President Barack Obama says the world is "tightening the noose" on Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi, as the US extends sanctions to Gaddafi relatives.

Protesters in Bahrain demanding that the ruling family step down say they are being targeted with death threats, reports the BBC's Bill Law.

A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami, claiming hundreds of lives.

A US judge rules the government may ask three associates of Julian Assange to hand over Twitter details in the criminal investigation into Wikileaks.

A Palestinian has killed five Israelis, including three children, in an attack on a settlement in the West Bank, the Israeli military says.

The Associated Press sues several clothing retailers for unauthorised use of the iconic Hope image created by Shepard Fairey.

The Cuban government frees Oscar Elias Biscet, a high-profile dissident doctor who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003.

Police in Yemen attack a camp of anti-government demonstrators in the capital, Sanaa, with reports of one person killed.