A previously unknown Islamist group claimed responsibility for the latest suicide bombing in Damascus—which killed 11 at a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers. Iran blamed “foreign powers” that want to inflame the conflict for the blast.
A protest leader was found dead after overnight clashes between the pro-democracy demonstrators and police in Bahrain, as the Formula One Grand Prix car-racing spectacle is set to open in the conflicted Persian Gulf mini-state.
Ali Mushaima, a 28-year-old Bahraini activist, has been on hunger strike for 10 days outside the US embassy in London, to call attention to Washington’s complicity in the repression of Bahrain’s civil revolutionary movement.
The Kurdish opposition bloc walked out of the Syrian National Council at a meeting in Istanbul, accusing host country Turkey of "pressuring the SNC" to omit the demands of the Kurdish members in the final document outlining a transition plan.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has seized several provinces in southern Yemen, keeping government troops at bay—and in the latest clash, seizing two tanks. The US launched at least six drone strikes against AQAP targets last month.
Reactions to the passing of Pope Shenouda III, leader of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, reveals much about the country’s ominous but still tentatively hopeful political situation. Compass Direct News, which documents persecution of Christians around the world, on March 23 noted… Read moreEgypt: now the Muslim Brotherhood are the moderates…
Hamas turned against its long-time ally President Bashar Assad of Syria, throwing its support behind the rebellion aimed at overturning his rule. Meanwhile in Tunis, Hillary Clinton bashed Russia and China for opposing UN action against Assad.
Yemeni officials hailed a 60% turnout in elections that officially ended President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule, despite boycott calls by separatists in the south where violence marred polling. Shi’ite rebels in the north also boycotted the polls.
Security forces in Bahrain fired tear-gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades at protesters gathered on the eve of the first anniversary of pro-democracy demonstrations. Protesters tried to gain control of the Pearl Roundabout in the capital, Manama.
Hamza Kashgari, a Saudi Arabian columnist who made comments on Twitter deemed to be insulting the Prophet Muhammad, was arrested in Malaysia after fleeing his country. He may be extradited to Saudi Arabia, where calls for his death are mounting.
Yemeni protesters gathered outside New York’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel to protest the arrival of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. With repression continuing and the vice president in seclusion, many fear Saleh is continuing to run the country from afar.
At least 200 were killed in the Syrian city of Homs as security forces pursued their campaign to take back opposition-held areas. Meanwhile, authorities tightened their grip of Hama as residents recalled the 1982 massacre of some 20,000 there.
