls have already concluded in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, and will be held next month in Goa. Counting will begin on March 6.

The resignation of Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed followed weeks of popular street protests in the capital, Male, culminating in a mutiny by certain factions of the country's police.

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Saying he did not wish to rule with “an iron fist,” Nasheed announced his decision to step down on national television, hours after protesters took over the broadcaster.

"He did say trying to sustain the government at this moment may lead use of extensive force and he wanted to avoid that, " said Mohamed Zuhair, who was Nasheed's press secretary.

Nasheed became president in 2008 after the country's first democratic elections. He had been a frequent political prisoner of the country's former autocratic ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country for 30 years.

Recent protests have been dominated by followers loyal to Gayoom, whose political allies joined forces to create a stalemate in the country's parliament. Nasheed's critics faulted him for economic policies they say fostered inflation and for being too lax in upholding the country's dominant Islamic identity.

Witnesses say tear gas was fired as protesters tried to smash their way into the headquarters of the country's military - the Maldives National Defense Force, or MNDF.

According to some reports, several dozen members of the army took the side of the protesters. However, Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Latheef, a spokesman for the MNDF, denies that. He says the military will remain a force for national stability.

"MNDF will always stand as it is," said Latheef. "There will be no problem in the MNDF. We will be with the president always. If there is a new president, we will be with the new president."

Former Vice President Muhammad Waheed Hassan was sworn in as the new president later Tuesday. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year. Observers says they will be watching closely to see what impact the day's demonstrations will have on such a young democracy.

Telecom licenses lie at the heart of India’s biggest corruption scandal. They were awarded in a process that apparently favored some domestic companies. Some of the original buyers later sold them at hefty profits to foreign investors such as Telenor, Gulf-based Etisalat and Russia’s Sistema.

Government auditors estimate that the country lost $40 billion because of the flawed auction process.

Companies like Telenor have protested, saying they have been “unfairly harmed”, and asking why would foreigners invest in India if they could not trust the rules and conditions.

In New Delhi, Rishi Sahai at consulting firm Cogense Advisors said the recent judgment has raised new uncertainty about India as an investment destination. Foreign investors eyeing the country will worry that investments made following all rules and regulations could be at risk for no fault of theirs, he said.

“The issue is that these are sovereign licenses and if a court can come and change decisions three years down the line, then what happens to investments already made? And people are going to be especially more concerned in sectors such as aviation and insurance, which are opening up, as to whether courts in this country can come and overrule sovereign licenses. So there is a level of skepticism and the government needs to take some steps to protect foreign investments for these companies,” Sahai said.

The Supreme Court has ordered that new telecom licenses to replace those scrapped should be sold in an open auction and not on a first-come-first-serve basis as before.

Some analysts feel that, in the long term, the Supreme Court judgment will ensure that the investment climate will improve by guaranteeing the government follows a more transparent path.

N. Bhanumurthy, a senior economist with the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy in New Delhi, calls it a "one-off case."

“It is one way of cleaning the overall governance system," he said. "It needs to be taken in a very positive way.”

Telenor, which claims 36 million customers in India, has said it may bid for new licenses, but could also consider exiting as an option.

The International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, says its report shows a more realistic picture of the Arab world.

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“In general, we know way too little about the food security and poverty in the Arab world and that has several reasons. And one of the major reasons is that the access and availability to data is really limited,” said Clemens Breisinger, an IFPRI research fellow and lead author of the report.

IFPRI said its report – Beyond the Arab Awakening – uses “innovative research methods and diverse sources of information.”

“The first message of that report is essentially the poverty and food security situation may be much worse than suggested by official numbers. And the kind of policy implication out of this is [that] in the wake of the Arab awakening and the whole drive for more transparency, a major issue to tackle is also data availability and access in order to improve decision making and information of the people,” he said.

Breisinger said the Arab world has a number of factors that make it distinct from other regions.

“Number one, it’s the most food import dependent region in the world. It imports more than 50 percent of its food consumption and is by far the highest [such rate] in the world. At the same time, agriculture potential is somewhat limited. That is severely constrained mainly by water and exacerbated by climate change,” said Breisinger.

