The UN Security Council begins considering on Monday a formal application for full UN membership submitted last week by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, although a vote on the proposal is not expected for weeks.
Yemen's opposition held mass protests Monday, stepping up demands for the immediate departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh after the ailing leader said his future should be determined at the ballot box.
Syrian tanks using heavy machine guns fired overnight on the town of al-Rastan near a strategic highway in an attempt to dislodge soldiers who have defected to support pro-democracy protesters.
Women in Saudi Arabia are to be granted the right to vote and run in municipal elections, King Abdullah announced on Sunday. He also stated that women will now have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called for early presidential elections and reiterated his commitment to a power transfer deal aimed at ending months of anti-government protests on Sunday in a move that is unlikely to appease demonstrators.
Bahrain will hold a second round of legislative elections October 1 to fill a remaining nine out of 18 seats left vacant by Shiite lawmakers who resigned in protest against a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.
Bahrain's main opposition boycotted special legislative elections held on Saturday to fill the seats vacated by 18 Shiite lawmakers who resigned in protest against months of crackdowns on anti-regime demonstrations.
Syrian activists said that at least nine people were shot dead by security forces Friday during after-prayer protests, indicating that the repression shows no sign of abating despite the EU widening its sanctions against the regime.
Diplomats from dozens of Western nations walked out of the UN General Assembly hall Thursday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered scathing attacks on the US and Western Europe.
Two US citizens jailed in Iran for more than two years on spying charges have been released after $1 million in bail was paid, diplomatic and media sources say. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Tehran's Evin prison in Omani diplomatic custody.
Activists from the Syrian opposition formed a secular coalition in Paris this weekend, warning that without the separation of church and state the fall of President Bashar al-Assad could lead to Islamist rule.
Security forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have clamped down on protests across the country, sweeping through rural areas near the capital, Damascus. Activists say 20 people have been killed.
Explosions and gunfire rang out in the northern parts of Yemen's capital Sanaa on Thursday, as a renewed wave of clashes between tribesmen and troops loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted, residents said.
As democracies with deep links to the transatlantic community, Turkey and Israel must recognise that they both have vital stakes in the stabilisation of the Middle East through the establishment of more representative regimes.
Egyptian authorities declared a state of alert Saturday after violent protesters staged an overnight rampage at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing the ambassador to flee and exacerbating already rocky relations between the two countries.
