Wikileaks Julian Assange is fighting his extradition to Sweden. Today, a witness who doesn't like him released a statement saying Assange is being framed.

Here is Gordon Rudlin's statement.

His lawyers released this statement.

The hearing will continue tomorrow.

Former President George W. Bush is the subject of the an Indictment by human rights groups in Switzerland. You can read it here.

Bush canceled his trip to Switzerland so the Indictment can't be filed as there is no jurisdiction without his personal presence. The Center for Constitutional Rights says he needs to be careful with his future international travel plans.

The Preliminary Bush Torture Indictment was prepared so that it could be used for individual victims to file cases against George Bush in any country where the Convention Against Torture provides jurisdiction.

...Swiss law requires the presence of the alleged torturer on Swiss soil before a preliminary investigation can be open. The complaints could not be filed after Bush cancelled, as the basis for jurisdiction no longer existed.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tells Christine Amanpour he won't leave office now.

"If I resign today, there will be chaos," he said. Asked to comment on calls for him to resign, he said: "I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country."

The New York Times reports the Obama Administration is discussing proposals with Egyptian officials for Mubarak to step down now.

More marches are planned for tomorrow. Will he stay or will he go?

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has announced he won't run for another term.

"No extension, no inheritance, no resetting the clock," he said, making reference to ruling party proposals to institute term limits that had been seen as allowing him to run again.

His announcement comes a day before planned protests, called "A Day of Rage" are scheduled. Yemen has been on the edge of failing for a while. As I wrote a year ago:

Yemen will become a failed state without aid. Between the rebel tribes in the north, the secessionists in the south and al-Qaida, the Government is out-matched. Add to that its dwindling oil reserves, critical lack of water and horrendous prison system that just breeds more terrorists, and it's a certainty Yemen can't fix its problems on its own.

It sounds like a series of domino effects is in play: Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and now Yemen. What's next? Sudan? Or Algeria or Syria?

"We've already said good-bye...Go now"

President Obama called Egypt President Hosni Mubarak after his announcement today to tell him the transition to a new government needs to begin now:

He said he told Mubarak of "my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now."

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is speaking now. Rough summary:

I never sought power for influence. My top priority is to restore the security and stability of the nation. I did not intend to run again. I have exhausted my life serving Egypt. I am intent on ending my career and handing over the power in a way that preserves the stability and security of the nation.

In the few months of my remaining term, I will work for the peaceful transition of power.

I will be judged by history.

Speech over. The crowd is chanting, cheering and jeckling. This falls short of what they wanted. Now they are chanting "Leave, leave." Very strong emotion in the chanting.

Update: Finally Mubarak speaks. New thread for speech here.

Update: (10:50 pm Cairo time): Mubarak sure is drawing this out. Egyptian state TV is still saying "any minute."

Update (10:26 pm Cairo time): Still waiting for Mubarak's statement. Apparently, it will be recorded, not given live. MSNBC reports President Obama may speak afterwards.

Update (10:08 pm Cairo time): The crowd is getting louder. They are chanting "Freedom" and "May it be tonight." The crowd also seems thinned out. (In the crowd I saw a sign from today saying "Yes we can too." ) Here's a live screengrab from al Jazeera's live feed.

Update (10 pm Cairo time): You can watch the release of Mubarak's statement live when it happens here.

Reuters reports, via Al Arabiya TV, that Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak will give a speech today and say he's decided not to run for re-election in September. He also says he has "a solution." [More...]

A million people marched today in Cairo. In Jordan, protests have led the King to dismiss his Prime Minister and his cabinet.

"There's something happening here...."

NYTimes:

CAIRO — The Egyptian military reinforced parts of the capital on Sunday with tanks, jets and helicopters as tens of thousands of protesters flooded central Cairo for the sixth day, defying yet again government orders of a nationwide curfew. The uprising, which began as a spontaneous grass-roots movement, appeared to coalesce, at least for the moment, as the largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, threw its support behind a leading opposition figure, the Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, to negotiate on behalf of the protesters.

Mr. ElBaradei arrived in Liberation Square, the center of the protests, shortly after nightfall and addressed the crowd through a bullhorn. “We are beginning a new era in Egypt,” he said. “What we have begun cannot be reversed. “We have a key demand: for Mubarak to step down and to start a new era.”

A new report released last month by the Washington Office of Latin America (WOLA)has some interesting statistics on Mexican and Central American drug arrests.

The unprecedented one-year comparative study of the drug laws and prison systems in eight Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

The weight of the law falls on the most vulnerable individuals, overcrowding the prisons, but allowing drug trafficking to flourish.

How so? [More...]

La Familia cartel in Mexico is tired of being blamed for the massive violence in Mexico. It says it's not to blame. So it's making Mexico an offer. It's calling a truce on all criminal activity for the month of January.

In the one-page message, distributed by e-mail and in some cities door by door, the gang claims it will halt all crime activity during January to demonstrate that the cartel "is not responsible for the criminal acts federal authorities are reporting to the media."

Three weeks ago, Mexico said La Familia had been totally dismemebered and turned from drugs to robberies to make money. For Christmas, La Familia sent out a message saying Federal Police and the Zetas were behind the violence.

“La Familia Michoacana disavows it self of all criminal acts that occurred in the state of Michoacán, they are acts done and fabricated by the Federal Police. They seem to be only dedicated to making false claims and then killing those they implicate in crimes.”

The Guatemalan military has seized the Alta Verapaz province claiming it is dominated by the Los Zetas drug cartel.

A state of siege allows the army to detain suspects without warrants, conduct warrantless searches, prohibit gun possession and public gatherings, and control the local news media. Guatemalan law allows the measure amid acts of terrorism, sedition or "rebellion," or when events "put the constitutional order or security of the state in danger."

The siege will last 30 days but can be extended. The Patriotic Party opposes the plan:

The state of siege...is meaningless "if we continue to have police corruption, a weak justice system and weak jails," added David Martinez Amador, an analyst and expert on criminal behavior.

[More...]