Adding to that is a high population growth rate, second only to sub-Saharan Africa. So consumer demand puts a strain on food supplies.

“Given the supply constraints – more demand no matter what – they will further drift apart. So the food gap will increase, which obviously increases the vulnerability of that region to global food price shocks – the ones that we saw in 2008 and to some extent in 2010,” he said.

The IFPRI report also raised concerns about high child “under nutrition” rates. Breisinger described children as the most vulnerable segment in society, while at the same time being society’s greatest asset.

“If children are malnourished at any time between zero and 5 years, that actually has long-term implications. Reduces their IQ, their productivity and thus overall the prospects for the country,” he said.

The report said Egypt has seen an increase in child “under nourishment” over the past 8 years.” A very high prevalence of child “under nutrition” rates is reported in such countries as Sudan, Somalia, Comoros and Yemen.

It says, often, not enough of the household income is spent on food, saying in Yemen, for example, 25 percent is spent on Khat. U.S. narcotic experts say chewing Khat leaves “can induce a state of euphoria and elation, as well as increase alertness and arousal.”

The International Food Policy Research Institute recommended that Arab countries collect better data on their populations regarding poverty and food security. It also says greater emphasis should be placed on creating jobs by increasing exports other than oil. Finally, it says government spending on agriculture, education, health, infrastructure and social protection is “most critical.”

The IFPRI report was released in Beirut at the Food Secure Arab World conference (2/6-7) sponsored by IFPRI, the U.N. and the Social Commission for Western Asia.

Monday's Foreign Ministry briefing was dominated by China's decision, along with Russia's, to block the resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on anti-government protesters and calling for President Bashar al-Assad to resign.

Spokesman Liu Weimin said China has been actively involved in U.N. efforts to address the Syrian crisis, but sees the latest resolution as divisive and ineffective.

China vetoed the resolution, said Liu, because it feels that supporters pushed through the vote while different sides were still "seriously divided." Thirteen of the 15 council members voted in favor of the measure.

This kind of practice, Liu added, does not help maintain unity within the U.N. Security Council nor does it solve the Syrian issue. Liu went on to say China is paying close attention to the situation in Syria and is calling on all sides there to stop violence. Beijing's ultimate goal, he said, is to avoid casualties of innocent civilians and restore normal order in Syria.

The spokesman did not directly respond to questions for comment about the rising death toll in Syria, where the opposition accuses government troops of regular attacks in the Syrian city, Homs.

He also rejected Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's description of the Chinese and Russian vetoes as “a travesty.”

Liu said China does not accept the accusation, adding that China is not trying to favor any side in Syria's civil conflict.  China sees itself as “a responsible major country,” and will continue to work with the international community for a positive outcome, Lui said.

Sun Zhe, international studies professor at Tsinghua University, believes there is still still room to negotiate stronger international action on Syria. If the situation deteriorates even further, China and Russia could still change their positions, said Sun, arguing that Western countries that are calling for sanctions should continue their discussions.

China is following Russia's lead on the Syria issue, but Sun acknowledged that Beijing also has its own concerns. Chinese leaders see the Syrian government's actions as “extremist,” he said, but are afraid of Western intervention because, they do not want to see another Libya or another Egypt.

Russia's foreign minister is due in Syria on Tuesday. The Chinese spokesman said he had no information as to whether Chinese officials would be heading to Damascus anytime in the immediate future.

Although initially these self-immolations were largely isolated to a Tibetan area in southwestern China, they have spread and grown in number. Between March and the end of September last year, four Tibetans set themselves on fire in protest. From October until the end of last month, another 12 followed in their footsteps.  Four occurred in January alone.

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Very few of these self destructive acts have been caught on camera, but one self-immolation that has made it to the outside world was that of Palden Choetso, a nun from a Tibetan area in southwestern China’s Sichuan province.  In the video, she stands as the flames engulf her body and she later falls to the ground.

Palden Choetso set herself on fire in November and was the 11th Tibetan to resort to this extreme form of protest.

<!--IMAGE-RIGHT-->In the wake of her death, nuns rallied to mark her sacrifice.  And between their cries of despair came calls for Tibetan independence from China.  A candlelight vigil was held and Tibetans formed long lines to pay their respects.

