Middle East
Latest stories
Student Killed in Yemen Clashes

One protester was shot dead and five wounded in clashes with Yemeni government supporters near the capital Sanaa's university campus on Saturday, an AFP correspondent reported.

The death, the first in Sanaa in a week of similar clashes, came as government supporters, armed with guns, batons and rocks, tried to break into the campus and students responded by hurling stones.

W140 Full Story
Tunisia Denounces Murder of Polish Priest

The Tunisian authorities and the country's main Islamist movement on Saturday denounced the murder of a Polish priest who was found dead in the country with his throat slit.

Marek Rybinski, 34, was found dead Friday in the garage of the private religious school in the Manouba region near the capital Tunis where he was responsible for the accounting.

W140 Full Story
Bahrain Opposition Rejects Talks Offer

The Bahraini opposition on Saturday rejected an offer of dialogue from the authorities saying it would join talks only after the cabinet quits and troops behind a bloody crackdown leave the streets.

The Islamic National Accord Association, which is boycotting parliament in protest at the army's iron-fisted response to the wave of protests sweeping the small but strategic Gulf kingdom, said 95 people were wounded on Friday, of whom three were "clinically dead."

W140 Full Story
Internet Cut Off in Libya

Internet service was cut off in Libya on Friday as the regime evidently moved to strip anti-government protestors of ways to organize and communicate, according to Arbor Networks.

Libya "abruptly disconnected" from the Internet at 4:15 pm.(00:15 GMT Saturday), according to the U.S. based tracker of online traffic.

W140 Full Story
Libya Protesters Torch Radio HQ as Unrest Death Toll Hits 41

Moammar Gadhafi's regime vowed on Friday to snuff out attempts to challenge the Libyan leader, after an opposition "day of anger" became a bloodbath and two policemen were reported hanged by protesters.

According to a toll compiled by Agence France Presse from different local sources, at least 41 people have lost their lives since demonstrations first erupted on Tuesday.

W140 Full Story
Police Fire Injures Tens of Bahrain Protesters, Crown Prince Promises Talks

Bahraini security forces opened fire Friday on anti-regime protesters in the capital, wounding dozens, after the military vowed "strict measures" to restore order in the wake of a deadly police raid.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa promised to open a national dialogue once calm returns, a statement quickly backed by a royal announcement that he had been assigned to start such discussions.

W140 Full Story
Iran Pro-Regime 'Hatred' Rally Demands Opposition Chiefs Hanged

Tens of thousands of Iran regime loyalists poured on to the streets of Tehran Friday, demanding that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi be hanged for their "rebellion."

"Death to Mousavi! Death to Karroubi! Mousavi, Karroubi should be hanged!" worshippers chanted as they emerged from Friday prayers at Tehran University to join large crowds of loyalists marching towards prominent Enghelab Square (Revolution Square).

W140 Full Story
Grenade Attack Kills 2 Yemeni Protesters, Hurts 27

Anti-regime protesters in the volatile Yemen city of Taez were blasted with a hand grenade Friday leaving two dead and dozens hurt, while violent clashes also erupted in Sanaa, witnesses said.

The grenade attack came as hundreds of protesters took to the center of Taez after the Friday Muslim prayers to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in protests that have been raging in the city for the past week.

W140 Full Story
Kuwait’s Stateless Arabs Protest for Rights

Hundreds of stateless Arabs in the Gulf state of Kuwait demonstrated on Friday demanding a solution to their problem and citizenship which the government refuses, an Agence France Presse photographer said.

Some 300 men began the protest following the Muslim Friday prayers in Jahra city, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Kuwait City amid tight security including members of the elite riot police.

W140 Full Story
Libya Announces, but Iraq Denies, Arab Summit Delay

Libya said an Arab League summit set for March 29 has been put off, but Iraq, which is hosting the event, denied the claim, saying on Friday that postponement was not "an individual decision."

The official Libyan news agency Jana reported on Thursday that the presidency of the Arab League summit had decided to push back the Baghdad meeting in light of turmoil across the Arab world.

W140 Full Story