The head of Egypt's ruling military council announced measures aimed at appeasing protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. But the general's speech appears to have backfired, with tens of thousands of protesters demanding he leave office immediately. NPR's Soraya Nelson talks to Robert Siegel.

The three American students who were arrested during protests near Cairo's Tahrir Square last week, have been released.

A drought in East Africa pushed millions toward starvation this year. The U.N. says relief efforts are paying off, with some areas of Somalia no longer seeing famine. But relief may be undermined by political instability and threats from the militant group al-Shabab. Guest host Tony Cox checks in with Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times.

Angered by the ruling party's successful push to ratify a free trade deal with the U.S., a South Korean lawmaker doused the parliament's speaker.

Scores of people converge on Cairo's central Tahrir Square in response to a call for a so-called million-man march as mass protests against the country's military rulers enter a fourth day. Thousands of Egyptian protesters have been camping out on the square and clashing with police trying to force them to leave.

The latest round of Egyptian protests began when the military tried to strengthen its power in any future government. Vali Nasr of Tufts University talks to Steve Inskeep about other armies that tried to gain a bigger role in a supposedly democratic country. Nasr is also the author of The Rise of Islamic Capitalism, and is a former advisor to the Obama administration.

As Egyptian protesters continue battles with police and troops in Cairo, the casualty figures are rising steadily. Many of the wounded are being treated in makeshift clinics on Tahrir Square. Protestors say they will not stop until they've driven the ruling military council from power as they did Hosni Mubarak in February.