Robbie Barnett, a Tibet specialist at Columbia University in New York, says that as the number of self-immolations grows and spreads to more areas, Tibetan patience in China appears to be running out.

"There is more nationalism in these Tibetan areas than there was probably at any time in history.  And this has come probably as a result of bad Chinese policies that have gotten more tough and more aggressive in the last 15 years especially."

The wave of self-immolations during the past year began in March, when a 20-year-old monk Phuntsong set himself on fire to mark the third anniversary of a bloody Chinese crackdown on protests at the Kirti monastery in Aba.  

But Phuntsong's self-immolation was not the first.  The precedent for this form of protest was set in February 2009, when a monk from the same monastery set himself on fire.

The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet says that monk, named Tapey, self-immolated after local authorities banned monks at the monastery from observing a traditional prayer festival during the Tibetan New Year. During the past year, six of the first eight self-immolations were carried out by Kirti monks, but gradually the incidents have spread.

_{^{Exiled Tibetans in Dharmsala, India, carry portraits of Palden Choetso, a 35-year-old Tibetan Buddhist nun who set herself ablaze in 2011.  (AP)}}

Steve Marshall, a senior advisor for the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, has spent more than two decades researching human rights violations in Tibet.

"What we’re having as these immolations move out, we are having precedents set in more and more counties," Marshall said. "We're seeing precedents established for self-immolation and this is something Tibetans are going to remember for a long, long time."

China has tightened security in Tibetan areas where the immolations have occurred and branded those who burn themselves to death as terrorists.

Beijing also has accused Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of supporting the acts, an accusation the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile deny.

The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, says his administration does not encourage any form of protest in China because of the consequences of such actions.

"If you protest in Tibet, more often than not you get arrested or beaten up, sometimes tortured.  Sometimes you disappear; sometimes you die."

Acts such as self-immolation, Lobsang and analysts say, show how desperate Tibetans in China have become.

In Aba and other Tibetan areas, an increase in religious regulations in recent years has put more pressure on monks and nuns, micromanaging their lives and limiting their freedom of movement, says Steve Marshall of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

"These get down to a level of detail [such as] what kind of a ringtone should you have on your phone, what TV programs can you see, can you have a picture of the Dalai Lama.  Very, very petty details about daily life for monks and nuns.  More importantly, they control things like can you go anywhere else to hear religious teaching. And if you do go somewhere else, you will have to have permission."

Columbia University's Robbie Barnett says self-immolations also mark a departure from the past, when the situation in Tibet was largely protested by exiles and the Dalai Lama.

"The immolations are marking a very important change, where what is going to happen for the future in Tibet is going to be decided by the decisions of the people inside Tibet," Barnett said. "And these immolations are a very visible, very tragic kind of decision, but they are a political statement."

It is unlikely, analysts say, that protests against Chinese policies in Tibetan areas and self-immolations will end any time soon, especially when the Beijing government's response so far has been to increase security and the repression of human rights.

Western nations have agreed on sanctions targeting Iran’s lucrative oil industry, hoping they will force the country to abandon its uranium enrichment program.

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Tehran insists its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes and has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for world oil traffic, in response to the sanctions.

The United States says it will use force if necessary to keep the strategic waterway open, sparking fears of a confrontation in the Persian Gulf.

Al-Wefaq spokesman Matar says these tensions may provide an advantage for Bahraini authorities. "It is easy for the regime here to utilize this conflict and blame Iran for everything happening here in Bahrain and such tone can be accepted in the United States," he said.

Bahrain’s opposition has criticized America and its allies for what it sees as a failure to press the Bahraini government to end its deadly assault on civilian demonstrators.

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, adding to the complexity of the situation.

Theodore Karasik is director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

"Within the U.S. foreign policy establishment there’s a split between those who believe that Iran is behind what’s ongoing in Bahrain and those that do not.  Because of the U.S.’s relationship with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), however, public officials have to go on-record saying that this looks like an Iranian plot," said Karasik.

The oil-producing monarchies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both wary of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, sent troops to Bahrain last year to help quell the anti-government uprising.

However, according to Julien Barnes-Dacey, senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, the efforts of Bahrain’s Gulf neighbors were propelled more by fears that the pro-democracy movement would spread to their shores than by fears of Iran gaining more influence in the region.

