Yemeni troops sent Al-Qaeda fighters fleeing from the southern city of Loder and pressed towards militant-controlled Zinjibar. "We have cleansed Loder (of Al-Qaeda) and the fighters have been forced to flee," Middle-east-online.com quotes anonymous military official as saying.He said that Al-Qaeda gunmen retreated from three positions on the outskirts of Loder, in southern Abyan province, which they have been trying to overrun for several months.

The head of Syria's main opposition coaltion, the Syrian National Council, has said he will resign amid growing criticism and rifts within the group. Burhan Ghalioun, who was re-elected as SNC leader on Tuesday, said he would step down once a replacement is found. The SNC was formed last year to present a united front for the opposition, but has been torn by divisions. "I will not allow myself to be the candidate of division, I am not attached to a position... Read more »

Libyan Islamist commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj has resigned his military post in a bid to enter politics. Mr Belhadj, a key brigade leader in the 2011 toppling of Col Gaddafi, plans to run in elections next month He is a former member of an Islamist insurgent group which sought to overthrow Gaddafi in the 1990s. Mr Belhadj is currently taking legal action against the UK authorities, alleging they were complicit in his 2004 rendition to Libya, Bbc.co.uk repor... Read more »

Leaders of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss plans for a regional political, economic and security union. The exact nature of this union is unclear. Bahrain's minister of state for information, Samira Rajab, said it could follow European Union model. The idea to form the union belongs to the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah, who is chairing the meeting in Riyadh, Bbc.co.uk reported.

More than 1,000 Jordanians, mostly opposition Islamists, marched on Friday demanding elected governments and "radical" reforms, and criticising newly appointed Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh. Demonstrators gathered in central Amman after midday prayers, the protesters, including youths and trade unionists, carried banners reading "we want to reform the regime, radical change and elected governments." "Fayez (Tarawneh) go home, you are not up to reform. We wa... Read more »

The United States is resuming sales of weapons to Bahrain, but says it will not supply the Gulf state with any crowd control equipment. The US State Department says the shipment will help Bahrain "maintain its external defence capabilities." Arms sales were frozen last year after the Bahraini government suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations. Amnesty International says 60 people have been killed since the protests began in February 2011, Bbc.co.uk reported... Read more »

Egyptian expatriates have begun voting in the first presidential elections since an uprising forced long-ruling Hosni Mubarak to step down last year. Electoral officials say fewer than one million of the nearly 10 million Egyptians abroad have registered. Voters in Egypt will go to the polls on 23 and 24 May. A run-off will be held in June if no-one wins 50% of the vote. Yesterday two of the front-runners took part in the first presidential election debate ... Read more »

Two blasts have hit the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least 40 and wounding 170 in what Syrian state TV say were "terrorist bombings". State TV footage of the blasts showed massive destruction in the al-Qazzaz suburb to the south of Damascus said to house a military intelligence complex. Damascus has been the target of several bombs in past months amid continuing anti-government unrest. The head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Maj Gen Robert Moo... Read more »

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Tuesday that Israel's new government, which will include the centrist Kadima party, should resume efforts to seek peace. But the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, expressed its opinion of the surprise coalition agreement, which will see the Kadima party join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. "We call on the Israeli government to seize the occasion of the enlargement of the coalit... Read more »

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is appealing for an extra $27m to fund its operation in Syria until the end of this year. The ICRC, the only international humanitarian agency working inside Syria, says hundreds of thousands of people still remain in need despite the ceasefire which came into force last month, the humanitarian needs remain enormous, it says. In the latest violence, activists said two civilians died in Idlib province. Whil... Read more »