EGYPT

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) slashed its forecast for airline industry profits in 2011, citing the recent surge in oil and jet kerosene prices. The association warned of substantial deterioration in profits if rising energy costs significantly weakens economic growth.

Gold touched a record high above $1,440 an ounce on Wednesday, as a bullish confluence of political unrest in Libya, surging oil prices and easy monetary policies spurred safe haven buying.

Protests in Bahrain are starting to make forays away from the central square in Manama and into different parts of the city, pressing the Sunni-led government for swift democratic reform.

About 350 illegal migrants from Tunisia have reached Italy by boat, raising fears of more people strife-torn North Africa will try to cross the Mediterranean for Europe.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe threatened on Wednesday a state-backed take-over of foreign firms and a boycott of products to retaliate against Western sanctions placed on him and his ZANU-PF party.

Gold prices held just below the previous session's record high in Europe on Wednesday, as the acceleration of global inflation and the threat that violence in the Middle East and North Africa will spread supported interest in the metal as a haven from risk.

Here are some vignettes of pitched battles raging in Libya as well as visuals of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the North African country:

Stock index futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, stabilizing a day after a surge in oil prices led to a heavy sell-off.

Stock index futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, stabilizing a day after a surge in oil prices led to a heavy sell-off.

With anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, and social media platforms Twitter and Facebook in the running, Internet dominates the race for Nobel Peace Prize 2011.

The top two U.S. defense officials have not confirmed if the Libyan government has been firing on its own people from aircraft.

Spot gold rallied to a record of $1,432.10 an ounce, surpassing its previous record of $1,430.95 set on December 7, as chaos in Libya and political turmoil in the Arab world prompted safe-haven buying and soaring oil prices boosted bullion's inflation hedge appeal.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a fairly upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy on Tuesday, saying the recent surge in oil prices is unlikely to have a major effect on either growth or inflation, as long as higher prices do not become sustained.

A YouTube musical clip mocking embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has become a hot hit in the Arab world, its Israeli creator said on Tuesday.

Iranian security forces have reportedly fired tear gas at anti-government protesters attending a rally in Teheran.

Egypt's military leaders will hold a referendum on constitutional change on March 19, a parliamentary election in June and a presidential poll six weeks later, a youth activist said on Monday after meeting them.

An Egyptian judicial panel ruled on Tuesday that a state land sale to Palm Hills Development, Egypt's second biggest listed developer, was illegal and should be scrapped.

Libya could descend into civil war if Muammar Gaddafi refuses to quit, the United States said on Tuesday, its demand for an end to his rule carrying new weight after word of unspecified Western military preparations.

Internet campaigns calling for protests against the 31-year rule of President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday did not lead to any mass gatherings in Zimbabwe, where police have threatened to crush any Egypt-style protests.

International Business Times spoke to Dilshod A. Achilov, a professor of political science at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, and an expert on the Middle East and Islam about the feasibility of Arab nations emulating the models found in Turkey and Indonesia. Here is part 2 of the interview:

International Business Times spoke to Dilshod A. Achilov, a professor of political science at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, and an expert on the Middle East and Islam about the feasibility of Arab nations emulating the models found in Turkey and Indonesia. Here is part 1 of the interview: