CAIRO (AP) ― After anti-government unrest spread to the Libyan capital of Tripoli and protesters seized military bases and weapons Sunday, Moammar Gadhafi’s son went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army’s backing and would “fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.”Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, in the regime’s first comments on the six days of

ERLIN, Taiwan (AFP) ― When Wang, 24, went to jail three years ago he had no idea he would end up in a bid to break a record for most inmates dancing together. Wang is one of more than 2,000 inmates in Changhua Prison in central Taiwan who routinely take part in mass dancing sessions as part of a larger program aimed at reforming prisoners through art and creativity.“I’ve made new friends since I j

TUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia’s interim government on Sunday asked Saudi Arabia to extradite deposed strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali as it faced a second day of protests demanding its resignation.Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi’s government made the official request to Riyadh, where Ben Ali fled on January 14 with his family after weeks of popular revolt against his 23-year regime, said a foreign mini

TRIPOLI (Xinhua) ― Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has left his country for Venezuela, Doha-based Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday. (Reuters) - Libyan security forces shot dead dozens of protesters as they struggled to stamp out a revolt in the second city Benghazi, and Bahrain’s rulers began talks with the opposition as unrest continued to sweep the Middle East.Anti-government demonstrators in Bahrain

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Reeling from the fall of its ally Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the United States is hitting back at Iran as the arch foes fight for influence in a Middle East upended by popular unrest, analysts said.Iran presents Mubarak’s fall as a new sign of Washington’s and Israel’s decline in the region, but the United States sees opportunities in a new outbreak of anti-government protests in t

TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iranian riot police fired tear gas and paintballs at anti-government protesters in Tehran, websites and witnesses said Monday, while an Iranian news agency said a bystander had been shot dead.Fars news agency said a number of other people had been wounded by the gunfire and blamed the outlawed former rebel group, the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran.Some opposition websites said that men

DUBAI (AFP) ― Within less than a month, popular uprisings toppled the long-time presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, and revolts could spread to other Arab countries if they do not implement reforms quickly, analysts say.“The Arab leaders are in a race against time: Either they quickly adopt liberal changes, or they suffer the same fate as (the leaders) of Tunisia and Egypt,” said Anwar Eshki, the dir

CAIRO (AP) ― He survived assassination attempts and wave after wave of Mideast crises, a solid ally of the West whose stable image reassured many Egyptians. Hosni Mubarak ended his presidency as a symbol of what was wrong with Egypt: the repression, the corruption, the lost hopes of a swelling, impoverished class.Mubarak, in power for nearly three decades, was such a fixture that his exit from pow

DUBAI (AP) ― Less than a month after the world watched Tunisia celebrate the collapse of the country’s strong-arm ruler, the scenes in central Cairo on Friday offered an even more potent display of the newfound power of the Arab street: fist-pumping crowds cheering the end of President Hosni Mubarak.The downfall of Mubarak ― one of the mainstays of Middle East politics and Western policies in the

CAIRO (AFP) ― The United States urged Egypt to immediately lift an emergency law and launch democratic reforms as protestors staged the biggest show of defiance against President Hosni Mubarak in a three-week-old revolt.But Mubarak’s newly appointed deputy, Vice President Omar Suleiman, warned that hasty reforms could spell “chaos” in the Arab world’s most populous nation.In Cairo, hundreds of tho

CAIRO (AFP) ― Its wings clipped by a popular revolt, Egypt’s regime is seeking a way out of crisis through national dialogue, but pressure from the street and division among key players could discredit the process.On Sunday, Vice President Omar Suleiman began talks with members of the opposition and announced measures aimed at placating the protesters staging massive protests demanding the end of