Yemeni leader recovering in Saudi Arabia; Syria crackdown continues; US escalates Pakistan drone attacks
Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, was evacuated from Sanaa after a rocket attack on the presidential mosque killed seven of his bodyguards and seriously injured several other political leaders. Saleh himself sustained burns on an estimated 40 per cent of his body and shrapnel wounds to his chest and neck. Crowds jubilantly celebrated his departure in several cities.
The US called for an immediate transition in the southern Arabian Peninsula country, amid reports that Saleh could return to Yemen within days. Yet medical sources said that his rehabilitation could take several months.
As violence erupted across the nation, from Taiz to Zinjibar, the New York Times reported that the US had stepped up its air raids on suspected fighters.
Follow the latest news developments on our Spotlight page and Live Blog.
Syria crackdown continues, Violent suppression of anti-government protests in Syria resulted in scores of deaths this week, most notably during "Children's Freedom Friday" rallies in the central city of Hama, site of a 1982 clampdown by Bashar al-Assad's father. Dozens were killed when security forces opened fire on demonstrators, pushing the death toll since March to more than 1,200.
Additional video emerged of severe brutality against young protesters, as Syrians saw the mutilation of 15-year-old Thamer al-Sahri, who was arrested along with his friend Hamza al-Khateeb on April 29.
Syrian troops sought revenge for the 120 security personnel who were allegedly ambushed by "armed gangs" in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. The attacks on security forces raised the spectre of civil war, just days after government troops had killed 38 people in a 24-hour military operation in the same city.
The US called for an immediate transition in the southern Arabian Peninsula country, amid reports that Saleh could return to Yemen within days. Yet medical sources said that his rehabilitation could take several months.
As violence erupted across the nation, from Taiz to Zinjibar, the New York Times reported that the US had stepped up its air raids on suspected fighters.
Follow the latest news developments on our Spotlight page and Live Blog.
Syria crackdown continues, Violent suppression of anti-government protests in Syria resulted in scores of deaths this week, most notably during "Children's Freedom Friday" rallies in the central city of Hama, site of a 1982 clampdown by Bashar al-Assad's father. Dozens were killed when security forces opened fire on demonstrators, pushing the death toll since March to more than 1,200.
Additional video emerged of severe brutality against young protesters, as Syrians saw the mutilation of 15-year-old Thamer al-Sahri, who was arrested along with his friend Hamza al-Khateeb on April 29.
Syrian troops sought revenge for the 120 security personnel who were allegedly ambushed by "armed gangs" in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. The attacks on security forces raised the spectre of civil war, just days after government troops had killed 38 people in a 24-hour military operation in the same city.
Read more about the Syria Unrest and visit our Live Blog for more.
Revenge attacks in response to the US killing of Osama bin Laden continued on Pakistani military and government targets. And al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, vowed in a video eulogy to continue the organisation's jihad against the West.
Meanwhile, a key senior al-Qaeda commander, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed with missiles fired by unmanned aerial vehicles while he was in a South Waziristan house. Kashmiri had been linked to the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Taliban fighters killed 12 in an attack on a checkpoint in the border town of Makeen between North and South Waziristan. The raid was preceded by a series of drone strikes that killed 23 fighters at an alleged training facility in the Shawal area.
In a suicide blast in Nowshera, 18 died and a further 40 were wounded. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but since the May 2 raid that killed al-Qaeda's leader, the Pakistani Taliban has said its fighters carried out a number of bombings.
Revenge attacks in response to the US killing of Osama bin Laden continued on Pakistani military and government targets. And al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, vowed in a video eulogy to continue the organisation's jihad against the West.
Meanwhile, a key senior al-Qaeda commander, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed with missiles fired by unmanned aerial vehicles while he was in a South Waziristan house. Kashmiri had been linked to the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Taliban fighters killed 12 in an attack on a checkpoint in the border town of Makeen between North and South Waziristan. The raid was preceded by a series of drone strikes that killed 23 fighters at an alleged training facility in the Shawal area.