"This is a domestic issue at the end of the day. Saudis are using, and the Bahraini regime are using this accusation of Iranian involvement to crack down on the protesters, but that’s a false narrative and it’s been quite comprehensively shown that there hasn’t been Iranian involvement," said Barnes-Dacey.

Rights groups say more than 50 Bahrainis have been killed since demonstrations began last February, including four last week. The government denies it was responsible for the latest deaths.

Most analysts like Barnes-Dacey say the situation in Bahrain is likely to continue unchanged unless outside nations intervene.

"The international community really needs to be doing more there to exert pressure and to push the Bahraini government regime to lighten the repressive measures in place and to really give the segment of the population greater political and economic rights," said the analyst.

However, as Bahrain sits both geographically and politically at the center of a geostrategic struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, other experts say that increased international condemnation is unlikely to be heard anytime soon.

"It’s just a case of sometimes you’re caught in a bad place and I think they may be," said Jason Naselli, managing editor at the Atlantic Community.

In a bid to improve the political situation in the country, Bahrain's government recently announced a set of constitutional reforms, giving members of parliament more power to question ministers and more protection from dismissal by the king.

Opposition leaders say the changes will do little to stop the unrest.

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A coalition of Muslim groups is calling for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's dismissal. Kelly appears in the controversial documentary The Third Jihad, widely available on Youtube. It portrays even ordinary Muslims as suspects in a radical Islamic quest to destroy Western civilization and take control of the United States.

“About 18 percent, at last count, of prisoners in New York State are Islamic,” he stated.

Police officials initially denied using the film at training sessions.  But a Freedom of Information request revealed documents confirming such use.  Kelly has issued an apology and enjoys the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Commissioner Kelly should not step down," Bloomberg said. "I think it’s fair to say that it was a little bit of an embarrassment that this film was made.”

Activists say actions, not apologies are needed, first of all Kelly’s resignation or dismissal.  Shahid Farooqi represents the Islamic Circle of North America, an organization of mostly South Asian Muslims.

“Second is [an] independent investigation.  The third is to start respecting our Muslim community members,” Farooqi demanded.

The Third Jihad is filled with images of Muslim violence accompanied by threatening rhetoric and music.  It was produced by the Clarion Fund, a conservative non-profit organization and played on a continuous loop in the last quarter of 2010 on the sidelines of police counterterrorism training sessions.  Muslim activists say the documentary poisoned the minds of New York City Police officers.  They demand that those officers be retrained.  

An earlier controversy over alleged random police surveillance of New York’s Muslim community triggered protests and also a boycott by some Muslim clerics of Mayor Bloomberg’s annual prayer breakfast.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Despite an improving economic picture, the housing market remains a drag on the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell last month, even as median home prices continued to drop. The housing market in Florida - and the politics surrounding it - are at the center of attention as Republican presidential candidates campaign in that state for Tuesday's primary election.

More than four years after the housing bubble burst, the U.S. housing market is still struggling to recover. Among the hardest hit states are California, Nevada and Florida, where foreclosure rates have been the highest.

"I've seen ups and downs, but never anything that had the challenges that exist today," said Florida realtor Moe Veissi, president of the National Association of Realtors.

Despite a very uneven recovery, Viessi sees light at the end of the tunnel.

"We're really on the cusp of what is perceived to be a real recovery and most of the economists will tell you that they see Florida, especially the southeast end of Florida, in that recovery mode for the next 2-3-4-5 years," said Viessi.

But it is a guarded optimism. Millions of Americans struggle to pay mortgages worth more than the value of their homes. Veissi said government needs to help overextended homeowners even as Republican presidential candidates take a largely hands-off approach.  Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney thinks government should simply get out of the way.

"My own view is you recognize the distress, you take the loss and people reset, let people start over again, you let the banks start over again," said Romney.

Veissi disagrees. He welcomes the spotlight on housing as the remaining Republican presidential candidates compete for primary election votes in Florida.

"They should be talking about the ability for a new homeowner to get financing if they want it, they should be talking about the ability to streamline the foreclosure process in America, and we'll push housing as an important issue in this election," said Veissi.

