Reuters – Tens of thousands massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other Egyptian cities on Wednesday, a year after an uprising erupted that toppled Hosni Mubarak, spurred on revolts across the region and exposed rifts in the Arab world’s most populous state. Read more

Reuters – U.S. special operations forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued two hostage aid workers after killing their nine kidnappers, a rare and daring raid in the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives. Read more

Reuters – Arab League monitors said the withdrawal of colleagues by Gulf Arab states would not hinder their work in Syria while France and Britain Wednesday joined efforts at the United Nations to end President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. Read more

Reuters – The Arab League has approached Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear agency, as a possible candidate for the job of special envoy to Syria to follow up an Arab initiative to ease President Bashar al-Assad out of power. Read more

Reuters – The captain of the Italian liner Costa Concordia said he was told by managers to take his ship close to shore on the night it ran aground and capsized, but the company denied having any prior knowledge of the maneuver. Read more