In a suicide blast in Nowshera, 18 died and a further 40 were wounded. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but since the May 2 raid that killed al-Qaeda's leader, the Pakistani Taliban has said its fighters carried out a number of bombings.
Africa
· NATO unleashed intense air strikes on Libya’s capital, Tripoli, rocking pro-Gaddafi forces.
The UN called on the Khartoum government to pull its military forces out of Abyei, an oil rich town at the centre of a dispute between North and South Sudan.
Americas
· Peru’s stock market and currency plunged following the victory of leftist candidate, Humala.
Former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn pled not guilty in New York court to charges that he assaulted a maid.
Asia-Pacific
· Territorial disputes in South China Sea dominated security conference agenda in Singapore.
After its nuclear disaster, Japan pledged new safety measures in a report to the UN’s atomic agency.
Central & South Asia
· Heavily armed fighters killed 12 during a raid targeting a military checkpoint in Pakistan tribal region.
Scrutiny has followed reports that rampant bribery and corruption intensified due to rapid economic growth in India.
Europe
· German health minister said the E. coli outbreak that sickened thousands and killed 24 could be abating.
Hundreds of Facebook guests attended German girl’s birthday party after invitation was made public.
Middle East
· Israeli forces killed 23 after firing on non-violent ‘Naksa’ protesters in the occupied Golan Heights.
Egypt’s former finance minister was ordered to serve 30 years in jail and pay fines over $5 million.
In this three-part series, Al Jazeera examines the historical roots an present-day realities of the Struggle over the Nile.
People & Power visited the people of Abbottabad in the days after the raid that saw the capture of Osama bin Laden.
Police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem holy site
Syria unrest: Renewed clashes 'leave 28 dead'
t least 28 people have been killed in fresh clashes in Syria between security forces and protesters, activists say.
Sudan: SPLA accuses Khartoum of bombing Unity State
Sudan's military has bombed a village in an oil-rich southern region, southern officials say, as tensions increase ahead of the south's independence next month.
Libya: Gaddafi forces renew pounding of Misrata rebels
A renewed barrage of shelling by Libyan troops around Misrata has left about 17 dead and at least 60 wounded, according to hospital doctors in the rebel-held city.
Bomber kills Somali minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan
Somali Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has been killed in a suicide attack at his home in the capital Mogadishu, officials say.
Ivory Coast crisis: Alassane Ouattara forces accused
The United Nations has accused forces loyal to Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara of unleashing violence against supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo.
Pro-, anti-government protesters fill Iraq square
Baghdad (CNN) -- A pro-government protest calling for the execution of accused insurgents overshadowed a smaller anti-government protest at Iraq's Tahrir Square Friday
Renewed NATO air strikes rock Tripoli
Military alliance pounds Libyan capital a day after US secretary of state says Gaddafi's days are "numbered".
Outgoing US defence secretary slams NATO
Robert Gates says Europe's NATO members must bear more of the burden in operations or alliance faces "irrelevance".
Turkish election campaign enters final hours
Party leaders make final pitches to voters ahead of parliamentary vote with crucial consequences for country's future.
Israeli police enter Al-Aqsa compound, clash with Palestinians after Friday prayers
Hamas claims provocation by settlers as the spark for clashes outside Islam's third holiest site
Head of Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority denies detecting Mubarak’s foreign-based assets
Essam El-Gohary denies media reports that ousted president Hosni Mubarak's foreign based assets have been uncovered
Possible crimes against humanity by all sides in I.Coast: UN
UN Human Rights Council probe concludes that violations of human rights and international humanitarian law were committed by forces loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara as the government faces calls to disarm all militias
Rethinking Egyptian-Iranian relations
With ties between Egypt and Iran thawing in the wake of the January 25 revolution, domestic factors rather than regional powers should determine the manner of renewed diplomacy
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContentP/4/13884/Opinion/Rethinking-EgyptianIranian-relations.aspx
Lebanon 'on the brink'
Conflict in the Lebanese Telecommunications Ministry last week is a worrying further sign of instability in the country, writes Lucy Fielder in Beirut
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