Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years

Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down after 33 years at the helm on Monday at a ceremony at the presidential palace in Sanaa, formally handing power over to his deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. "I hand over the banner of revolution... to safe hands," said Saleh, the fourth veteran Arab leader to fall in just over a year, standing beside Hadi. Yemen's new president will serve for an interim two-year period as stipulated by a Persian Gulf-brokered power transition plan signed by Saleh last November.