News stories by Correspondents* - IPS/Al Jazeera, page 11

Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has blamed 'conspirators' for two weeks of anti-government protests that have rocked the nation.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are resisting an advance by Libyan rebels towards the embattled Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte in the fiercest clashes since the start of a sweeping offensive that has brought a string of coastal towns under opposition control.

Libya's pro-democracy fighters have formed an 'interim government' even as forces backing the country's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, press ahead with attacks against them.

Several top Yemeni army commanders have declared their support for anti-government protesters seeking the resignation of the country's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Workers battling to contain the crisis at Japan's quake- stricken Fukushima nuclear plant were briefly moved to a bunker because of a rise in radiation levels, local media has reported.

Security forces in Bahrain have driven out pro-democracy protesters from the Pearl Roundabout in the capital Manama.

A Saudi military force of about 1,000 troops has entered Bahrain to help protect government facilities there, according to witnesses and reports citing Saudi sources.

A second explosion has rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air and touching off fresh concerns of a radioactive leak in the quake and tsunami-hit country.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president, has promised to put a new constitution to a referendum this year and move the country to a 'parliamentary system' but opponents say the move fails to meet the demands of anti-government protesters.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have launched new air raids on the oil city of Ras Lanuf and are closing in on the western town of Az Zawiyah.