Ivory Coast: soldiers who support Allasane Outtara, the true winner of the contentious presidential elections, have stormed Abidjan , one of the last Gbagbo strongholds left. The opposition forces have strong support from French soldiers.

Japan: Japanese officials announced that the evacuation from the Fukushima prefecture will be “long-term”. This comes amid worries about the unknown extent of emergency in the nuclear power plants. So far, the government has remained characteristically tight-lipped about the crisis.

Greek: A 6.2 earthquake struck Crete today, April 1. There have been no reported damages or deaths so far.

Syria: Friday, April 1, has been dubbed the “Day of Martyrs”. 2,000 people marched to honor the 700 who died in the protests. Also, two Americans who were detained in Syria for taking photos of the protests were finally released.

Libya: The Gaddafi camp feels the pressure as top officials defect. Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa fled to England and Ali Abdessalam Treki, a nominated representative to the United Nations, announced he would not accept the post. Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who used to be Libya’s Arab League representative, resigned in February and is predicting more defections.