The Egyptian military on Tuesday ordered a special committee studying changes to the nation's constitution to come up with amendments within 10 days, an indication that fundamental changes to the system of government are not in the cards, experts said.

Street clashes broke out across the Persian Gulf region on Monday as demonstrators in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen sought to capitalize on the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and swept into the streets, where they were met by riot police.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned Friday and the military took control of the country after weeks of widespread protests and economic turmoil that have shaken this besieged nation and raised calls for democracy across an increasingly restive Middle East.

North Korean negotiators on Wednesday walked out on a second day of talks between Pyongyang and Seoul, a move suggesting that deep tensions continue to linger on the Korean peninsula following two deadly attacks by the north last year.

The United States will recognize southern Sudan as a new, independent country in July, President Barack Obama announced Monday.

Egypt's newly appointed cabinet met Monday as the government attempted to reassert stability over the turbulent country with protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square continuing to resist the new administration.

Halya Lagunesse thought she knew despair. Nearly seven years ago, the soldiers who had killed her husband gang-raped the Haitian woman and her daughter Joann, who was 17 at the time. But that pain pales in comparison to the torment of learning last March that her 5-year-old granddaughter had been raped.

CNN's Anderson Cooper and his production crew were attacked by a group of demonstrators in Egypt on Wednesday. Reporting from Cairo, Cooper said during a phone interview that he was punched in the head multiple times by supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, and that the mob also assaulted his crew and destroyed their equipment.

With Egypt's major cities flooded by protesters Tuesday demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President Barack Obama took another major step away from the United States' strongest Arab ally, telling him that an orderly transition to a new regime "must begin now."

More than 200,000 protesters streamed into Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday for the largest demonstration in a week of unrest against Egypt's embattled government, and international pressure on President Hosni Mubarak intensified.