After Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak pledged in a televised address to remain in office only until the next election and after protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square turned violent, VOA’s Lamia Gritly turned to Mohamed Morsi, a leading member of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood for an assessment of the situation.

I have just posted a new report on the CIA’s apparent role in the destabilization of Egypt. This is absolutely shocking.

This is not the old CIA, which prevented communist takeovers of friendly governments. This is Obama’s CIA. It is reportedly working to facilitate the overthrow of the pro-American government of Hosni Mubarak.

Take a look:
SECRET AGENDA EXPOSED. Who's side is Obama on? The CIA may be on the side of radical Islamic and revolutionary forces in Egypt.

Police in Pakistan say a bomb blast has killed nine people in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

At least 20 others were wounded in the explosion that occurred Wednesday in a commercial area on the outskirts of the city.

Authorities say three children were among the dead.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the third major bombing in Peshawar this week.

Elsewhere in the country, suspected militants killed five policemen during a shootout in southwestern Baluchistan province.

Greek police say they have defused a parcel bomb that had been sent to the Justice Ministry in Athens.

Police say the package had been intercepted by security officials and had been addressed to the justice minister.

Officials say the package is similar to rigged parcels sent to 14 European leaders and Athens-based embassies in November. The parcels caused no injuries or serious damage.

A trial began last month for members of the militant anarchist group, Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, which had claimed responsibility for the parcels.

There is a political storm raging in Turkey over the release of the leaders of a radical islamic Kurdish group from prison. Called Hizbullah, the group is blamed for the torture and killing more than 100 people in its battle with the Kurdish separatist organization the PKK.
When the leading members of Hizbullah were sprung from jail in early January, their release caused shock around Turkey.

A United Nations team in Tunisia says at least 219 people were killed in the January revolt that led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The head of the team, Bakr N'Diaye, said Tuesday the death toll includes 72 people who died in prison riots.

The official commented at the end of a week-long mission in the country organized by the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Earlier, the Tunisian government reported a death toll of 72, although opposition groups had insisted the toll was higher.

Witnesses in the Somali capital Mogadishu say at least 17 people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in violence Monday — but there are conflicting reports about the circumstances.

Medics and witnesses told VOA that Somali government soldiers opened fire on each other outside a local hospital. They say the dispute was linked to the shooting of a police officer by the hospital's armed guards.

Other reports say a government soldier accidentally fired a gun into a crowd.
Most of those hit were civilians. The wounded were taken to Mogadishu's Madina hospital.

Authorities say bombings targeting police in northwestern Pakistan have killed at least five people, including a senior police official.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber struck a vehicle on the outskirts of Peshawar carrying Rasheed Khan, the deputy superintendent of police. Khan and three others were killed, while several others were injured.

About three hours later, a police vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the area, killing a policeman and injuring three others.

Peshawar, located near Pakistan's tribal area, has been repeatedly attacked by the Taliban.

Nigerian police say new clashes in the country's troubled central region have killed at least 12 people.

Police in Plateau state say dozens of gunmen believed to be Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked at least three villages in the early hours of Thursday.

A military spokesman says troops killed two of the attackers as they tried to flee. Police say they have detained at least 29 people responsible for the attacks, including a police officer based in the capital, Abuja.