Middle East, Unrest | featured news

Forty members of the Syrian security forces were killed in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, most of them in an ambush, state television said on Monday.

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President Ali Abdullah Saleh left Yemen and flew into Saudi Arabia on Sunday for medical treatment, pitching Yemen deeper into turmoil after months of protests against his three-decade rule.

Syrian troops opened fire Friday during an anti-government demonstration that appeared to be one of the biggest yet, reportedly killing dozens of protesters and wounding many more in the central town of Hama as Syrians around the country poured onto the streets in a renewed effort to force the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

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

In his first comprehensive response to revolts across the Arab world, President Barack Obama is doling out punishment and praise, targeting Syrian President Bashar Assad for attacking his people but also promising fresh U.S. aid to nations that support democracy.

Security forces and plainclothes gunmen opened fire on crowds of Yemenis marching through a southern city Monday in an intensifying crackdown against the uprising.

Brent crude rose towards $120 a barrel and U.S. crude hit a 2-1/2-year high above $108 on Monday as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa kept the focus on oil supplies as economic growth bolstered demand for fuel.

A "rogue" Afghan border policeman shot dead two foreign soldiers on a training mission on Monday, and hundreds of people turned out on the streets for a fourth day of protests against the burning of a Koran by a fundamentalist U.S. pastor.

Islamic militants seized control of a weapons factory and a nearby town in Yemen's south Sunday, said a witness and security officials, as political turmoil around the country causes security to unravel.

Demonstrations have spread across parts of the Middle East and North Africa.