Tens of thousands of Yemenis marched on the streets of the capital Tuesday, demanding for a second straight day the U.N. Security Council take action against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"This is a message to the world, to the powerful nations, and to the Security Council...take Saleh and his regime to court," the protesters chanted from Sanaa's Change Square.

A Yemeni journalist detained last week by dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar said Tuesday that he had been freed.

Mohammed Sudam, a Reuters reporter who also works as an interpreter for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was detained Friday night at a checkpoint manned by Ahmar's troops on the way home from the airport after a trip to Cairo.

China urged Syria Tuesday to move faster to implement reforms, a week after Beijing infuriated the West by blocking a U.N. resolution against President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on protests.

It is the first time that China has veered away from its longstanding policy of non-interference in the affairs of Syria, which has been rocked by anti-government protests and violence since earlier this year.

Israeli activists on Tuesday prevented Palestinians from visiting relatives held in a jail in northern Israel to protest the ongoing captivity of soldier Gilad Shalit, an activist told Agence France Presse.

Around 50 supporters of Shalit, who was snatched by Gaza militants in 2006, stopped a bus carrying Palestinians from reaching the Gilboa Prison in the Beit She'an valley, Shalit activist Shimshon Liebman said.

The Gulf state of Kuwait announced Tuesday that it has recognized Kosovo as an independent country and has decided to establish diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level.

"Based on instructions by the emir, the state of Kuwait recognizes Kosovo and will exchange diplomatic representation at the level of ambassadors," an official statement said following a meeting by the council of ministers.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet in Paris in the coming days to discuss the Palestinian bid for U.N. recognition, Abbas' envoy said.

Palestinian foreign minister Ryad al-Maliki said Abbas would depart for France after meeting Tuesday with Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on the request for U.N. Security Council recognition of a Palestinian state.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said on Monday that it recognizes the Syrian National Council grouping of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad as the country's government.

"The National Transitional Council has decided after a meeting today to recognize the Syrian National Council as the sole legitimate government in Syria," NTC member Mussa al-Koni told a news conference in Tripoli.

Egypt's military rulers ordered a speedy probe into clashes which killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians, as the cabinet held crisis talks amid fears of wider sectarian unrest and Washington urged restraint.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) "tasked the government with quickly forming a fact finding committee to determine what happened," in a statement read on state television.

Syrian opposition leaders meeting in Sweden called for international observers in their country but largely opposed foreign military intervention, organizers said Monday.

The opposition group leaders who met at the weekend agreed on "the international community's role, demanding to have observers on site, and that minority groups should be given legally binding protection" once a new regime is in place, Jens Orback, the secretary general of the Olof Palme Centre, told reporters.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she will call Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Monday to try to set a date for a restart of stalled peace talks.

Speaking at the close of talks between European Union foreign ministers, Ashton said she would call "to invite them to meet in the coming days."