EGYPT

Despite overall growth in the country's economy, poverty in Nigeria is on the rise.

Tourists enjoying the sun and sand at the Maldives' luxury island resorts have barely put down their cocktails during the political crisis rocking Asia's newest democracy, oblivious to behind-the-scenes links of tourism to the tumult.

Syria said it has categorically rejected a new resolution from the Arab League which calls for the formation of a joint Arab-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country to help bring an end to the bloodshed that has lasted almost one year.

Millions of Internet users in Iran have been denied access to popular social networking sites, including Facebook, and email services like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail for the past one week, an Iranian news agency has reported.

Syrian forces resumed their bombardment of the city of Homs Monday after Arab countries called for U.N. peacekeepers and pledged their firm support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad.

The Arab League threw its support Sunday firmly behind the opposition mounting an uprising against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and called for the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to halt bloodshed.

An Egyptian parliamentary inquiry into the deaths of 74 people in a soccer stadium disaster has found both fans and lax security to blame for the worst incident of its kind in the country's history, the legislator leading it said on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in several nations this weekend demanding political justice, economic opportunity, and a change to the status quo. Demonstrators -- who powered the Arab Spring, the worldwide Occupy protests during the summer, and the anti-austerity marches of the European autumn -- are back on the streets in a winter of discontent.

The Arab League threw its support Sunday firmly behind the opposition mounting an uprising against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and called for the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to halt bloodshed.

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an online video recording posted on Sunday, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments in their revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Whitney Houston, a legend in the music industry and star of ”The Bodyguard,” died today, reported the AP. No cause of death has been announced according to her publicist Kristin Foster, and mourning celebrities took to Twitter to express their grief towards the 48-year-old superstar.

Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, Egypt's presidential candidate and a vocal supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said that there is no room for personal freedom in Islam.

The World Press Photo of the Year winner has been chosen. The photo chosen was not only beautiful, but symbolic and powerful as well.

Egypt's embattled military rulers faced pressure on all sides Thursday, with the newly empowered Muslim Brotherhood demanding the regime cede power as an intensifying standoff over American nonprofit employees imperiled U.S-Egyptian relations.

Samuel Aranda took top honors in the 2012 World Press Photo contest with a photo of a veiled woman holding her wounded relative during the 2011 protests in Yemen.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said he will travel to Egypt with a group of senators to try and diffuse a worsening standoff over Americans being tried for their work with pro-democracy organizations.

Unfazed by the U.S.' threat to cut aid, Egypt determined to continue its investigation into foreign non-governmental organizations and pro-democracy groups.

Egypt's government announced on Monday criminal charges against 19 Americans affiliated with pro-democracy organizations, escalating a dispute that is putting an immense strain on Egyptian-America relations.

An Egyptian military delegation abruptly cancelled its meetings with U.S. lawmakers to return to Cairo Monday after warnings from both Congress and the White House that Egypt's crackdown on non-governmental groups could threaten its $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.

Egyptian telecoms magnate Naguib Sawiris wants to get back on the acquisition trail, eyeing businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa after selling a chunk of assets to Russia's Vimpelcom.

Egypt, seemingly determined to expel all foreign agencies from the country, is going to prosecute 43 international NGO employees on criminal charges.