It can sometimes be overwhelming to keep up with the pace of events in the middle east these days, so we at UN Dispatch thought we might put together this quick cheat sheet on the Arab Spring.
Tunisia
Autocrat: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
Years in Power: 23
Current Whereabouts: A hospital in Saudi Arabia
New Elections? Yes. Currently scheduled for October.
Deaths during the uprising: At least 219, according to the UN.
Egypt
Autocrat: Hosni Mubarak
Years in Power: About 30
Current Whereabouts: A hospital in Sharm al-Sheikh, awaiting trial.
New Elections? Yes. Parliamentary elections scheduled in September.
Deaths during the uprising: At least 846, according to a post-revolution government fact finding mission.
Bahrain
Autocrat: King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa
Years in Power: 12 and counting. (Though his family has ruled for 200 years…and counting).
Current whereabouts: Bahrain!
New Elections? It would not appear so.
Number of people killed in protests? Around 40 accordingly to several estimates.
Yemen
Autocrat: Ali Abdullah Saleh
Years in Power: 33
Current whereabouts: A hospital in Saudi Arabia, recovering from burn wounds suffered in a rocket attack on his palace.
Elections? That may take a while. Saleh has not officially conceded. It is actually looking more and more like a civil war has broken out in the country.
Deaths during the uprising? At least 370, with the pace of the numbers killed sharply increasing over the past week.
Libya
Autocrat: Muammar Gaddaffi
Years in Power: 42
Current whereabouts: In Tripoli, trying to avoid NATO air strikes.
Elections? Not yet. Still more like a civil war.
Number of people killed in protests? At least 3,000, though the number could be much higher.
Syria
Autocrat: Bashar Assad
Years in Power: 11 and counting. Though his father, Hafez, ruled the country for 29 years.
Current whereabouts: Syria. Overseeing a brutal crackdown of protesters.
New Elections? Not if Bashar has anything to say about it.
Deaths during the uprising? More than 1,000, according to the UN.