The United States is cutting funding for the UN cultural agency Unesco after it voted to grant full membership to the Palestinians. The decision was passed by a substantial majority, despite strong opposition from the United States and Israel. A US State department spokeswoman said a payment of some $60m due this month would not be made. Membership fees paid by the US account for about a fifth of the organisation's annual budget, bbc.co.uk reported.

Yemeni authorities has shut the international airport in the capital Sanaa after explosions were reported at an adjacent air force al-Daylami base. "There were four explosions at the air force base alongside the international airport and two fighter jets went up in flames," bbc.co. uk quotes one aviation official as saying. After the blasts prompting flights to be rerouted from Sanaa International Airport to Aden. Yemen’s capital Sanaa has been wracked by f... Read more »

Moroccan court sentenced Marrakesh April bomb attack ringleader Adil al-Atmani to death, his top accomplice was given a life sentence, seven others got from three to four years imprisonment. The blast hit a Marrakesh cafe packed with European tourists and killed 17. The relatives of those killed voiced outrage at the light sentences given to Atmani’s accomplices. Last time death penalty in Morocco was carried out in 1992. When the verdict against him was re... Read more »

Twin roadside blasts hit Iraqi capital's Urr neighbourhood, causing highest death toll since August 15. According to defence ministry official, at least 32 people were killed and 71 wounded in twin bombings which rocked Baghdad on Thursday. They said one roadside bomb exploded at around 7:00 pm local time on followed by a second after security forces and crowds gathered at the scene. On October 21 US President Barack Obama vowed to withdraw US forces from I... Read more »

The UN Security Council has voted to end international military operations in Libya on 31 October. In March the council members voted to take "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, after then-leader Muammar Gaddafi launched a deadly attacks on protesters against his rule. Last week NATO and its partners, which had been conducting air strikes, said the campaign would end this Monday, bbc.co.uk reported.

Hundreds of women have made a pile of veils in the street of Sanaa and set fire to their traditional veils in protest at the violence used against anti-government demonstrators. As the fire rose, they chanted, "Who protects Yemeni women from the crimes of the thugs?". Women have played a major part in the uprising against incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh. A Yemeni woman activist, Tawakkul Karman, was of three winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, bbc... Read more »

Saudi Arabia is all set for the burial of the 83-year-old Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who died of colon cancer in New York on Saturday. The funeral sets the stage for an inevitable generational shift in the ageing leadership of the world's top oil exporter, even if Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud picks Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, 77, to succeed him. The world leaders among those of US Vice President Joe Biden, Pakistani President As... Read more »

Tunisian election officials have started counting votes after Sunday's election, the first free referendum after the Arab Spring. The turnout was 90%. Tunisians are electing a 217-seat assembly that will draft new constitution and appoint an interim government. The US and EU have praised Tunisian authoroties on the peaceful election process, with President Barack Obama saying the vote was "an important step forward", Bbc.co.uk. reported.

Libya's National Transitional Council is ready to declare the country's eight-month civil war over. Next step is building a democracy and holding Libya's first free elections next year. Meanwhile circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi's death remain unclear. Navi Pillay, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has called for an investigation into the killing. Waheed Burshan, a member of the NTC, told Aljazeera.net that Gaddafi had clearly been captured alive... Read more »

Damascus Damascus has agreed to allow an Arab League delegation to visit Syria in an attempt to defuse the deadly violence there. "We have received approval from the Syrian government to receive a ministerial delegation, headed by Qatar on Wednesday, October 26," сообщает Middle-east-online.com. quotes Assistant Secretary General Wagih Hanafi as saying. Among the negotiators are Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and the foreign ministers of Alger... Read more »