Hundreds of Yemeni women set fire to traditional female veils in protest at the government’s brutal crackdown against the country’s popular uprising, as clashes in the capital and another city killed 25 people.

Hundreds of Yemeni women set fire to traditional female veils today in protest at the government’s brutal crackdown against the country’s popular uprising, as overnight clashes in the capital and another city killed 25 people, officials said.

Security forces in Yemen have opened fire on anti-government protesters in the capital, killing at least two people, a medical official said.

Rapidly escalating street battles between opponents of Yemen's regime and forces loyal to its embattled president spread to the home districts of senior government figures and other highly sensitive areas of the capital today.

Clashes broke out in Yemen’s second most populous city between tribes and security forces during protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.

A senior leader of Yemen’s al-Qaida branch has been killed in fighting in the nearly lawless south of the country, the Defence Ministry said.

THE US made clear yesterday that it wants Yemen’s government to seize on the absence of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in a bid to effect a peaceful, orderly political transition.

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.

Wounded Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh tonight called on armed forces around the country to move against the “armed gangs” who hit his palace with rockets.

Soldiers loyal to Yemen’s embattled president have stormed a protest camp in a southern city and fired on the crowds indiscriminately, killing at least 20 people, a medical official has said.

GUNMEN killed six soldiers and wounded a seventh in central Yemen, a security official said.

Gunmen killed six soldiers and wounded a seventh in central Yemen today, a security official said.

HUGE crowds across Yemen demanded yesterday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave after months of unrest which has put the Arab world’s poorest country on the brink of an economic meltdown.

Yemeni security forces fired on thousands of anti-government protesters marching to the cabinet building today, killing one and injuring at least 40.

YEMENI forces fired at protesters blockading a government building yesterday, killing a shopkeeper and three protesters in Taiz, a city that has seen some of the largest demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, witnesses said.

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.

Twelve protesters were killed when Yemeni security forces opened fire on a massive anti-government demonstration in the capital Sanaa.

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.

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

The head of a grouping of Gulf Arab nations has presented a new proposal to Yemen's embattled president to resolve the country's crisis, calling on him to hand over power to a successor of his choice and leave within a month, according to a senior government official.

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have converged in the capital for rival demonstrations, with some demanding the president's removal and others showing their support.

Tens of thousands of protesters have poured into the streets of a city in southern Yemen in ongoing protests against long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Opposition parties in Yemen have urged the international community, regional powers and human rights groups to help stop the bloodshed in their country.

Military forces and police snipers opened fire today on marchers calling for the removal of Yemen’s embattled president, killing at least 12 people.

Security forces fired on crowds of protesting Yemenis today, killing at least six and wounding more than 30, in an increasing crackdown against the uprising.

DOZENS of Yemeni protesters were wounded yesterday when police used live rounds, tear gas and batons to try to break up demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who called for an end to weeks of unrest.

Witnesses say thousands of people in southern Yemen took to the streets to demand that their president step down, and that police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas, batons and bullets.

Yemen’s political opposition presented the most detailed outline of how it hopes to see power change hands after nearly two months of protests that have weakened the long-time president but failed to drive him from office.

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Yemen hurled stones at riot police backed by tanks in the southern province of Aden as rival rallies were held in the capital today.

The Yemeni president’s own tribe has called on him to step down after a deadly crackdown on protesters, robbing the embattled US-backed leader of vital support in a society dominated by blood ties.

Yemeni security forces fired live bullets and tear gas on two pro-democracy demonstrations today, killing two people – including a 15-year-old student – as the government clamps down on a growing protest movement, witnesses said.

Yemen's embattled president has failed to pacify protesters with plans to draw up a new constitution.

Several members of the Yemeni president’s ruling Congress party have resigned as tens of thousands of people again took to the streets to demand his removal.

Protests demanding economic reforms by Oman’s ruler have reached a key oil region in Oman, Government officials said.

Anti-government protests flared again in Yemen today with thousands of marchers demonstrating across the country.

Yemen’s embattled leader today rejected demands to step down, saying widespread demonstrations against his regime were unacceptable.

At least eight people have been injured in an apparent grenade attack as anti-government demonstrators clashed with supporters of Yemen's long-time ruler and riot police.

Protesters in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden have set fire to the municipal building and a third demonstrator was killed, witnesses said, as protests stretched into an eighth day.

Thousands marching for the overthrow of Yemen’s US-supported president clashed with police and government supporters today in a fifth straight day of Egypt-inspired protests.

ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters clashed with police who were blocking them from marching to Yemen’s presidential palace in Sanaa yesterday.

At least eight people were killed today when a three-storey building collapsed after explosives stored in its basement went off, security officials in southern Yemen said.

The remains of three men who committed suicide at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay have been sent home, the Pentagon said.