While protests—an ‘Arab spring,’ as the BBC recently suggested—spread throughout Libya and amid reports that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is on his way to Venezuela, demonstrations were held or are planned in other countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East. I teach about the ancient Mediterranean world and lately I have been weaving in a lot of up-the-minute events into class discussions on the colonization of western Turkey, northern Africa–parts of northeastern Libya were known as Cyrenaica—and other regions by the ancient Greeks, and of the Persian Wars. 

In Egypt, the coalition of the January 25 youth, an organization of youth leaders, is calling for a ‘massive return demonstration’ in Tahrir Square on Tuesday; organizers hope a million people will attend.  Some of the youth leaders are charging that the reforms so far made and projected in the Egyptian government have not gone far enough. For instance, Egypt’s ministers of the Interior, Justice, and Foreign Affairs, and also the Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, were all installed by Hosni Mubarak prior to his ousting.

On Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron became the first world leader to visit after the fall of Hosni Mubarak but refused to meet with members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the New York Times reports.  Cameron said that he was in Cairo to ‘to express support for a genuine transition to civilian rule and an end to the repressive emergency law that remains one of Mr. Mubarak’s enduring legacies.’ William J. Burns, the American undersecretary of state for political affairs, has also arrived in Cairo to meet with government officials and civil society representatives. Says the  New York Times about the situation now in Egypt:

‘While the military remains firmly in control of the country, Egypt’s caretaker government on Sunday began taking steps to remake itself in the mold of the more inclusive politics it promises for the future, appointing an opposition member for the first time to a ministry post. Mounir Abdel Nour, the secretary-general of the Wafd party, one of the nation’s oldest political parties, was named the tourism minister for the interim government, the state news agency reported. The heads of four other ministries were also replaced, and the government announced it would not appoint a minister of information, in an apparent acknowledgment that old forms of media control by the government were increasingly becoming an anachronism.

“Accepting the position is a national duty to push for change in the right direction,” Mr. Nour told Mehwar, a television channel, according to wire services.

The prime minister has also announced that the street where each of the protesters who had died during the uprising lived will be officially named for them, according to Masry al Youm, an independent newspaper.

The BBC reports that Prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud, Egypt’s top prosecutor, is seeking to freeze the foreign assets of Hosni Mubarak, his wife, two sons, and two daughters-in-law. Mubarak’s fortune, amassed during his 30 years in power, is thought to be from $1billionn to $70billion (£616million – £43billion).

In Bahrain, the Bahrain Grand Prix has been cancelled due to anti-government protests, the Guardian reports. The event was due to begin on March 13. Said the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa:

“After the events of the past week, our nation’s priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together, reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

Video of makeshift mobile clinics set up in Manama.

In Yemen, the poorest Arab nation where 11 people have been killed since protests began early in February, the U.S.-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for three decades, has refused to step down. As the New York Times reports, he has offered to ‘begin a dialogue with the protesters,’ who quickly ‘rebuffed’ this as ‘insincere.’ Saleh told a news conference that he has ordered troops not to fire at anti-government protesters, ‘except in self defense.’  Several hundred protesters have settled square in the capital of Sanaa, near the city’s university, pitching small tents and erecting a platform equipped with loudspeakers.

The US gives Yemen military aid and training. As the New York Times also says, Saleh–whose government is challenged by a separatist movement and disaffected tribesmen throughout its borders—has been ‘quietly cooperating with the U.S. in efforts to battle an al-Qaida franchise that has taken root in Yemen, but his government exercises limited control in the tribal areas beyond the capital.’

Protests in Yemen from Al-Jazeera English

In Morocco, more than 10,000 people demonstrated in 57 cities across the country in response to a ‘February 20 Movement for Change’ that began on Facebook, according to the New York Times. Between 3000 and 5000 rallied in Rabat, the capital, and in Casablanca, the country’s largest city.  Protesters called for democratic change, lower food prices, freedom for Islamist prisoners, rights for Berbers and a variety of causes, including pan-Arab nationalism. State radio, though, said that the rallies had been cancelled. And while the rallies started out peaceful, ‘sporadic outbursts of violence’ occurred as riots occurred, says the Guardian. Five people were killed in a bank that was set on fire in the northern port of Al Hoceima.

But as the New York Times notes, there have not been calls to oust the king, 47-year-old Mohammed VI, who is ‘considered by many to be a reformer on the side of the poor.’ But there have been calls for a ‘more legitimate democracy’ with limits on the king’s power.

Protesters in Marrakech try to storm a police station on February 20.

Protest in Tangier, taken on February 20

Most Recent Care2 Coverage of the unrest in the Middle East:

Egyptians Gather In Tahrir Square for “Victory March” To Mark One Week Anniversary of Mubarak’s Downfall

I was a Mob Sex Attack Victim in Tahrir Square… Just Like Lara Logan

Libyan Forces Fire on a Funeral Procession [VIDEO]

Saturday Protests in Bahrain, Libya, Kuwait, Yemen, Algeria [VIDEO]

The Egypt Effect: Protests Around the Middle East and North Africa Continue

Forces for Change in Egypt — How Not to Get Spooked

Libyan Protests Spread to Tripoli; Gaddafi May Be in Venezuela [VIDEO]