Your Daily Primer on the "Middle East"

Yemen: How the Al-Ahmar family could take advantage of unrest against the Saleh regime, leading to a civil war — or simply regime change. Meanwhile, the government is going to announce what sounds like an unsatisfactory new government.

Oman: Today is the third consecutive day of protests! The Sultan is quickly making some minor concessions — distributing money

Egypt: Former president Mubarak has been ordered by a prosecutor not to travel; also his assets have been ordered frozen. Too little, too late, says Al Jazeera’s analyst.

Libya: Similarly, Britain has frozen Gadaffi’s assets — to the tune of £3 billion. Also, Libya asked for £900 million in new money, that was being stored “in a secure compound in the north-east of England,” and Britain was like “oh sure we’ll get right on that, give us a few days…” and then they kept it. And this is a useful read: “The city of Zawiyah, controlled by rebels but surrounded by Gaddafi loyalists, is a metaphor for the current stalemate.” Here is a map of the cities seized by the people.

Jordan: “Jordan’s prime minister promised Sunday to introduce laws some time this year that would give Jordanians a greater say in politics, but angry opposition leaders said the pace of reform is too slow.”

Bahrain: “Bahrain’s king reshuffled his cabinet Saturday as protesters continued to call for reforms and a key opposition leader returned to the country.”