Palash Ghosh

Bahrain has stepped up its crackdown on anti-government protesters (almost all of whom are (Shia Muslims) by arresting at least 300 activists in one massive sweep, thereby sending untold others into hiding. Those detained included a prominent blogger, Mahmood al-Yousif.

Forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafi are making an aggressive eastward advance into Brega, Libya, where there are battling back undermanned rebel forces for control of the key coastal city.

atest update from IAEA on nuclear crisis at Fukushima plant in Japan

The Kuwaiti government announced that it will expel several Iranian diplomats for allegedly spying, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

Amidst reports that Libyan rebels are retreating in the face of the superior firepower of Moammar Gaddafi’s armies, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has ruled out the possibility of providing weapons to the beleaguered rebel groups.

As many as 1,000 dead bodies remain unmoved within a 20-kilometer radius from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, as fears of radiation leakage has prevented authorities from collecting and burying them, according to Japanese police officials.

Another fresh and unusual political crisis is brewing in one of the wealthiest and most stable Arab states. Kuwait's cabinet has resigned in order to avoid having to answer certain questions from parliament, according to Reuters.

The Syrian government will establish a judicial committee that will consider the removal of its emergency laws, according to the state news agency.

The Japanese government said it has no plans currently to widen the evacuation zone outside the damaged nuclear power plant at Fukushima, despite warnings from the UN nuclear watchdog that high radiation levels have been detected beyond the current no-go zone.

Moussa Koussa, Libya’s former foreign minister who defected to the U.K., has been questioned and debriefed by British authorities.

Amidst reports that the Libyan foreign minister has defected to the west, soldiers loyal to Moammar Gaddafi have recaptured the strategic oil city of Ras Lanuf from rebel factions.

The British foreign ministry is reporting that Moussa Koussa, Libya's former foreign minister, has arrived in the UK and is resigning from his post.

Egypt extends olive branch to Iran; seeks to normalize ties

The government of Gujarat has banned a controversial book about its famous native son Mahatma Gandhi.

Libya’s foreign minister Moussa Koussa is reportedly on a plane flying to London after he spent a two-day visit in Tunisia, according to a report from the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) news agency.

Today’s much-anticipated speech from Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, failed to lift the country’s emergency laws (which have been in effect since 1963) nor did he offer any concrete political reforms or concessions.

Facebook has taken down a page created by Palestinian supporters which called for a new ‘intifada’ (uprising) against Israel, after Israel officials and U.S. Jewish groups complained.

It is our contention that if the monthly private sector job growth shows a gain of 200,000 jobs or more, then it will be very difficult for the financial markets not to have a strong response to the collective employment data.

A prominent Shia opposition figure in Bahrain has demanded that Saudi Arabian-dominated foreign troops who were invited by the ruling family to quell disorder leave the kingdom immediately.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has vowed that all the illegal immigrants who have arrived on the island of Lampedusa from North Africa will soon be deported.

The British government has expelled five Libyan diplomats who allegedly could pose a threat to UK national security.

The East African country of Uganda is reportedly willing to allow Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to live there in exile, according to spokesman for Ugandan president.

Retired NBA player Jalen Rose was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving earlier this month and now faces an April court date.

In his first public address to the Syrian nation since unrest broke out two weeks ago, President Bashar al-Assad blamed “conspirators” for the ongoing violence and vowed that he would defeat the “plot” against his country.

The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is expected to deliver a TV address to the nation for the first time since anti-regime protests erupted more than two weeks ago.

The parliament of Bahrain has accepted the resignations of eleven Shia opposition politicians, thereby widening the gulf between the Sunni ruling elite and the largely Shia protest movement in the tiny kingdom.

As soldiers loyal to Moammar Gaddafi appear to have retaken the city of Bin Jawad through a violent counter-offensive against rebel forces, fears are growing that Libya has sunk into a stalemate that could split the country apart into two nations.

France, which has been the most aggressive foreign nation to move against Libya, said it was prepared to discuss providing weapons to the Libyan opposition – even if the UN mandate on Libya did not specifically provide for this feature.

While Western powers and some of their Arab allies are meeting in London to discuss military action in Libya and that country’s future, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron told the gathered parties there were better days ahead for Libya and that coalition forces will continue to impose ther no-fly zone over the North African country.