Despite the drop in new home sales in December, Veissi said overall trends are positive. Sales of previously owned homes are rising, the pace of construction is picking up, and interest rates have never been lower.

"Frankly, I think that the American dream is probably more attainable now than it ever has been," said Veissi.

Watch VOA video of Tibetan protesters in Dharmasala, India

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China admits killing one protester, whom Beijing labels a "rioter," after alleging the protesters began using knives, stones, and gasoline against police.

Lobsang called on China to "heed the cries" of at least 16 Tibetans who have burned themselves to death over the past year in protest. He also called for international intervention.

"I call on the international community to show solidarity and to raise your voices in support of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people at this critical time. I request that the international community and the United Nations send a fact-finding delegation to Tibet and that the world media be given access to the region as well," he said.

In the northern Indian town of Dharamsala Wednesday night, Tibetan monks led a candlelight protest of the killings.

Tibetan activist Dolkar says demonstrations will continue.

"We are very shocked to learn that a group of Tibetan non-violent protesters were directly shot by the Chinese military forces. We are going to protest against it, and we will urge all of the international community to stand against it," said Dolkar.

China considers Tibet an integral part of its historical territory, and occupied the plateau in 1950. Beijing says its investments in infrastructure have benefited the region's inhabitants. However, it keeps the region under tight security and has recently barred foreigners altogether from visiting.

Tibetans accuse China of deliberately seeking to eradicate traditional Tibetan culture. They say China has flooded Tibet's historical territory with non-Tibetan Chinese who often discriminate against them. Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan activist and writer, describes China's use of violence on protesters as an act of desperation.

"They showered bullets on people who are nomads and farmers. They are losing control in Tibet. They are unable to understand the true aspirations of the Tibetan people. The people want freedom. And the people of Tibet have made very clear that they want His Holiness the Dalai Lama back in Tibet," said Tenzin Tsundue.

The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader, crossed into India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese military rule. He advocates autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule, but Beijing views him as a separatist in disguise. China says it had no choice but to open fire on protesters this week when they turned violent-- and calls the string of self-immolators "terrorists."

As he faces a tough re-election campaign, President Barack Obama devoted much of his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night to his plan to speed the U.S. economic recovery. 

President Obama went before a sharply divided Congress and a concerned American public to promote his ideas for boosting economic prosperity.

"Tonight I want to speak about how we move forward and lay out a blueprint for an economy that is built to last - an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers and a renewal of American values," he said.

To reassure a worried middle class, the president stressed one of the main themes of his re-election campaign: reducing income inequality and making the economy more fair.

"The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.  No challenge is more urgent.  No debate is more important," he said.

The president said it is time to reclaim what he called "American values."

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules," he said.

Mr. Obama's plan includes tax breaks for companies that keep jobs in the U.S, a new Trade Enforcement Unit to investigate unfair trade practices in other countries, support for clean energy industries, tighter financial regulation, and programs to help send more Americans to college.

With comprehensive immigration reform stalled in Congress, the president called for smaller measures.

"But if election year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses and defend this country," he said.

Mr. Obama acknowledged that his proposals face fierce opposition from Republicans in Congress, and he said he will continue fighting, with or without their support.

"But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place," he said.

In the Republican response, Governor Mitch Daniels of the central state of Indiana blasted what he called Mr. Obama's "extremism" and "pro-poverty policy."

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others.  As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat," he said.

President Obama said the U.S. has achieved a number of foreign policy victories in the past year.  

He mentioned the end of the Iraq war, progress being made in the war in Afghanistan, and the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, as well as the Arab Spring movement and hope for greater freedom in Burma.  

Mr. Obama also said U.S.-led international pressure on Iran because of its nuclear program is having an effect.

He said the renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe, and that America is back.

"Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, does not know what they are talking about," he said.

The president leaves Wednesday on a three-day, five-state trip, during which he will take his economic plan to the American people.

Watch the entire speeches:

One year later, it is the Muslim Brotherhood, largely absent from the early days of the revolt, which now dominates the first popularly elected body of the new Egypt, leaving many  young activists, like Hanan Abdel Alim, unhappy.
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"I think this council came on the blood of the people who died in the [Tahrir] Square and we're here to remind them that it was a revolution that brought them this council," said Alim.

