WORLD

The Danish Immigration Minister Birthe Roenn Hornbech has been fired after her department wrongly refused citizenship to three dozen stateless Palestinian youths.

One of the most powerful political figures in Iran, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has lost his position as chief of an influential clerical body, according to media reports.

Officials in Saudi Arabia have freed a popular Shia cleric whose earlier arrest had prompted protests and calls for a day of rage demonstration on Friday.

Youth activist groups are planning to hold a rally to demand the resignation of the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah and to call for democratic reforms and greater freedoms.

Confusion reigns in Libya over whether Moammar Gaddafi offered rebel leaders a peace deal or not.

President Barack Obama went back on his campaign promise to close down Guantanamo Bay detention center for suspected terrorists and signed an executive order to create a system for indefinitely holding suspects at the military prison.

In an 8 minute video news report, former U.S. Prosecutor Richard Fine outlines his strategy to return integrity to the California Court system and the reasons why State Superior Court Judges cannot sit on cases where they have received money from parties who appear before them.

It remains unclear whether Beijing's lofty rhetoric will achieve the desired results given political realities, the analyst says. Since reform and opening up of the 1970s, power has become increasingly decentralized in China meaning that the implementation of nationwide policy now necessitates a more prolonged process of consultation.

Eight new airports across the country will offer flights to Cuba, following President Barack Obama's decision to ease travel restrictions to Cuba early this year.

Chinese authorities have closed the Tibetan region for foreign tourists ahead of the third anniversary of violent anti-government riots there, the AFP reported today.

A latest video of the 2001 Sept 11 attacks on World Trade Centre has surfaced, which is shot from a police helicopter hovering near the burning World Trade Center towers in the hope of rescuing survivors.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was looking for an agreement allowing him to step down, said Al Jazeera quoting sources in the governing council.

The six Persian Gulf states have expressed their support for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, while the U.S., U.K. and France try to hammer out an agreement with the United Nations for just such a measure.

Sarah Palin’s planned trip to India this month raises speculation that it might be in preparation for her 2012 Presidential campaign (i.e., as a way to enhance her foreign policy credibility in the world’s most populous democracy).

A famous documentary about the Nazi Holocaust, Shoah, will be broadcast on a Satellite TV channel which shows programs in Iran.

After 19 months, the Iranian government restored access to YouTube, roughly coinciding with the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

For most outsiders, Libya means just two things: oil and Moammar Gaddafi. But Libya is much more than that.

President Barack Obama said the U.S. and its NATO allies are weighing wide range of potential options (including military intervention) to pressure Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi from committing any further acts of unacceptable against the opposition rebels.

Yemeni riot police have reportedly fired warning shots and used night-sticks to beat back prisoners in the central jail of the nation’s capital, Sanaa, after they demanded the overthrow of Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to a security official.

The United Nations said it will be sending a team of specialists to assess the humanitarian crisis in Libya, as thousands of foreigners remain trapped in the country and fighting intensifies between forces opposed to and loyal to Moammar Gaddafi.

Isolated spikes of Internet activity showed up in Libya over the weekend, according to Google's Transparency Report, but it is intermittent and Libya is still largely cut off from the rest of the world.

Sen. Mark Miller, the leader of 14 Wisconsin Democrats who fled to Illinois to delay a bill that would weaken public unions, has proposed an in-person meeting with Gov. Scott Walker and the lead Republican in the state Senate, Scott Fitzgerald.

Tunisia's interim interior ministry has said it will dissolve the State Security Department, the nation's once feared secret police service.

Anti-government protests are escalating in Bahrain, as demonstrators have already marched on the U.S. embassy are now assembling before the main financial hub of downtown Manama.

Al Qaeda's attempts to recruit in the United States and three incidents over the past two years involving killings or attempted killings of Americans are what prompted an investigation into the extent of radicalization in the Muslim community, Rep. Peter King of New York said on Sunday.

Following a string of high-profile resignations, Tunisia's interim prime minister has named a new cabinet, amidst continued public outrage over too many top officials have close ties to the deposed former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Despite massive public indignation over bankers bonuses, the chief executive of Barclays plc (NYSE: BLS) will receive a £6.5-million bonus, according to reports, making him the highest paid bank boss in Britain.

Saudi Arabia will witness greater popular pressures and potential unrest in the long run, unless the Kingdom deals with socio-economic and political challenges, a Middle East analyst has said.

Japan's beleaguered Prime Minister Naoto Kan has shrugged off calls for him to resign from office, soon after his former foreign minister quit as a result of a donation scandal after only six months on the job.