In Aries Point news:

The personal/political Aries Point chain reaction has been moving right along while we’ve all been justifiably focused on the disaster in Japan, but I admit to being one of many who had difficulty finding the mental/emotional space and time to keep tabs on it all. Here are some current highlights, mainly taken from the headlines of Democracy Now! and Madison.com. – amanda

• In addition to the Yemeni commanders mentioned in the photo caption above, the mayor of the Yemeni city of Aden and Yemen’s ambassador to the United Nations have also resigned to protest the killing of 45 protesters a few days ago in that country.

• Since Friday, at least five protesters in Syria have been killed. Thousands marched on the southern city of Deraa today.

• Egyptian voters have approved a referendum on constitutional changes as they move toward Egypt’s first election since Hosni Mubarak stepped down. Among the amendments is one limiting the president to two consecutive four-year terms.

• Weekend protests in the US resulted in more than 100 antiwar activists arrested outside the White House on Saturday and 31 protesters arrested outside the gates of the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virigina. Those in Virginia were protesting the military’s treatment of accused Army whistleblower Private Bradley Manning.

• Meanwhile in Madison, you’ve probably already heard that Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican lawmakers were likely in violation of the state open meeting laws when it pushed through the legislation two weeks ago. She has issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of Gov. Walker’s union-busting bill. And in case you were wondering, the protests have not ended in Madison. Veterans protesting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan joined the collective-bargaining-and-budget faithful on Saturday, and today seniors and retirees were planning to protest against Gov. Scott Walker’s state budget plan that would make major cuts in the state’s SeniorCare program, carrying signs reading, “Don’t Walker on me!”

• On Saturday thousands of protesters took to the streets of Dakar, Senegal, to oppose corruption and the rule of President Abdoulaye Wade.

• The UN has recognized the killings by forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast. Rupert Colville, of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced, “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this is an international crime, quite possibly a crime against humanity and we are very concerned about the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, in general, which seems to be deteriorating yet further.”

• Japanese authorities are still working to prevent a full meltdown at the Fukushima plant. Engineers have restored electricity to three reactors at the crippled plant and hope to test water pumps at the quake-damaged facility soon. But early this morning, smoke was seen spewing from two reactors at the plant. Graham Andrew of the International Atomic Energy Agency said: “Efforts to restore electrical power at the site continue. Offsite electrical power has been connected to the local substation for Unit Two today. Work is continuing under difficult conditions to connect power from the substation to the reactor building. Sea water is still being injected into the reactor pressure vessels of Units One, Two and Three. Water injection is not needed for unit Four as the reactor is in outage.”