Pro-democracy, Islamist views

For pro-democracy activists, their fight has been bittersweet: They called for the voice of the people to be heard, and are now hearing that people want Islamists.

Not everyone despairs. Some, like Sameh Abdel Azim, are optimistic that this will be an unbiased parliament, able to stand up to other powers, including the current military rulers.

"These people are elected from the Egyptian people and we trust our choice, and we trust that they will follow our hopes, insha'allah. We hope that this new parliament is different from the past and we are in a new environment after the revolution," said Azim.

Other activists dismiss the Islamist ascendency as a distraction. Human rights activist Gasser Razek said the debate about a secular state versus a religious one is "completely artificial."

"Egypt has never been a secular state, Egypt has always been somewhere in the middle: simple things, [for example] inheritance. You do not inherit according to a civilian law. You inherit according to sharia, and you inherit according to rules that the church sets. A Christian man cannot marry a Muslim woman; there is no civil marriage in this country," said Razek.

Working together, with military

What is new, many say, is the need to get along. The country's problems are such that the Muslim Brotherhood has made clear it does not want to shoulder responsibility alone, and Razek argues that is a good thing.

"We all have been living under a very repressive, autocratic regime for almost 60 years. No one has learned over those 60 years to work in coalitions. No one has learned to play the game properly and I think Egypt needs that today. Egypt needs Islamists to work with liberals," said Razek.

The first challenge, some say, is making sure the people's voice remains heard. And for them, that means getting the military back to their barracks.

The military may have taken a step in that direction Tuesday when Egyptian military ruler Mohamed Hussein Tantawi announced that he will partially lift the country's 30-year-long state of emergency, long a staple of Egypt's military rule.

Freedom and Justice, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, captured 47 percent of the vote in elections for the lower house of parliament.

Katatni, 60, spent much of his working career in the sciences. He was a botanist and taught botanical microbiology at the university level.

His political career emerged after joining the Muslim Brotherhood and rose through a variety of party positions in the last decade. He was elected to parliament in 2005 and  represented the parliament in numerous international conferences.

Katatni is the first Islamist speaker of the house in Egypt’s history.

Katatni has said his priorities include ensuring that Egypt moves quickly toward a democratic state and ending the interim period that began when ex-President Hosni Mubarak stepped aside one year ago

Egypt had been governed by a council of high-ranking military officers.

Political sociologist Said Sadek wonders, though, whether Katatni will be a unifying figure in the new parliament.

"A weak parliament doesn’t enjoy the support of the people," said Sadek. "A strong parliament must enjoy the support of Tahrir [the democracy protest movement]. Which means this parliament must carry out the objectives of the revolution."

Sadek said those demands include reforms for which many Egyptians have waited decades. He says it is the new parliament’s job to ensure reform.

"It must push for transitional justice, purge the Egyptian government, restructure the Ministry of Interior and the security service," Sadek said. "They have to have a new philosophy, new ideas, not the same old policy. Fighting corruption. These are the priorities."

Earlier this week, the liberal Free Egyptians party criticized Katatni, charging that he had been nominated without any input from liberal political groups.

Egyptian liberals did poorly in the parliamentary elections, which were dominated by the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party and even more conservative Salafi parties.

Elections for Egypt’s upper house of parliament, which traditionally has held little power, will begin in February. Presidential elections are scheduled for June.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

Meaning of reforms, new faces

So what does it all mean for Morocco? Notwithstanding the February 20 protest movement, which does not believe the constitutional changes promulgated by the royal palace went far enough, the Kingdom appears downright stable and peaceful compared to Egypt and Libya.

Despite the historic constitutional changes and elections, most Moroccans express skepticism bordering on cynicism regarding their elected officials. Some wonder why a PJD-led government should be any different than its predecessor government, which was perceived as corrupt and ineffectual.

However, some are willing to give the PJD – and Benkirane in particular – the benefit of the doubt. Benkirane is uniformly seen as hard-working and serious. But observers agree that it will take much more than one man to implement the structural reforms needed to address Morocco’s challenges: rampant corruption and nepotism, high unemployment and low literacy rates.

