First up,the Arab League votes for sanctions,a formal punishment against the middle eastern nation of Syria.Citizens there have been protesting against their government for months now.And Syrian military forces have cracked down the protestors.There're estimates that thousands of people have died,and one Arab League official said,quote, we have responsibilities ,not only as Arabs, but as human beings ,to stop the bloodshed in Syria.One way the Arab League is trying to do that is with these economic sanctions.19 countries voted for them.Iraq and Lebanon did not.Those are two of Syria's biggest economic partners.So there's some debate now about how effective these sanctions are gonna be if those countries don't participate.Arab League said it's trying to resolve the situation before other countries get involved.

Next up,Egypt.The country has a new prime minister.But he might just be a temporary one.Parliamentary elections are scheduled to start today and a new parliament will decide whether to keep the new prime minister or not.Egypt's current military rulers are fighting with protestors who are angry about the military has been running things .There has been violence.But on Sunday, E.Watson said the move seemed to be shifting.

The crowds are back here in Tahrir Square.A sea of humanity ,really.And instead of selling gas masks like they were a few days ago when the floody street battle's under way, now trinkets and patriotic Egyptian colors for sale.Some people are calling this an extension of the previous revolution that brought down Hosni Mubarak, those protests in January and February that helped force out the former president.But part of the anger here is directed against the ruling military council that replaced him.

Our final stop in this part of the world is in Kuwait.That's where thousands of American troops are going as they head home from serving in Iraq,which is right next door to Kuwait.The US is scheduled to pull all of its troops out of Iraq by the end of this year.Martin S. is in Kuwait.He's going to explain the process that these men and women will go through on their way home.

This is the main staging area for the convoys that have been coming out of Iraq and are in the process of going home.These soldiers should spend about 5 to 8 days here as they wait for their flights to return to the state.Time to decompose,time to do a lot of paperwork,time to do a lot of packing.Remember,the president said he wants all US troops out of Iraq by Dec 31st.Well,just 3 months ago,there were about 50,000 troops in Iraq.Right now,we are told that the number is down by about 11,000.But what it really means is that over the next 2 weeks,it's really going to be crunch time,not onyl at this base ,but at a number of other bases in Kuwait.