Yemeni authorities released on Thursday 17 of 58 political activists held since the 2011 uprising against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, an AFP correspondent witnessed in Sanaa. As they came out of the central prison's compound, youth activists who have been pressing for their release raised their hands chanting: "Revolt, revolt -- it will go on." The former detainees quickly left with their families, who had been waiting outside.

The United Nations and Human Rights Watch called on Iraq on Tuesday to rescind its suspension of the licences of 10 satellite TV channels, a move that bars them from working in the country. Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also criticised the decision by the Communications and Media Commission, Iraq's media regulator, to suspended the channels for allegedly "encouraging violence and sectarianism."

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Oman's appeal court has freed on bail eight out of 11 jailed demonstrators pending a retrial ordered by the Supreme Court after they staged a hunger strike against their imprisonment, their lawyer said on Monday. The men, convicted of forming an illegal gathering, were jailed last year in a security crackdown after protests in the Gulf Arab sultanate inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere. They were sentenced to 18 months in prison after being detained at protests over unemployment and corruption.

Egypt's interior minister pleaded on Sunday for an end to "rumours" of police abuse, saying his forces had never fired a single shot at protesters since the start of the 2011 uprising. Mohammed Ibrahim, who is facing an unprecedented strike by thousands of police officers across the country calling for his resignation, told reporters the media was waging an attack against the ministry and spreading lies. "We are the ones being hit with stones. We are the ones being hit with live bullets... this is putting too much psychological pressure on officers," Ibrahim said.