2 dead in anti-government rally in Yemen
Tensions are mounting in Yemen after 2 people were killed in clashes with security forces during an anti-government demonstration.
Protests have been spreading across Yemen over the past week. The demonstrators are demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after more than 2 decades in power. The protestors also want the government to do more to tackle poverty.
An AFP news agency report says security troops fired on hundreds of demonstrators in the southern city of Aden on Wednesday, killing 2 men.
In the capital Sanaa, where anti-government rallies have continued for 6 straight days, riot police fired warning shots on student protestors.
In the city of Taiz, demonstrators have reportedly occupied a central square.
In an effort to calm the situation, President Saleh announced earlier this month that he will step down after his term expires and will not run in a presidential election in 2013.
2 dead in Bahrain crackdown
In Bahrain, police have stormed the capital's main square to break up anti-government protests on Thursday, leaving 2 people dead and several hundred injured.
Thousands of mainly Shia demonstrators had occupied Pearl Square in central Manama since Monday to protest minority Sunni rule. Many of them responded to online calls for demonstrations.
Protestors say hundreds of police and security personnel blocked roads leading to the square before dawn on Thursday.
They say police then used tear gas and rubber bullets to drive out the demonstrators.
An opposition group calling for the demonstrations says 2 men were killed and several hundred others injured, including women and children.
The Bahraini government has yet to comment on the latest development.
But the protesters are denouncing the government, telling NHK that authorities suppressed peaceful demonstrations with violence in the predawn hours when there's little media attention.
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