Lights that were suddenly switched on. Sweat and blended. A raindrop glistened. Their voices were full of green geometric terraces.

Libyan society has been severely repressed and heavily censored for decades during the regime of Colonel Gaddafi. The call for freedom of expression –including freedom of the media- was one of the motives of the revolution.

A public hearing organised by a UN team investigating alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas during the Gaza war is under way.

Israel's defence minister has said that Arabs must recognise his country as a Jewish state before an independent Palestinian state can be created.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has called for a demilitarised Palestinian state, saying that would be key to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Silatech, British Council and Qatari Students Network opened their two-day Youth Summit on entrepreneurship and employment yesterday. Fifty young entrepreneurs from around the Middle East and North Africa are attending the two day event which is focused on the region's youth employment challenges and Silatech’s efforts to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship for small to medium sized enterprises and access to capital and markets.

Respect for Islam, a prescription for Palestinian statehood and assurances of a speedy U.S. pullout from Iraq — that's what Muslims from Morocco to Malaysia want to hear from President Barack Obama this week when he addresses them from this Arab capital.

Kuwaitis have voted for change in the country's second election in a year by electing its first four women to parliament, which has been male-dominated for almost half a century.

The bodies of two Palestinians have been recovered from a tunnel in Gaza after it was bombed by Israeli aircraft, medical workers say.

The US secretary of state has called on Lebanon to hold an open and free election in June, as she made an unannounced visit to the country.

An Egyptian court has dropped charges against the Cairo News Company(CNC), a media firm accused by the authorities of illegally transmitting footage of anti-government protests.

Pope Benedict XVI has called for a renewed push for Israeli-Palestinian peace in his Easter message, just weeks before he travels to the Holy Land for the first time as pontiff.

As the Mullahs of Iran, led by Al-Khomeini, succeeded to overthrow the Shah of Iran in 1979, they declared the establishment of an Islamic republic of Iran. Subsequent to their success, they revealed aspirations to regional hegemony - both geostrategic and religious. They showed a determination to export the principles of what is claimed to be an Islamic revolution to the neighboring Arab Countries.

Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, has arrived in Qatar on the eve of an Arab League summit, defying an arrest warrant issued against him for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Iran's supreme leader has dismissed overtures from the US president, saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy under Barack Obama's administration.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has said the discovery of a bomb in Haifa has "prevented a huge disaster".

The Kuwaiti government has tendered its resignation to the Gulf Arab state's ruler to avert a questioning of the prime minister in parliament amid a protracted political crisis, several deputies said on Monday.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the designated Israeli prime minister and leader of the Likud party, has signed a coalition agreement with the Yisrael Beitenu party. Under the deal, Avigdor Lieberman, Yisrael Beitenu's leader, would be foreign minister, Israel Radio reported on Monday.

Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, has addressed a rally in Darfur, the region in which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has accused him of carrying out war crimes.

At least 28 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after a suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked a police recruitment centre in Iraq, police said.

MANAMA - A signature campaign will soon be launched in Bahrain demanding equal nationality rights for?Bahraini women. An announcement in this respect was made by the Bahrain’s Women Union at a seminar held on Saturday to discuss the plight of around 2,000 stateless children of Bahraini women married to foreigners.

MUSCAT - His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said conferred the Oman Military Order of the First Class on Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, who is currently on a two-day visit to the Sultanate.

Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) has accused the army of attacks just hours after the rebel group signed a key agreement on Darfur with the government.
Khalil Ibrahim, the Jem leader, said the army attacked two rebel positions.

The US will not change its stance towards Hamas, John Kerry, the former democratic US presidential candidate, has said during a tour of Gaza.

JERUSALEM - An Israeli newspaper is reporting that Israel has taken control of a 425-acre (172-hectare) plot of land in the West Bank.

BAGHDAD - Roadside bombs struck two minibuses filled with Shiite pilgrims returning to Baghdad on Monday, killing eight people and wounding 24 others, officials said, in the latest of a series of deadly attacks targeting the pilgrims.