At least 30 people, including policemen, were injured during clashes at Tiaret in Algeria after funeral of man who set himself on fire to death. Tiaret is located 340 kilometres west of Algiers. Then violence spread to the nearby towns of Sougueur and Rahaouiya, where young people blocked several roads and clashed with police. Gacem, a young seller of spectacles, poured petrol over and burn himself on Janauary 26 after an act of humiliation by a police offi... Read more »

Special UN tribunal investigating the killing of the former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri in 2005 has said it will try the four accused in absentia. The Islamist group Hezbollah members were named as suspects and warrants for their arrest issued last summer. But its leaders have refused to hand them over and let to be detained. Hezbollah denies any role in the assasination of Hariri and 21 others in Beirut in February 2005. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon issue... Read more »

At least 74 people have been perished in clashes between rival fans following a football match in the Egyptian city of Port Said. Dozens were injured as supporters - reportedly armed with knives - invaded the pitch after a match between clubs al-Masry and al-Ahly. According to Egyptian deputy health minister, “it is the biggest disaster in the country's football history”, bbc.co.uk reported.

Four overnight US air raids struck an Al-Qaeda meeting and control post in southern Yemen, killing around 15 rebels including a long-hunted regional fighters leader. According to a local military official raids were "carried out by US planes," They targeted bases in the Loder and Al-Wadih areas of Abyan province. Its biggest part was taken under control by militants after taking advantage of months of political turmoil, which has forced President Ali Abdull... Read more »

Iraq's opposition Iraqiyya bloc has made a decision to end a boycott of parliament. Iraqiyya - a Sunni Muslim-dominated nationalist bloc – claimed a boycott over the issue of an arrest warrant for fugitive Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi. He is accused of running death squads during the insurgency and now hiding in Kurdish northern Iraq. The bloc will decide later whether to end its boycott of cabinet, bbc.co.uk reported.

Egyptians will vote in the first stage of polls for the upper house of parliament. Voting for the Shura council will be held over two rounds; the first of which begins today. Islamists ‘The Muslim Brotherhood ‘ are seeking to repeat the success they enjoyed in referendum for the lower house. These elections were considered to be Egypt's most democratic since military officers toppled the king in 1952. The series of polls for both houses of parliament are th... Read more »

Amnesty International has called to investigate into what it says is inappropriate use of tear gas by Bahraini security forces. The organisation says that more than a dozen deaths may have resulted from misuse of tear gas in rpopulated areas. The most recent death case attributed by Amnesty International to tear gas was on Wednesday. Saeed Ali Hasan al-Sakri, 65-years-old, is said to have collapsed after a heavy volume of tear gas was unleashed near his hom... Read more »

The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan are to have a discussion in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on a deepening crisis over sharing their oil wealth. When South Sudan became the independent state last July, Sudan lost most of its oil fields. But the export pipelines go through Sudan, which has seized some $815m in oil revenue, accusing the south of not paying transit fees. South Sudan last week said it reduced oil production, accusing Sudan of "stealin... Read more »

The PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has said the exploratory talks with Israel on resuming full peace negotiations have been over without any progress. After a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman, Mr Abbas told reporters that he would discuss next steps with the Arab League next week. Both Israel and the Palestinians have been under international pressure to resume negotiations on a two-state solution, bbc.co.uk reported.

Egypt's military council said the country's decades-old state of emergency is lifted today except in cases of fighting "thuggery," and rights groups already call the move as cosmetic. "I have taken a decision to end the state of emergency, in all parts of the country, except in fighting acts of thuggery, starting on the morning of January 25, 2012," Middle-east-online.com. quoted the head of ruling military council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as saying. T... Read more »