Tribal fighters struggling Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh have fought pitched street clashes in Sanaa killing more than 40. Yesterday residents were fleeing Sanaa, hurriedly pack possessions, hoping to save their lives. Fighters in civilian clothes sporadically opened machine gun fire. Explosions could be heard in Sanna near the protest sites where thousands of people demanded Saleh's resignation. There were long queues at groceries, banks and petrol ... Read more »

At least five large explosions hit the Tripoli overnight, as the Nato military campaign continued. For a second night, the air strikes targeted the area around military base Bab al-Aziziya, where Col Muammar Gaddafi's compound is situated. According to Nato,they are enforcing a UN resolution to protect Libyan civilians, following the uprising against Col Gaddafi's rule. But Moscow has said the raids were a "gross violation" of the resolution, which Russia d... Read more »

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has again refused US president Barack Obama’s suggestion to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the 1967 borders. Addressing a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committtee (AIPAC) in Washington yesterday, Netanyahu said Israel could not get back to the "indefensible" 1967 borders something that the US president Barack Obama had suggested a few days earlier. He added "this conflict has ... Read more »

According to the diplomats the European Union is to impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to pressure him to end his brutal crackdown on dissent. Foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to include Mr Assad and several officials in a black list affected by travel bans and asset freezes. The EU has already imposed sanctions on the president's family - brother, four of cousins and others in his inner circle. Bbc.co.uk.

Bahrain special security court has sentenced nine people to 20 years in prison on charges of kidnapping a policeman. Famous opposition Shia cleric, Mohammed Habib al-Saffaf, was among those accused. The court presided over by civil and military judges was set up under emergency laws implemented during a crackdown on Shia-led protests against the kingdom's Sunni authorities. Bbc.co.uk.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said that he wants an early presidential election to end a political crisis and bloodshed. “We call for an early presidential election in a democratic way, in order to avoid bloodshed,” Alarabiya.net. quotes Mr. Saleh as saying. The speech came a day after officials from his ruling party and the opposition said a Gulf-brokered deal that would see him leave office in 30 days was to be signed tomorrow. Yemeni leader gave no... Read more »

The United Arab Emirates is about to make a historic move, becoming the first Arab country to send an ambassador to NATO, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said yesterday. "We're very happy that the United Arab Emirates is to become the first Arab country to open an embassy at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation," middle-east-online.com quotes Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski after talks with his visiting UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdul... Read more »

Russia has called on Libya to stop violence against civilians and act in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who greeted two envoys of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Moscow, said the answer "cannot be called negative". They, in their turn, urged the rebels to act in the same way and called on Nato to stop bombing. Moscow has refused to recognize the rebels as the legitimate power, and still has formal t... Read more »

The Syrian government has denied information that at least one mass grave has been uncovered in the southern Syrian city of Deraa. According to the interior ministry, the reports were "completely untrue" and part of a "campaign of incitement". Resident villagers near Deraa had pulled 13 bodies in a single grave after recent protests. A woman and children were among them. Foreign journalists have still been ban to enter Syria and the reports could not immedi... Read more »

Foreign Minister Nabil Al Arabi of Egypt was chosen as the new secretary general of the Arab League on Sunday as he had stayed the only candidate in the race. Right before the vote, Egypt replaced its original candidate Mustafa el-Fiqqi, who was a member of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party. While Qatar nominated Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who held office of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The candidacies of Mr. Fiqqi and Mr. Attiyah were ... Read more »