by Chris Bodenner
Reuters reports:
More than 20,000 Yemenis filled the streets of Sanaa on Thursday for a "Day of Rage" rally, demanding a change in government and saying President Ali Abdullah Saleh's offer to step down in 2013 was not enough. ... [B]y early morning, anti-government protesters had already gathered the largest crowd since a wave of protests hit the Arabian Peninsula state two weeks ago, inspired by protests that toppled Tunisia's ruler and threaten Egypt's president.
Brian Whitaker is tracking events:
Jane Novak, who blogs about Yemen, says the protest has been switched at the last minute from Tahrir Square (like Cairo, Sanaa has one too) to the new university roundabout due to "regime thugs camped out in Tahrir Square with car loads of guns".
The interior ministry announced yesterday that it has set up roadblocks around Sanaa and stepped up its security forces supposedly to stop people smuggling weapons into the city. Meanwhile some (but not all) of the government websites have gone down, including the websites of the president and parliament. It is possible they have been attacked by the Anonymous hacking group.