Politician reportedly killed by tear gas canister as thousands use New Year celebrations to rally for rights. from (author unknown) via http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/03/2012318173842690891.html

Two men convicted of carrying out a 2011 bombing in Minsk have been put to death, drawing international condemnation from (author unknown) via http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/2012318164312437754.html

Egyptian spiritual leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church for more than 40 years Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, who has died aged 88 after suffering from prostate cancer, was for four decades the spiritual leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Christian community in the Middle East. In his…

Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead an American teacher in Taez city from (author unknown) via http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/mar/18/us-teacher-killed-yemen-video

At least three people have been killed and 25 injured in a car bomb explosion in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, according to reports. from (author unknown) via http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-17423157

Libya formally requests the handover of Col Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, following his arrest in Mauritania. from (author unknown) via http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-17421266

WASHINGTON — More than a decade into the war in Afghanistan, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney does not have enough information to “take a stand… Read more: Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Video, Hamid Karzei, Afghanistan, Politics News from The Huffington Post News Team via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/18/mitt-romney-afghanistan_n_1356730.html

First of all, I have a good reason, as a lifelong Democrat, to not want to reelect Obama this fall. No, it has nothing to do with his policies — dom… Read more: Gingrich, Gas, Santorum, March Madness, Afghanistan, Obama, GOP Primaries, Romney, Politics News from Robert Guttman via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-guttman/march-madness-obama-afgha_b_1348496.html

British journalist Paul Conroy, who covered the Baba Amr massacre in Homs from the scene, speaks at a London rally against the Syrian Baath regime: from Juan via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/juancole/ymbn/~3/ToHVHOubI1I/paul-conroy-speaks-at-syria-rally-in-london-covered-baba-amr.html

While media attention was focused on the aftermath of the Koran burning in Afghanistan last month, a story that otherwise would have made headlines everywhere went virtually unnoticed. It’s the story of Shah Mahmood, a young Afghan from war-ravaged Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan who saved a school by giving…