Arab protests

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Syrian Army Moves to Attack Empty Town

Reporters allowed to travel with troops

(Newser) - Syrian troops and tanks surrounded Jisr al-Shughour and prepared to move in today—not that anybody was home. The town was all but deserted, with thousands of residents fleeing across the nearby border into Turkey, according to an AP reporter given rare permission to travel with the army. The regime...

Syrian Town of Jisr al-Shughour Braces for Military Assault
 Syrians Flee Approaching Tanks 

Syrians Flee Approaching Tanks

Jisr al-Shughour braces for military assault

(Newser) - Syrians are fleeing to Turkey as residents of Jisr al-Shughour brace for a military assault, with troops in tanks and armored vehicles approaching the now nearly empty town. Turkey promised to accept the refugees as its prime minister, who has had a good relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called...

Syrian Ambassador: That Wasn't Me Who Quit on TV

Ambassador says she was impersonated, network disagrees

(Newser) - Syria's ambassador to France, hours after apparently announcing her resignation during a telephone interview with news network France24, now says she was impersonated. Lamia Shakkour appeared on camera on another French TV network and said she plans to sue France24 over its "campaign of falsification of information and...

Yemen Protests: President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s Ouster Looks Likely
 End Looms for Saleh's Rule 

End Looms for Saleh's Rule

Power transfer could be forced in Yemen

(Newser) - With yesterday’s report that Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s injuries are more serious than initially reported, a power transfer increasingly seems imminent. Saleh could be out of Yemen for months and could be forced to give up his rule, sources tell the Wall Street Journal , although government officials...

Syria: 'Gangs' Killed 120 Troops

Protesters say that's ridiculous

(Newser) - Syria's state-run TV network is alleging that 120 police and security officers have been killed by "armed gangs" in the northwest town of Jisr al-Shughour, including 82 in an attack on one security post. The report hasn't been independently verified, and the number reported dead has ballooned...

Yemen VP Takes Over as Saleh Leaves Country

President takes family, spurring speculation he will step down

(Newser) - Yemen's No. 2, Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has temporarily taken control of the country following the exit of Yemen's president to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, reports al-Jazeera . Opposition groups cheered today at news of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure, with speculation rampant that the rocket...

Yemen President Hurt in Rocket Strike

Meanwhile, government shelling increases

(Newser) - Yemen's president was lightly injured and four top officials wounded when opposition tribesmen struck his palace with rockets, according to a government official. It was the first time that tribesmen have targeted President Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace in nearly two weeks of heavy fighting with government troops in...

41 Killed as Chaos Again Erupts in Yemen

Signs Saleh loyalists are splintering

(Newser) - Firefights again reigned in the streets of Sanaa today, killing at least 41, and a fractured Republican Guard shelled the headquarters of an army brigade commander who was rumored to be defecting to the opposition. Opposition leaders deny that Brigadier-General Mohammed Khalil has defected, but tell the AP that he...

Yemen Edges Toward Civil War as Truce Ends

Saleh's troops fighting both tribal groups and al-Qaeda

(Newser) - The short truce in Yemen that never quite managed to be a truce is over, the government declared today. The development means that Yemen is that much closer to civil war and financial ruin, reports Reuters . President Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops and tribal groups engaged in fierce fighting in...

Yemen Protests: Troops Kill 20 Protesters in Taiz; Military Units Fight al-Qaeda in Zinjibar
 Yemen Troops Kill 20 Protesters 

Yemen Troops Kill 20 Protesters

Meanwhile, military units fight al-Qaeda in Zinjibar

(Newser) - Despite the recent truce in the Yemen capital of Sanaa , fighting rages on in the country, with hundreds of government soldiers firing on protesters in the southern city of Taiz today. A medical official and other witnesses tell the AP at least 20 were killed when the soldiers stormed a...

Yemen Town Falls to al-Qaeda
 Yemen Town Falls to al-Qaeda 

Yemen Town Falls to al-Qaeda

Meanwhile, truce tentatively holding in Sanaa

(Newser) - A coastal Yemen town appears to have fallen completely to al-Qaeda, even as a tentative truce in capital Sanaa took hold, ending more than a week of streetfighting, reports Reuters. But the price was the fall of Zinjibar —which critics charge was a deliberate concession on the part of...

Saudis Forming Anti-Shiite 'Club of Kings'

Royal family moves to form alliance against Iran, uprisings

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is moving to firm up alliances with Sunni nations in a bid to limit Iran’s influence and stem the tide of revolts in the Arab world. It has asked several countries across the Middle East and Asia, including Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to join an informal alliance...

Libya: Let Gadhafi Stay as Figurehead

Government proposal warns that without Gadhafi, instability could follow

(Newser) - Just one day after President Obama and British PM David Cameron declared that Moammar Gadhafi has got to go , the Libyan government is proposing that he stay—as a figurehead only. Though Libyan rebels are likely to scoff at the suggestion, the government is playing on fears of instability and...

US Pulls Diplomats Out of Yemen

Obama renews calls for Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down

(Newser) - With the situation in Yemen deteriorating rapidly, the US yesterday ordered all nonessential diplomats and the families of all US Embassy staff to leave the country. "The security threat in Yemen is extremely high due to terrorist activity and civil unrest," the State Department writes in a new...

Syria Toll Rises to 44
 Syria Toll Rises to 44 
UPDATED

Syria Toll Rises to 44

But state news blames 'armed gangs' for 17 deaths

(Newser) - The Syrian Security forces crackdown on protesters in different parts of the country left at least 44 people dead yesterday, making it one of the deadliest days since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began two months ago, a rights group said today. Syria, meanwhile, blamed "armed...

President Obama Mideast Speech: We Stand Behind Mideast Protesters
 Obama: 
 We Stand 
 Behind Arab 
 Protesters 


MIDEAST POLICY SPEECH

Obama: We Stand Behind Arab Protesters

Back Mideast peace deal based on 1967 borders

(Newser) - President Obama gave a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East today, speaking out forcefully in support of Arab protesters everywhere—even in US allies like Yemen and Bahrain. “After decades of accepting the world as it is in the region we have a chance to pursue the world as...

Obama's Mideast Speech: The 5 Topics That Matter

Josh Gerstein lays out the hot-button points

(Newser) - Barack Obama will give a major speech on the Mideast at 11:40am ET today, in which he'll share his vision of the role America should play in a region that's been battling unrest for four months now. Josh Gerstein provides a primer on Politico . Your ears should...

Yemen President Agrees to Sign Exit Deal

Ali Abdullah Saleh expected to sign transition deal today

(Newser) - Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reached an agreement with the opposition and is expected to sign a deal leading to his departure later today. The agreement, modified slightly from the one Saleh refused to sign earlier this month , will ease him from power within one month, Reuters reports. A...

16 Killed in Israel Border Clashes

Israeli troops clash with Arab protesters

(Newser) - Israeli troops clashed with Arab protesters today along three hostile borders, including the frontier with Syria, leaving 16 people dead and dozens more wounded in an unprecedented wave of demonstrations marking a Palestinian day of mourning for their defeat at Israel's hands in 1948. Along Israel's border with...

Gadhafi Likely Wounded, Out of Tripoli: Italy

Foreign minister thinks Libya leader probably got injured by airstrike

(Newser) - Today's hot rumor from Libya: Moammar Gadhafi is wounded and has fled Tripoli for a safer part of Libya, reports Reuters . It's not some anonymous tweet, though: It comes from Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who himself got it from the Catholic bishop in the Libyan capital. "...

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