Greater Middle East

Yemen: dozens killed as clashes rock capital

Five days of armed clashes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa have left dozens dead and hundreds injured. Rebel tribesmen and defected army units battle Republican Guard troops, while student protesters occupying “Change Square” are under mortar and sniper fire.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: repression, drone strikes escalate

At least 24 were killed in Yemen’s capital Sanaa as security forces opened fire on protesters calling for the ouster of longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Pentagon is meanwhile stepping up drone strikes on al-Qaeda insurgents in the country’s south.

Greater Middle East

Amnesty to Egypt: drop charges against blogger

The Egyptian authorities must immediately drop charges against Asmaa Mahfouz, a woman blogger and activist accused of defaming the military on Twitter, Amnesty International said in a statement.

Greater Middle East

Fear of music in Lebanon

Lebanese singer Zeid Hamdan of the band Zeid and the Wings was briefly jailed on charges of defaming President Michel Suleiman in his single “General Suleiman.” He was released following a Facebook campaign.

Greater Middle East

Syria: tens of thousands defy regime in Ramadan protests

Tens of thousands of Syrians returned to the streets in towns and cities across the country for the first Friday protests of Ramadan, declaring their support for residents of Hama, where some 200 have been killed in a military crackdown over the past week.

Greater Middle East

US drones strike Pakistan, Yemen

US drones struck for the first time in 19 days in Pakistan’s tribal agencies, killing four “militants” in an attack on a compound in South Waziristan. That same day, US drones killed 15 presumed al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: Islamists vie with secularists for control of Tahrir Square

As promised, Egypt’s self-declared “Salafists” marched en masse on Tahrir Square, where secular opposition groups were holding a thousands-strong rally. No violence was reported, but the Salafists were clearly vying with the secularists for control of the square.

Greater Middle East

Egypt: Islamists groomed as enforcers for military regime?

Egypt’s Gama’a Islamia has re-emerged with a threat to clear Cario’s Tahrir Square of “liberals and traitors” ahead of tomorrow’s planned Friday protest mobilization. The threat comes on the heels of violent clashes between protesters and regime elements.

Greater Middle East

Kucinich soft on Syrian strongman?

Was Dennis Kucinich misquoted when he said Bashir al-Assad “is highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians”? And is the dictator’s uncle Rifaat al-Assad being groomed by the West as Syria’s new boss?