5th day of clashes in Cairo
Clashes between protesters and security forces in Egypt are now entering their 6th day, despite promises by the ruling military council to speed up the presidential elections.
Security forces in Cairo have fired their guns into the air and have been using teargas to disperse protesters near Tahrir Square.
Meantime, one of the candidates in the forthcoming Egyptian presidential elections, Amr Moussa, is now pleading for an end to the violence.
The death toll in the unrest, which began on Saturday, now stands at 37 with at least 2-thousand others hurt.
Yemen power transfer deal
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has finally signed away his power after 10 months of protests against his rule that have crippled the country.
Saleh has signed the Gulf Cooperation Council deal in Saudi Arabia.
Under the deal, Saleh transfers his powers to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
However, Saleh will remain honorary president for three months, during which time his vice president will form a national unity government and set a new Presidential election in two months.
However, the deal has done little to calm protesters.
Mass demonstrations have taken place in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The protesters say they don't accept that Saleh can avoid prosecution.
Syrian defectors calling for Turkey to establish a buffer zone inside Syria territory
Defectors from the Syrian military are now calling on Turkey to establish a buffer zone inside Syria territory.
They're making the call to try to establish the area as base to organise armed against Syrian military forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Although Turkey currently represents a rear base for the rebels, most defectors are certain their numbers would multiply if they could operate from Syrian territory, with Turkey providing a protective umbrella.
The defectors are also calling for arms from Turkey.
Chinese leaders meet Turkmen President, pledging cooperation
China and Turkmenistan have signed a new agreement to increase Turkmenistan's natural gas supplies to China.
The deal comes following meetings among Chinese President Hu Jintao, Top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in Beijing.
Both sides have also agreed to work together to maintain the security of the natural gas pipeline that runs between them.
Berdymukhamedov is in Beijing for a four-day state visit to China.
Following his time in Beijing, Turkmenistan's President is also due to travel to Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
China, Japan pledge efforts to boost mutual trust
The Chinese and Japanese sides are now promising to try to increase political trust between them.
The suggestion has come as part of Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba's visit to Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has described the bilateral ties between the two countries as "generally good."
Gemba has come to Beijing to try to pave way for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's planned visit to China this coming month.
Noda would be the first Japanese prime minister to visit China since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in 2009.
Tunisian interim PM offers government resignation, new cabinet soon to be announced
Tunisia's interim Prime Minister has now tendered his resignation.
This is a necessary move in order to continue the transition of political power in the country.
Beji Caid Essebsi has been holding the interim Prime Ministership, awaiting a political agreement to form a new Constitutional Assembly in Tunisia, which was finally agreed to on Monday.
As part of that power sharing agreement, the three main political parties in Tunisia have agreed to a split of the power structure, with the leading Ennahda Party's Secretary General, Hamadi Jebali, now set to become the new Prime Minister.
His cabinet is expected to be unveiled soon.
Demonstrators clash briefly with police in Kuwait over arrest of activists
Brief clashes have taken place again in Kuwait.
This time, around 300 demonstrators opposed to the arrest of another group of protesters last week got into scuffles with police outside Kuwait's central criminal investigation offices.
There were only a couple of minor injuries in this latest rally.
Last week, a group of demonstrators stormed the Kuwaiti parliament, demanding the resignation of the country's Prime Minister, leading to the arrest of 20 activists.
Kuwait's Amir, Sheikh Sabah, holds the ultimate power in Kuwait, and has been unwilling to sack the Prime Minister or his government, despite weekly demonstrations that have been taking place in the tiny state since February.
Hillary Clinton to visit Myanmar
The US State Department has now revealed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is going to be travelling to Myanmar at the end of this month.
Clinton is scheduled to visit the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, as well as Rangoon, for three days, starting this coming Wednesday.
The announcement marks the highest level of contact that the United States has had with Myanmar in decades.
It's been over 50-years since a US Secretary of State has visited Myanmar.
The move comes after US President Barack Obama last week suggested that the United States is seeing "flickers of progress" in Myanmar.
The two countries have long been at odds over human rights and the control that the military in Myanmar exercises in the country's political structure.
希拉里·克林顿即将访问缅甸
美国国务院已经透露,美国国务卿希拉里克林顿将在本月底前往缅甸 。
克林顿计划下星期三开始进行为期三天的新首都Nay Pyi Taw及仰光的访问 。
这标志着十年内美国将与缅甸有最高层次的联系 。
自从美国国务卿访问缅甸以来已有50年的历史 。
这一决定源于美国总统奥巴马上周建议美国看看缅甸“一些进步的迹象” 。
这两个国家一直在国家的政治结构存在缅甸人权和军队的控制 。
词语解释:
1. reveal v. 展现,显露
2. contact v. 联系
3. flick v. 轻拍,轻打