USA Live Blog

US President Barack Obama plans to accelerate the pace of American aid to Egypt, a top State Department official said on Wednesday, as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from autocratic rule. 

Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a US delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide "more immediate benefits" to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades. 

"During this period, we want to be as supportive as we can. This is an historic moment. Egypt's a country of enormous importance," Hormats said.  [Reuters]

Officials say the US is working intensively with Yemen's embattled strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh to find him a new home. He wants to come to the US, but officials hope he will go elsewhere.

The Obama administration's counterterrorism chief, John Brennan, is leading efforts to get Saleh to leave Yemen to secure its democratic transition.

Officials say diplomacy gained momentum this week when Saleh discussed leaving with the US ambassador to Yemen.

But he has few options. Officials say the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia rejected him. The US is trying with other countries.

The 69-year-old has re-submitted a visa application to enter the US Washington doesn't want him but has yet to make a decision.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of ongoing sensitive diplomacy. [AP]

Troops commanded by relatives of Yemen's outgoing president have attacked a crowd of more than 100,000 protesters peacefully marching into the capital, killing at least nine and driving the president to promise to leave the country.

Yielding to pressure to defuse the country's turmoil, president Ali Abdullah Saleh said Saturday he would leave for the United States after forces overseen by his son and nephew opened fire on the protesters. [reporting by AP]

Anti-Wall Street protesters, hoping to briefly cripple a key supply chain of American commerce and re-energize their movement, plan to attempt to block major West Coast ports on Monday.

By marching on US ports from California to Alaska, organiSers look to call attention to economic inequalities in the country and a financial system they complain is unfairly tilted toward the wealthy.

The planned action comes after the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York in September has seen its tent camps in most big West Coast cities dismantled in police raids, leaving the movement looking for new avenues to voice its discontent.

But a plan to shutter multiple ports simultaneously could prove difficult because some of the facilities are in massive complexes with multiple entrances that would be tough to fully block, even if large numbers of demonstrators turn out. [Reuters]