Serbia Breaking: General Ratko Mladic Arrested for War Crimes (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English reports:

Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for alleged war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict, has been arrested, Serbia has announced.

"On behalf of the Republic of Serbia we announce that Ratko Mladic has been arrested," Boris Tadic, the country's president, said.

"Today we closed one chapter of our difficult history that will bring us one step closer to full reconciliation in the region.

"All criminals must face justice," he said.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Aid Corridor for the Mountains

2130 GMT: After his refusal to sign a deal for transition of power, Yemen's President Saleh has telephoned Gulf leaders, including the heads of the Saudi, Bahraini, Kuwaiti, and Omani regimes.

Saleh blamed the opposition Joint Meeting Parties for the stalemate, saying they refused to sign the Gulf-brokered initiative "within the framework of transparency and openness".

The JMP had signed the agreement on Saturday night but balked at Saleh's insistence that they come to the Presidential Palace and sign again.

Saleh told the Gulf leaders that he was still ready to accept the initiative.

1955 GMT: Security forces charge a pro-reform demonstration in Tangier in Morocco today:

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Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Shooting in the Streets

Demonstration in Aleppo in Syria tonight:

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2000 GMT: A woman wails as she films the shooting of a protester in Taiz in Yemen today:

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The Latest from Iran (26 March): Trying Not to Forget

1640 GMT: CyberWatch. Is there an Iran-related blog you quite like? Deutsche Welle's awards, The BOBs, is looking for nominations for "Best Blog Persian".

1630 GMT: In the Skies. Austria's OMV says it has stopped refuelling Iran Air flights.

Several European companies suspended supplies to Iran Air last year, leading to the grounding of aircraft and cancellation of flights in Europe.

1140 GMT: Economy Watch. Workers of the Bandar Emam Petrochemical Plant are protesting against temporary employment contracts.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Dragging Out the Day

2045 GMT: Doctors have suggested that regime forces in Yemen used a form of nerve gas on pro-democracy protesters in Sanaa in a violent clash on Tuesday night.

The soldiers fired warning shots into the air before shooting gas and, it is claimed, live bullets into the crowd, killing one and injuring at least 75.

“The material in this gas makes people convulse for hours. It paralyzes them. They couldn’t move at all. We tried to give them oxygen but it didn’t work,” said Amaar Nujaim, a field doctor who works for Islamic Relief.

“We are seeing symptoms in the patient’s nerves, not in their respiratory systems. I’m 90 percent sure its nerve gas and not tear gas that was used,” said Sami Zaid, a doctor at the Science and Technology Hospital in Sanaa.

Mohammad Al-Sheikh, a pathologist at the same hospital, said that some of the victims had lost their muscular control and were forced to wear diapers.

“We have never seen tear gas cause these symptoms. We fear it may be a dangerous gas that is internationally forbidden,” Al-Sheikh said.

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Iran Journalism Special: Protecting the Nuclear Talks from Lady Ashton's Cleavage

Forget all the chatter about weapons, uranium stocks, and "break-out" capability at the nuclear discussions in Istanbul between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, Russia).

The clear-and-present danger was the chest of Lady Catherine Ashton, the head of the 5+1 delegation.

It was the newspaper Iran, confronted with a picture of Ashton and her Iranian counterpart, Saeed Jalili, that saw the threat of cleavage. However, thanks to their quick-working editors and PhotoShop, the mutually assured moral destruction of the original photograph (right) was averted:

The Latest from Iran (22 January): Documenting the Prisoners

1625 GMT: Why the Nuke Talks Stalled. A significant detail from Reuters....

The agency reports, from a "Western diplomat", that European Union foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton, speaking for the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, Germany, China, Russia, France) proposed that Iran send abroad 2,800 kilogrammes of low-enriched (3-4%) uranium and 40 kilogrammes of 20% uranium.

As Iran, according to Reuters, has a stockpile of "more than 3000 kilogrammes" of low-enriched uranium, the 5+1 Powers were effectively telling Iran that up to 90% of its uranium stock should be sent outside the country for processing.

Compare that with the offer on the table in Geneva in October 2009, which led to further talks before discussions stalled the following months: the 5+1 proposed that Iran send 60% of its low-enriched uranium (then estimated at 2000 kilogrammes) to Russia and France --- later Russia and France --- for processing. (At that point, Iran had no confirmed stocks of 20% uranium.)

Given Tehran's insistence on enriching uranium inside its borders, it's not too surprising that the 5+1's offer --- far worse for Tehran than what was on the table 15 months ago --- has not been welcomed.

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Belarus Feature: Crackdown on Dissent Continues (Schwirtz)

As Belarussian diplomats scrambled on Wednesday to assuage European concerns about the sweeping crackdown on dissent in their country, the authorities in Belarus were stepping up their campaign against the family of a former presidential candidate whose three-year-old son they have threatened to seize.

The security services conducted a search of the home of the former candidate, Andrei Sannikov, as well as the apartment of his wife’s mother, who has been caring for the child, Danil.

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Tunisia Latest: Government Says "Message Received" From Protests

2005 GMT: Footage has just been posted which claims to be of a protest tonight in Bizerte.

2000 GMT: Indeed, as we read the reassurances of the Minister of Interior, we see a video of demonstrators burning a poster of President Ben Ali.

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Egypt-Israel Analysis: Cairo Pushes Against "Threats to Hamas"

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reportedly asked his counterpart representing the European Union, Catherine Ashton, to send a force to stop arms smuggling, to the coast of Gaza, making an Israeli blockade unnecessary. However, Ashton commented, "This is just something that Foreign Minister Lieberman raised at dinner. This is not an issue that we're discussing."

Meanwhile the EU has responded to the Palestinian demand for the recognition of a state of Palestine by saying that they will do this "when appropriate".

On another front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hosted by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday. Netanyahu asked Mubarak to put pressure on Ramallah to sit at the negotiating table while Mubarak warned Netanyahu not to use hard power in Gaza. Mubarak said Israel must reassess its policy and "initiate concrete steps to build trust with the Palestinian Authority in a way that would allow negotiations to resume", adding that Israel's threats against Hamas may be detrimental to the peace process and regional stability.

For Cairo, although the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks are still at an impasse, the region cannot sustain another war. Blamed for cooperating with Israel over the blockade of Gaza and criticised for building its own walls to prevent smuggling, the Egyptian Government is pursuing diplomacy to maintain its credibility.

Egypt's balancing act: no boost to Hamas but also a closed door to any prospect of a renewal, two years after the last Gaza War, of Israeli military operations.