Middle East, Arab | featured news

The United States, Europe and Arab nations are preparing to demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad agree within days to a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid into areas hardest hit by his regime's brutal crackdown on opponents.

Syrian government forces attacked opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in cities and towns across the country on Tuesday and Arab officials confirmed that regional governments would be ready to arm the resistance if the bloodshed did not cease.

It all began with a slap and a slur hurled at a poor vegetable seller by a policewoman in a provincial Tunisian city. Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in a protest that ignited a chain of fires across the Arab world.

At least 2,600 people have died in the six months of unrest that has swept Syria, the U.N.'s top human rights official said Monday, as a panel was named to investigate abuses in the Arab country....

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Beset by civil unrest at home and lambasted by the West and his Arab neighbors for his violent crackdown on dissent, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad can count on one firm ally: Iran.

Gunmen surrounding an embassy are angry about efforts by Arab mediators to ease Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power.

Al Qaeda released a posthumous audio recording by Osama bin Laden posted on Jihadi websites, in which the Islamist group's ex-leader praised revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

The killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli security guard leads to rioting in an Arab-dominated area. Rock-throwing attacks spread to the Old City amid tension over peace talks.

Ambasssador will return after four-year absence, marking major step toward engaging Arab nation.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused moderate Arab leaders of plotting with the West against Muslims and urged his followers to prepare for jihad (holy war), in a recording aired by Al Jazeera television.