ELECTIONS

Thai 'red shirts' on Sunday recalled their deadly clashes with government security forces on April 10, 2010 even as the country looks forward to elections in May, five years after a military putsch ousted still influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thousands of anti-government protesters in Thailand clad in red shirts who are seeking the end of five years of military rule, gathered near Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Sunday on the first anniversary since violent clashes with Thai security forces.

The embattled president of Yemen who has faced several weeks of unrelenting protest demonstrations has reportedly agreed to a proposal by neighboring Gulf states to end the crisis in his poverty-stricken country.

U.S. officials knew about the Yemeni opposition deep discontent over their president at least two years ago, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

Here are some potential ”candidates” for the role of first US woman president:

Livejournal, the popular blogging site, is has been reporting distributed denial of service attacks over the last week, and some are blaming the Russian government.

A major political crisis ensued in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire following President Laurent Koudou Gbagbo's refusal to leave office after the election commission declared him the loser of the November elections.

A new pro-government Iranian blogging competition called The Face of '89, in reference to the Persian calendar year 1389, just ended on March 20.

Thousands of protesters in the southern province of Aden in Yemen have clashed with police and army tanks, following a general strike in a demonstration to demand the immediate resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

At least eight United Nations staff-members and four protesters have been killed during protests in Afghanistan related to a purported burning of a Holy Quran, according to Afghan officials.

Thousands of Egyptians gathered at Tahrir Square in Cairo to demand that former President Hosni Mubarak and some of his associates be put on trial.

International Business Times spoke to Dilshod Achilov, a professor of political science at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tenn., for his thoughts on Syria.

In a state with twice as many people as Wisconsin, Ohio Gov. John Kasich was set to sign into law a bill that makes stricter curbs on government unions than the more highly visible Wisconsin law now facing legal challenges.

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.

Dollar Gold Prices fell in Asian and early London trade on Monday, dropping 1.3% to a 6-session low of $1411 per ounce as global equities slipped and the US currency rose on the forex market. Silver Prices lost 2.1% to hit a 3-session low beneath $36.50 per ounce.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's deposed president, has been placed under house arrest along with his family, according to a statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Egypt's first parliamentary election since the fall of president Hosni Mubarak will be conducted in September, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) confirmed on Monday.

Libyan rebels have formed a transitional government under the leadership of Mahmoud Jebril, and the new cabinet is slowly taking shape. The interim rebel government, which vies with the official regime for control of the country, has been boosted by the sovereign recognition by France and generous western support. Following is a glimpse into some of the major Libyan opposition outfits that have been fighting Gaddafi overtly or covertly in the last three decades:

The euro weakened on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives were routed in elections in a key state, while world shares eased back from their recent rally.

In the biggest demonstration against the President yet, many thousands of Yemenis have gathered in capitol city of Sanaa demanding the immediate resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

From lecturing handpicked group of young western women on Islam to his fear of flying over waters, and from virgin bodyguards to maniacal imperial delusions, Muammar Gaddafi’s traits are as strange and funny, or even more so, as his weird dress sense. The following are some of his idiosyncrasies, peculiar hatreds, strange loves and manifestations of borderline psychosis: