Officials are denying that the reactor has exploded at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, but admit that local hourly radiation levels are already at what is considered safe for a year.
Police in Bahrain fired tear gas as anti-government protesters clashed with regime loyalists. Meanwhile, police flooded the streets to suppress “Day of Rage” protests in Saudi Arabia.
Bedouin leaders in Israel’s Negev desert rejected a government offer to compensate “unrecognized” communities for some 50% of their lands, as a new thrust of Jewish settlement is planned.
Japan’s government has for the first time declared a “nuclear emergency” as diesel backup systems failed at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
Mauritanian police clashed with pro-democracy demonstrators in the central plaza of the capital, Nouakchott. Police used tear gas and clubs to disperse the protest, leaving several hospitalized.
Police opened fire to disperse protesters at Qatif in Saudi Arabia’s mainly Shi’ite east, leaving one wounded, as Sunni and Shi’ite students clashed in neighboring Bahrain.
France became the first country to recognize Libya’s opposition as its rightful government, while Qaddafi’s forces succeeded in taking the oil hub of Ras Lanuf from its rebel defenders.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for two deadly suicide attacks in as many days—one targeting the funeral of the wife of an anti-Taliban militaman in Peshawar.
In a move to head off protests, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI announced a constitutional reform that recognizes the importance of Amazigh (Berber) culture for the national identity.
Seven Coptic Christians were shot dead in street clashes with Muslims in Cairo, as pro-Mubarak goons armed with knives and machetes attacked protesters in Tahrir Square.
Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets on March 7 to protest against the kingdom’s naturalization policy, which they say is aimed at changing the demographic balance in the Sunni-ruled but Shi’ite-majority country. Protesters marched on government immigration offices while… Read moreBahrain: Shi’ite protesters march against naturalization policy
A Yemeni protester died of gunshot wounds after being hit when police opened fire overnight on anti-regime demonstrators who attempted to establish an encampment outside Sanaa University.
