Main headlines

January 20, 2013

Police brutality was a key factor behind the uprising in 2011.
13:26 GMT

Clashes between police and residents in north Cairo have left four people dead.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashes a victory sign ahead of his meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi in Tehran. (AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI)
10:43 GMT

Two men are hanged after posting the footage of themselves robbing and assaulting a man with a machete.

A Rebel fighter points at smoke rising in the city of Aleppo on Friday. UN leader Ban Ki-moon has warned that Syria is in a "death spiral". (AFP)
08:40 GMT

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Saturday called on rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to lay down their arms.

The number of CIA targeted assassinations using drones in Yemen has risen sharply in 2012.
07:34 GMT

The number of CIA targeted assassinations using drones in Yemen has risen sharply in 2012.

Despite a slowdown in violence, attacks by insurgent groups are still frequent. (AFP)
06:31 GMT

Four people were killed on Saturday morning in Iraq in bombings and a driveby shooting in the latest round of violence.

Obama, who is now beginning a second term free from the burden of a re-election campaign, has been criticized for not acting more forcefully during the early stages of the popular uprising and military insurrection. (AFP)
05:00 GMT

Calls to “reassess and engage” in the Syria crisis are among the pieces of public advice that have been offered recently to President Barack Obama by American experts, along with the dire warning, “Is it too late?”

January 19, 2013

Mauritania's leader
16:06 GMT

Mauritanians are not toeing the North African line in inviting the French intervention against Mali. Mauritania still sees France as the colonial enemy with ulterior motives in the region.

A statement agreed by the 15-member council stressed the need to bring the Al-Qaeda linked attackers and their backers to justice.
08:40 GMT

The U.N. Security Council on Friday strongly condemned the “heinous” attack and hostage-taking at an Algerian gas complex by Al-Qaeda linked militants.

January 18, 2013

Belgian journalist Yves Debay. (AFP)
20:02 GMT

Belgian soldier-turned-war correspondent Yves Debay was killed while covering fighting between Syrian opposition forces and the regime's army in Syria's economic hub city of Aleppo.

650 people have been rescued from a gas plant in Algeria, but more hostages are still being help.
15:02 GMT

650 people have been rescued on Friday from an Algerian gas facility in a rescue mission by the military.

In the latest violence to hit the cradle of the 2011 revolt that ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi, a car bomb killed a police officer in Benghazi on Tuesday. (AFP)
05:00 GMT

The Libyan authorities declared Thursday a curfew on the restive eastern city of Benghazi from midnight to 8 in the morning.

January 17, 2013

At least three Japanese were among the 41 foreigners kidnapped by heavily armed Islamist gunmen attacked a gas complex in Algeria. (AFP Photo/Jiji Press)
13:46 GMT

Thirty-four hostages and 14 of their captors were reportedly killed in an air raid on Thursday afternoon by the Algerian armed forces.

Reports indicate two Japanese workers were injured in the attack. (AFP)
12:41 GMT

Algerian helicopters have attacked the gas complex where Islamists seized dozens of hostages on Thursday.

Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab, 30 kilometres from the northeastern Syrian city of Aleppo, on Wednesday.
11:17 GMT

A Syrian army assault reportedly killed more than 100 civilians on the outskirts of Homs on Tuesday.

Militants have threatened to blow up the gas field if the Algerian army intervenes.
10:53 GMT

30 local workers escaped from the desert gas facility where scores of hostages are being held.