The World Food Programme said that fighting between pro-government forces and insurgents had not yet hampered food relief distribution in Mogadishu. "The second airlift of specialised nutritional food for malnourished children has arrived this morning in Mogadishu," the UN food agency's spokeswoman Emilia Casella said, Middle-east-online.com reported. Nevertheless she added that "definitely the fighting in Mogadishu is a concern." Somalia is the worst affec... Read more »

Libyan National Transitional Council says that military commander of the rebels has been killed. Gen Abdel Fattah Younes was assassinated by assailants, and the head of the group responsible had been arrested. He added Gen Younes was summoned for questioning about military operations, but never appeared. Some said Gen Younes was suspected of ties to pro-Gaddafi army, bbc.co.uk reported.

Yemeni tribal sources said that three French aid workers who were kidnapped in southeastern province of Hadramawt are held by Al-Qaeda members who are seeking a $12 million ransom for their release. This information could not be independently verified. Al-Qaeda has not claimed responsibility for the kidnappings yet. Local security officials said that they had succeeded in identifying the kidnappers who are belonged to "an Islamist extremist group," without ... Read more »

Moroccan military aircraft C-130 Hercules crashed near Guelmim, just north of the disputed Western Sahara territory. Seventy-eight people were killed and three other seriously wounded. The crash is one of Morocco's deadliest air disasters in years. "Above all, it was the fog and bad weather conditions that are believed to be behind this accident. But for the moment, we don't have enough information," bbc.co.uk reports an official from the interior ministry ... Read more »

A Cairo court has decided to merge the trials of former head of state Hosni Mubarak and ex-Interior Minister Habib al-Adly. Both of them are accused of killing protesters during an uprising that toppled the regime. The announcement came on Monday as Egypt's cabinet made a pledge to step down officials who held senior posts in the Mubarak era, continue with public corruption trials and press on with immediate political reforms to placate protesters who have ... Read more »

The Syrian cabinet has adopted a draft law that allows the formation of political parties other than the ruling Baath party. The party has governed Syria since 1963 when it came to power after the military coup. The law appears to forbid parties founded on the basis of religion, or tribal affiliation. A multi-party political system is a main demand of anti-government protesters who have taken to the streets across the country since March seeking reforms. /B... Read more »

Fifa presidential ex-candidate from Qatar Mohamed Bin Hammam has been banned from football for life after being considered guilty of attempted bribery.
The governing body's ethics committee made such a decision on Saturday after a two-day discusions.Bin Hammam was accused of attempting to buy votes ahead of June’s Fifa presidential election. The 62-year-old withdrew from the election, leaving Sepp Blatter to be re-elected unopposed. The decision make... Read more »

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has said that the Palestinians' ambitions for membership of the United Nations was forced upon them by Israel's refusal to stop settlement building and end its occupation. "We are going to the United Nations because we are forced to, it is not a unilateral action," Abbas said, Aljazeera.net reported. "What is unilateral is Israeli settlement," – he added. PA authorities plan to seek recognition as an independent st... Read more »

Amnesty International has urged that Saudi secret new anti-terror law being drawn up would "strangle peaceful protest". Bbc.co.uk has been shown a classified copy of the draft law clearly showing a number of measures activists said would severely restrict human rights. These include lengthy detention without trial and increased use of the death penalty. But a Saudi official underlined it was directed at terrorists, not dissidents.

New ministers in a reshuffled Egyptian government have been sworn in amid continuing protests over slow pace of reforms. Fourteen new ministers took their oaths but key ministers including Interior Minister Mansour Essawy are keeping their posts. There has been much buzz over the reshuffle, and observers are gauging whether it will come down protesters camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Egypt’s PM Essam Sharaf was twice forced to delay the ceremony. The s... Read more »