a spate of
attacks in the capital Baghdad, in which 60 people were killed last week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's dispute with his Sunni coalition partners has created a major crisis. There are growing fears that with last American soldier gone from Iraq, the country could descend into an
all-out
sectarian conflict.
Sudan says fighting is continuing in a region near north Darfur where government forces have killed a key rebel leader, Khalil Ibrahim, and 30 of his fighters. A spokesman for the rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, admitted their leader was killed in an air strike on Friday. A spokesman for the Sudanese army, Lieutenant al-Sawarmi Khaled, said Mr Ibrahim had died from his wounds.
"The battle was fought on Thursday, and the armed forces were able to destroy this group. Some managed to escape whilst others were injured. Amongst those injured seriously was the leader of the
renegade
movement. He was fatally wounded during the battle, but he did not die at the time."
Thousands of people have again taken to the streets of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The protest was against the killing of at least nine people on Saturday alleged to have been shot by security forces who fired on demonstrators demanding that the
immunity
from prosecution granted to the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh be revoked.
World News from the BBC
At least 12 people have been killed after a boat capsized in a lake in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Reports said the boat was carrying 25 people on a scenic tour of the lake near the state capital Chennai.