Middle East

Arab Spring claims its third despot

Patrick Cockburn: Sanaa, Yemen 05.06.11 Thousands throng streets as President flees and regime totters.

Inside Middle East

Israeli troops 'kill as many as 20' as protesters try to cross border

Monday, 6 June 2011

Israel's northern border with Syria was a scene of bloodshed yesterday after Israeli troops fired on pro-Palestinian protesters attempting to cross its ceasefire lines in the occupied Golan Heights. Syrian reports claimed that as many as 20 were killed, including a 12-year-old boy.

Syrian security forces 'shoot 31 people dead'

Monday, 6 June 2011

Syrian security forces have shot dead 31 people since Friday during demonstrations in a town in the north-west, residents say.

Yemen Eyewitness: They sang. They danced. Some even slaughtered cows

Monday, 6 June 2011

The capital's main square erupted in jubilation at the news that the 33-year-long rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh might finally be over. They danced. They screamed. They sang.

Hamas closes Gaza crossing into Egypt as tensions rise

Monday, 6 June 2011

Hamas closed the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt yesterday, partially reinstating a four-year blockade that was lifted only the week before. Hamas, the militant Islamist organisation which governs Gaza, took the decision in response to growing tension with Egypt's new post-Mubarak regime. After announcing the opening of the border last week, officials in Cairo rapidly backtracked, and then announced restricted access to crossings, apparently to cope with a huge influx of Palestinians trying to escape Gaza.

'Three killed' as Israeli troops fire on Palestinian protesters

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Israeli security forces opened fire across the Syrian frontier to disperse hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed the border on the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast war. Arab media said three people were killed.

Protesters celebrate departure of leader

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Protesters danced, sang and slaughtered cows in the central square of Yemen's capital today to celebrate the departure of the country's authoritarian leader for medical treatment after he was wounded in a rocket attack on his compound.

Gunmen attack presidential palace in Yemen

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Military officials and witnesses say dozens of gunmen are attacking the presidential palace at Taiz, Yemen's second largest city, and have killed four soldiers in an attempt to storm the compound.

Yemen may become threat to UK security, says Hague

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Yemen risks becoming "a much more serious threat" to UK national security, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned amid fears it could descend into chaos.

Five top Yemeni officials in Saudi for treatment

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Five top members of the government were sent to Saudi Arabia for treatment of wounds they suffered in a rebel rocket attack on the presidential palace, the official government news agency reported today. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was slightly injured.