News stories by Correspondents * - IPS/Al Jazeera, page 3

As darkness fell across it, Deraa was a city under siege.

Tanks and troops control all roads in and out. Inside the city, shops are shuttered and nobody dare walk the once bustling market streets, today transformed into the kill zone of rooftop snipers.

Elections for the governors of two states in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north have been postponed because of violence, officials have announced.

Libya's opposition Transitional National Council has rejected outright the African Union's proposal to negotiate a way out from the country's deepening crisis.

Heavy fighting is continuing in Abidjan where forces loyal to Côte d'Ivoire's presidential rivals are battling for control of the country's main city.

Afghan officials say at least 11 people have been killed at a United Nations operational centre in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif when protests over the burning of the Quran by an American preacher turned violent.

Syrian opposition movements are readying for a day of rallies, dubbed 'Friday of Martyrs', across the country even as authorities announced a raft of measures aimed at meeting some of the protesters' demands.

Syrian security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters in the city of Sanamin near Daraa, killing at least 20 people, according to one witness.

Crowds have set fire to the courthouse and other buildings on a third straight day of demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Daraa.

Libya's government has announced it will halt all military operations in the country hours after the United Nations Security Council backed a no-fly zone over the country.

The king of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency for three months on the island following weeks of anti-government protests, as deadly clashes continued across the country.