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Nonetheless, Mustapha El Khalfi, PJD loyalist and newly-appointed minister of communication, says that the government’s top priorities will be to combat corruption, foster equitable economic development and promote social justice. Khalfi also underscored the need for more press freedom. He says that the PJD’s platform can be characterized as “reform within stability, a third way between revolution and authoritarianism.” Khalfi cautions that the nation is embarking on a long process and it has only just begun.

Working-class Moroccans echo the need for patience. A hotel clerk in Tangier told VOA that it will take at least 10 years for Morocco to transform itself into a truly modern country. He said that, more than anything, what Morocco needs is a “change of mentality,” and that can only come with better education. He was pleased that, in contrast to its neighbors to the east, Morocco is taking the slow, evolutionary road to political development.

One issue on which almost all Moroccans agree is reverence and respect for their young monarch, King Mohammed VI. He is seen by Moroccans as hard-working and good-hearted. Not coincidentally, Benkirane and the PJD are strong defenders of the monarchy.

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Cause for optimism?

Generally, Moroccans seem cautiously optimistic about their future and the future of their Kingdom.

Some believe the new government is likely to defy the political elites and secular cynics on both the left and the right who believe the PJD will surreptitiously attempt to implement an “Islamist agenda.” Actually, the PJD goes out of its way to distinguish itself from Egypt’s more conservative Muslim Brotherhood. And even if the PJD wanted to implement a more socially conservative agenda, many experts believe it would be mitigated by the three secular parties within the governing coalition.

Moreover, Morocco’s proximity to Europe, as well as its ethnically diverse population of Berbers, Arabs, Jews, Saharawi and Africans, have rendered it a historically open and tolerant society with a moderate brand of Islam. To illustrate, the masthead of the official French language newspaper, Le Matin, displays the day’s date according to four different calendars: Christian, Islamic, Hebrew and Berber!

These are early days for the Kingdom, which no doubt accelerated reforms in reaction to the Arab Spring. Many obstacles could still impede deep and meaningful change, such as entrenched interests and ingrained cultural habits. But a number of factors do justify cautious optimism in the case of Morocco: Its rich natural resources and diverse landscape favor greater investment and tourism; its human potential, especially among youth; the popularity of the king; and a seemingly broad desire for change as personified by the new government led by the PJD’s Benkirane. Observers agree there are tremendous challenges ahead, but there is also a palpable hope that Morocco may yet defy the skeptics, and, if successful, the North African nation could possibly serve as a model for the region and beyond.

Rai said his colleagues brought to his attention images of Prophet Muhammad which could offend Muslims. He cited other images and text which could hurt sentiments of Hindus and Christians. Rai wants Internet companies to screen content before it is posted.

Google and Facebook have asked the Delhi High Court to dismiss the case against them. In an appeal, they  said it is impossible to filter all content or stop individuals from posting material online.

Editor Rai filed the case after the government indicated its approval for the prosecution. The official go-ahead came weeks after the government also raised a similar demand.

Voluntary framework

Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal told Internet company representatives to come up with a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the net. After confronting them with photos and material derogatory of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, he said the companies had not cooperated.

Both the court case and the government’s demands have stoked fears of net censorship in the world’s largest democracy.

Advocacy groups say the dispute between authorities and websites began simmering last year when India tightened laws to block content which could be deemed offensive. Citizens and officials can ask sites to block objectionable material and failure to comply within 36 hours can attract penalties or imprisonment of up to seven years.

Sunil Abraham, with the Center for Internet and Society in India, said these rules have the potential to curtail debate and discussion on the net.

“These limits are vague.  They allow for all sorts of subjective tests by private parties and we predicted they would have a chilling effect on freedom of expression online," Abraham said. "Policy in India has been headed in a very worrisome direction.”

Abraham pointed out that one of his organization’s recent studies indicates that, faced with the threat of stiff penalties, most service providers removed content when asked to do so, even when it was not offensive or controversial.

Free media?

The government insists its objective is not to encroach on the fundamental right of free speech guaranteed by India’s democratic constitution. The clarification came from Minister Kapil Sibal after his meetings with Internet companies last month.

