A 13-year-old boy has been shot dead during clashes in the Egyptian city of Port Said after 's football team was suspended. Dozens of people were also injured as hundreds of angry fans of the al-Masry club fought with security forces. Al-Masry, one of Egypt's top teams, has been disqualified for two years over violence at its stadium in February in which at least 74 people died. A criminal investigation into that tragedy is continuing. Hundreds of furious A... Read more »

Thirty-seven people, most of them suspected Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, were killed over the past 48 hours in violence across Yemen's restive south. "The bodies of 29 Al-Qaeda militants were killed in (army) shelling," Middle-east-online.com quotes local official as saying. The Islamist militants came under fire from the Gulf of Aden and ground locations, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to witnesses the shelling began on Tuesd... Read more »

Syrian opposition groups say a district of Hama is being "heavily shelled" by government tanks. They say there is heavy clashes in the Arbaeen quarter of the city, which is one of the main centres of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. It follows clashes between the Free Syrian Army and the security forces in the area yesterday. The local revolutionary council says that 12 people were killed in that battles, many civilians were wounded. It describes th... Read more »

Main routes of Baghdad were locked down todayas Al-Qaeda's wing in Iraq claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly blasts targeting security for a landmark Arab summit next week. The tightened measures came a day after nationwide bomb attacks killed 50 people and left 255 others wounded on the anniversary of the start of the US-led invasion of the country. In a statement posted on jihadist forum Honein, the Islamic State of Iraq declared its responsibility... Read more »

Bahrain's Shiite-led opposition expressed yesterday readiness for dialogue with authorities to end the political crisis in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, but demanded to hold a referendum. The five main opposition groups, led by the major Shiite formation, Al-Wefaq, said in a statement that the two sides of the dialogue should agreefirst of all on its "agenda, mechanism, and time frame, in order to help create initial confidence," Middle-east-online.com reported.

Sultanate of Oman, located on the opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, said the chance of military conflict between Tehran and the West was rising but there was still opportunities to negotiate peace. “It is in the interest of both sides to come to the middle road,” Alarabiya.net quotes Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanate’s minister responsible for foreign affairs as saying. “We can see that the threat of an unfortunate flash of militar... Read more »

Thousands of people have fled villages in Sudan's South Kordofan region amid an attacks by Sudanese army. They say the government forces have launched a deliberate campaign to bomb and starve civilians in the region where it is fighting rebels aligned with South Sudan. Almost every day, villages are hit by bombs, rockets and artillery. Many civilians sheltering in caves, and food is running out. The UN estimates about 300,000 people in the Nuba Mountains mi... Read more »

Twin explosions wreaked death and destruction in the heart of Damascus today. According to state television Several civilians and police were killed in the dawn attacks minutes apart targeting criminal police headquarters in the Duwar al-Jamarek area and air force intelligence offices in Al-Qasaa district. State media blamed "terrorists" for the blasts. "According to our initial information, they were car bombs," Middle-east-online.com quotes them as saying... Read more »

The Egyptian foreign ministry said it was in negotiations with Tripoli over a request to hand back members of ex- dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s regime seeking refuge in Egypt. Libya’s prosecutor had passed to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Meguid Mahmud, a list of Libyans in Egypt belonging to the former regime who are wanted back home. Cairo “is working to comply quickly with the Libyan request,” Alarabiya.net quotes foreign ministry spokesman Amr Roshdy as s... Read more »

At least three soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack in the south of Yemen claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked group, Ansar al-Sharia. Another four soldiers were wounded when the bomber blew up a vehicle laden with explosives at an army post outside the town of al-Baida. Later a government aviation stroke targeted a car driving through the area carrying militants, killing at least four of them. a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, identified as ... Read more »