Necmettin Erbakan, former Turkish Prime Minister, Islamic thinker and founder of Turkey’s Islamist movement, breathed his last at Ankara’s Guven hospital where he was under treatment, on February 27. He was 85.

He was an engineer, academic and politician. “Erbakan was a scientist who devoted his life to learning. We will remember him with gratitude,” said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. “We lost a world leader,” said Yasin Hatipoglu, one of his...

President Barack Obama on February 26 called on Qaddafi to step down, saying that the Libyan government must be held accountable for its brutal crackdown on dissenters. The Obama administration also announced new sanctions against Libya, but that was overshadowed by the sharp demand for Qaddafi’s immediate ouster.“The president stated that when a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitim...

Two powerful tribal chiefs in Yemen on February 26 joined opposition forces demanding the ouster of the country’s longtime president, a new sign the embattled leader might be losing his grip on the impoverished, conflict-ridden country. The defections were a blow to President Ali Abdullah Saleh because the chiefs abandoning him are from his own tribe, the Hashid. That was a signal that he may not be able to capitalise on tribal rivalries to maintain power, a tactic he...

A prominent Bahraini opposition leader on February 26 returned from exile and urged the kingdom’s rulers to back up reform promises with action. Hassan Mushaima, who heads Haq movement, was embraced by a small group of supporters as he returned from months of voluntary exile in London. Mushaima, who had been among a group of activists previously accused of plotting to overthrow Bahrain’s rulers, called on the government to be more responsive to protesters’...

The strike reflects growing public frustration in North Africa’s most developed state over the sluggish pace of change since an uprising toppled President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali last month. “We are on strike demanding an end to all the pressure and to stop the c...

Necmettin Erbakan, former Turkish Prime Minister, Islamic thinker and founder of Turkey’s Islamist movement, breathed his last at Ankara’s Guven hospital where he was under treatment, on February 27. He was 85.

He was an engineer, academic and politician. “Erbakan was a scientist who devoted his life to learning. We will remember him with gratitude,” said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. “We lost a world leader,” said Yasin Hatipoglu, one of his...