Syrian forces renewed their assault on the rebel city of Homs today as Russia’s foreign minister talked of the need for reform with President Bashar Assad over the country’s escalating violence.

Gulf states are pulling out of the Arab League observer group in Syria.

Libya’s transitional leader has declared liberation of the country, three days after the death of its leader of four decades, Muammar Gaddafi.

Fighting between troops loyal to Yemen's embattled leader and rival forces killed at least 18 people, including eight supporters of a powerful tribal chief who defected to the opposition in March.

A besieged Syrian city came under fresh artillery fire early today as a deadly military assault left President Bashar Assad’s regime increasingly isolated, with Arab nations forcefully joining the international chorus of condemnation for the first time.

Arab-world outrage at Syria’s brutal crackdown has intensified as, for the first time, its neighbours joined the international chorus of condemnation against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

More than 50 people were reported killed as Syrian forces intensified their crackdown on an eastern city today.

Syrian forces attacked a central town and stormed parts of an eastern city, killing at least four people in fresh fighting as President Bashar Assad’s government struggled to crush a five-month-old uprising, activists said.

Qatar has pulled out of the effort to mediate an end to Yemen’s political crisis, blaming the country’s embattled president for the impasse.

Yemeni security forces opened fire on demonstrators and fired rocket-propelled grenades at an office building in a crackdown on protest in the flashpoint city of Taiz, killing three people.

A GULF Arab deal for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to cede power could be finalised within a week, Gulf officials said, as Yemen struggles to end a political crisis that threatens to plunge it into chaos.

FORCES loyal to Yemen’s president attacked protesters calling for his removal in a southern city yesterday, injuring dozens, according to activists.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s embattled president opened fire at protesters demanding his ouster across the country today, killing two demonstrators at two separate rallies and wounding at least 10 people at a third protest, activists said.

Yemen’s embattled president agreed tonight to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution, a major about-face for the autocratic leader who has ruled for 32 years.

A regional bloc of oil-rich Arab nations along the Gulf, including powerful Saudi Arabia, called on Yemen’s president to step down as part of a deal with the protest movement demanding for his ousting after 32 years.

The head of the Gulf’s main political group said today that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates remain part of the coalition striking Libya, but stressed the mission seeks only to protect civilians.

ANYONE who has followed the revolutions across North Africa will find the barely-concealed menace in the statement from Saif al-Islam, one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, that “everything will be over in 48 hours”, more than a little chilling.

A Saudi-led military force crossed into Bahrain to prop up the monarchy in the tiny island nation against widening demonstrations, launching the first cross-border military operation to quell unrest since the Arab world’s rebellions began in December.

A combined military force from Gulf states has entered Bahrain to help deal with a month of political unrest.

Thousands of Shiite opposition supporters in Bahrain blocked the entrance to prime minister’s office but failed to disrupt a government meeting today as the campaign for reform in the strategic Gulf nation enters its third week.

Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, posing a threat to its neighbours, and the United States is “very ready” to counter Iran should it make a move, the top US military officer said today.

The US Treasury Secretary said today there is “no quick fix” to high oil prices on a trip designed to urge Mideast producers to allow more outside investment to help boost output.

The destruction of Iran’s nuclear capabilities would be in the interest of the Arab nations in the Gulf, and it would be “less embarrassing” if it was done by Israel rather than the US, a top Kuwaiti strategist said in remarks published today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Islamic militants to cooperate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying the Hamas government cannot govern in the region.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet Egypt’s president and eight Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Tuesday in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks, Egypt’s state news agency reported today.

Arab Gulf nations plan to send an envoy to Iran to press it to find a negotiated solution to its nuclear stand-off with the United Nations in a new diplomatic effort after months of staying on the sidelines, officials said today.

Saudi Arabia’s US ambassador told Americans in the oil-rich city of Yanbu: “Go home. We cannot protect you”, following the terror attack that killed six foreign workers.

SYRIAN Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara has said his government is willing to sign a treaty making the entire Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.

ISLAMIC leaders will gather in Qatar tomorrow Wednesday for an emergency summit in yet another 11th-hour bid by a regional organisation to convince the US to forgo plans to invade and occupy Iraq.

IRAQ poured scorn on the United Arab Emirates yesterday for urging Saddam Hussein to go into exile, but the small Persian Gulf state pressed on seeking support for the proposal, calling it the only way to avert war.

Voters have cast ballots in Bahrain’s first election for representative bodies in nearly 30 years, marking another step in the Gulf nation’s transformation from absolute monarchy to democracy - and the first time Bahraini women were allowed to vote and run for office.

Gulf leaders are urging Western countries not to hold Islam responsible for actions and practices such as the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.