“This government does not believe in censorship," noted Sibal. "This government does not believe in either directly or indirectly interfering in the freedom of the press, and we have demonstrated that time and again.”

India does have a vibrant free media and Internet access is largely free, unlike in China. But in a country with a history of religious violence, authorities have long tussled with the dilemma of balancing free speech with the need to not inflame sentiments among religious groups. India was one of the first countries to ban Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses.”
Other books and articles have also faced bans. Many are challenged in courts and several have been overturned.

Now the focus is on the Internet and questions are being raised about whether the web should or can be policed.

Online freedom

In a remark widely quoted in the domestic media, a judge hearing the case had warned websites that like China, India might be compelled to block some of them if they did not create means to curb material seen as offensive.

However, Abraham from the Center of Internet and Society hopes that, as the latest case navigates its way through Indian courts, online freedom will come up the winner.

“I think the executive in India has always been very conservative in freedom of expression. It is usually the courts in India that protect freedom of expression, the precedent," Abraham said. "So we are every hopeful that the current case is in the appropriate venue, and we are confident that, as in the past, the judiciary in India will stand on the side of freedom of expression.”

With 100 million people surfing the web, India has the world’s third largest number of Internet users after China and the United States.

Nevertheless, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, appearing on the CBS Face the Nation news program January 8, sounded a positive note, saying the United States is confident the Iraqi government and security forces are capable of dealing with security threats.

However, former Defense Secretary William Cohen disagrees. “I don’t think Iraq is capable, at this point, of defending itself from external threats or necessarily coping with those within. They don’t have the air defense systems," he said. "They don’t have the air assets. They don’t have the ground assets. They don’t have the counterintelligence capability that we supplied - so I think that it’s going to be a challenge for them.”

Cohen concedes that some U.S. troops will stay in the area. “We will redeploy some of our forces to other countries in the region - but it’s not the same as being on the spot and being able to come to their assistance at a moment’s notice,” he said.

Former National Security Adviser General Brent Scowcroft says U.S. troops should have stayed longer in Iraq.

“Because I think Iraq still has a difficult time getting itself together and making the compromises that are necessary to have a functioning system," he said. "Those compromises are probably easier to make in the embrace of a U.S. presence where they are likely to be willing to make adjustments. I’m afraid now that they are on their own, those adjustments might be harder to make. That’s what worries me.”

Key issues

General Scowcroft lists some of the key issues facing the Iraqi government.

“Compromises on how to handle oil income. What is the nature of the federalism of the system? How do you share power? Those are very difficult issues. And to make the necessary concessions - it’s easier when we were there,” he said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton sees another threat to Iraq. “The influence, the danger, the risk of subversion from Iran and the risk of a return on a very opportunistic basis by al-Qaida in Iraq, I think is substantial,” he said.

And, says Bolton, the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is not a positive sign for the Arab countries in the Gulf.

“They see the U.S. pulling out and they worry about their own stability, right there in a dangerous neighborhood across the Gulf from Iran,” he said.

Experts say Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program does not help foster regional stability. And along with an unstable Iraq, they say, it likely signals a long period of volatility.

The court initiated contempt proceedings against Gilani early Monday after the government failed to ask Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against the president that dates back to the 1990s and involves the jurisdiction of the Swiss courts.  Islamabad has refused, saying Mr. Zardari has immunity as the head of state.

Hours later, Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution expressing full support for Prime Minister Gilani's government, as well as for democracy and democratic institutions.  Opposition members staged a walkout from the house during the vote.

The resolution, passed largely by Gilani's ruling party, the Pakistan People's Party, and its allies, says it will "strengthen democracy, democratic institutions and will show the sovereignty of parliament."

The court order escalates the pressure on Pakistan's civilian leadership, which faces separate court battles and high tensions with the country's powerful military.

A Supreme Court-appointed panel is investigating the origins of an unsigned memo in which Pakistan's civilian government allegedly asked for U.S. help in reining in the Pakistani military, following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden last May.

Last week, Mr. Gilani accused army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence head Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha of acting unconstitutionally by making unilateral submissions to the ongoing inquiry.

In response, the military said his remarks will have "very serious ramifications," and it warned of "grievous consequences" for the country.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.