10:50am UK, Monday February 21, 2011
Political uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have spurred protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of leaders across the region.
Yemen's president has said he will not step down in the face of mass protests
Libya:
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has demanded an end to violent protests against the regime that have left scores of people dead.
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has demanded an end to violent protests against the regime that have left scores of people dead.
Saif al Islam Gaddafi condemned the unprecedented uprising against his father's 41-year rule as a foreign plot and warned of "rivers of blood", if the demonstrations continue.
Saif acknowledged that at least 84 people had died since the unrest began in eastern cities on February 17, but Human Rights Watch has said at least 233 had been killed.
Heavy gunfire broke out across the capital Tripoli for the first time overnight into Monday and hundreds of demonstrators stormed and looted a South Korean construction site.
In the coastal city of Benghazi, protesters appeared to be largely in control after forcing troops and police to retreat to a compound. Government buildings were set ablaze and ransacked.
The US and the European Union have strongly condemned the use of lethal force in Libya, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for "the non-use of force and respect for basic freedoms".
Bahrain:
Predominantly Shia Muslim protesters continued to occupy the Pearl roundabout ahead of promised talks between opposition representatives and the Gulf nation's Sunni elite.
Predominantly Shia Muslim protesters continued to occupy the Pearl roundabout ahead of promised talks between opposition representatives and the Gulf nation's Sunni elite.
The heir to Bahrain's throne has been tasked by his father, King Hamad, with launching a wide-reaching dialogue with the opposition.
Bahrain's main trade union called off a strike it had organised for Monday, saying its demand for the right to demonstrate peacefully had been met.
But the opposition has reportedly called a large protest at the roundabout on Tuesday afternoon.
The opposition is demanding a constitutional monarchy that gives citizens a greater role in a directly elected government.
Yemen:
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said only defeat at the ballot box will make him quit, despite a growing protest movement calling for him to resign.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said only defeat at the ballot box will make him quit, despite a growing protest movement calling for him to resign.
"If they want me to quit, I will only leave through the ballot box," Mr Saleh told a news conference as thousands of protesters, including opposition MPs, gathered outside Sanaa University to demand his departure.
At least one person was killed and four wounded in the latest clashes with government forces in the southern port city of Aden, according to witnesses.
Soldiers reportedly opened fire on the group as they threw stones at a military patrol. The death brings the toll in nine days of protests against the president's 32-year rule to 12.
The Common Forum, an alliance of parliamentary opposition groups, said on Sunday that it would join street protests across the country and would not resume dialogue with the regime.
Iraq:
At least one person has been killed and dozens of others injured in demonstrations overnight in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, according to local officials.
At least one person has been killed and dozens of others injured in demonstrations overnight in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, according to local officials.
About 2,000 people took part in scattered rallies around the city, a local police official told reporters.
Many Kurds are frustrated with the tight grip with which the two ruling parties control the Kurdish autonomous region.
Hospital officials said around 20 people were shot, including a 17-year-old who later died of his wounds. The others were hit by flying stones.
Morocco:
At least 2,000 people took to the streets of the capital Rabat on Sunday to demand a new constitution to ensure greater democratic freedom in the North African country.
At least 2,000 people took to the streets of the capital Rabat on Sunday to demand a new constitution to ensure greater democratic freedom in the North African country.
Demonstrators demanded more economic opportunities, educational reform, better health services and help in coping with rising living costs.
The protesters said their criticisms were targeted at the parliament rather than King Mohammed VI, who is widely seen as a reformist monarch.
The protest was initiated by a group calling itself the February 20 Movement for Change, which has attracted 20,000 followers on the social networking website Facebook.
Smaller rallies were held in other cities across the country.
Algeria:
Anti-government protests that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt will not spread to Algeria as part of a "domino effect" across the region, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told reporters.
Anti-government protests that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt will not spread to Algeria as part of a "domino effect" across the region, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told reporters.
"The domino effect is an invention on the part of the media, including that of Algeria which is very free. I don't think it applies to Algeria. Algeria is not Egypt or Tunisia," he told Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.
Riot police clashed with anti-government protesters Saturday who tried to rally in May 1 Square in the centre of Algiers.
Iran:
A huge deployment of police and pro-regime militiamen in capital Tehran prevented large-scale protests on Sunday, but Iranian opposition websites reported a number of clashes.
A huge deployment of police and pro-regime militiamen in capital Tehran prevented large-scale protests on Sunday, but Iranian opposition websites reported a number of clashes.
Fars news agency, meanwhile, said Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was briefly arrested after "leading anti-revolutionaries and rioters" in Tehran.
On Sunday, supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had called for fresh demonstrations.