Muslim Brotherhood protests continue to mount in Egypt.
Tunisia's Islamist party has consolidated power in its new government.
America, Britain, and Canada have expanded sanctions on Iran. The Obama Administration has refused to comment on Iranian reports that it has uncovered American spies in Iran and its surrogate Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Libyan Rebels have formed their new government, while maintaining their right to put Qaddaffi's son and intelligence chief on trial.
Turkish-Syrian relations continue to deteriorate as Syrian forces attacked Turkish pilgrims.
Two Turkish citizens were wounded in the attack and were treated at a hospital near the border after the convoy crossed into Turkey. Turkish media said the buses were attacked after they asked for directions at a checkpoint and showed pictures of one bus with numerous bullet holes.
The latest incident came as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan again condemned the Syrian government for the eight-month-long crackdown on opposition protests and warned President Bashar al-Assad that his days are numbered.
Mr. Erdogan said Syria's leaders can stay in power with tanks and cannons only up to a certain point and the day will come when they will also have to leave.
Last week, pro-government Syrian protesters attacked several Turkish diplomatic missions, resulting in the evacuations of diplomats and their families.
Also Monday, Russia's Foreign Ministry accused Western nations of undermining the chances for a peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis by urging Mr. Assad's opponents not to seek compromise with the government. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow's position that the Syrian opposition share responsibility for the violence and should face international pressure to enter talks.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague is scheduled to meet Monday with Syrian rebel leaders in London.
Meanwhile, the commander of a group of Syrian army defectors retracted earlier claims that his followers launched an unprecedented attack in Damascus.
A Turkey-based air force colonel who heads the Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Asaad, said in a video posted on the group's Facebook page Monday that Mr. Assad's government is attempting to tarnish the image of the revolution. But he did not attempt to clarify why his group had alternately claimed and disputed responsibility for Sunday's attack on a ruling Baath Party building in Damascus.
Libya's transitional Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib says he has finalized the line-up for a new government and that he would name his cabinet Tuesday.
Mr. Keib said he was working hard to ensure that he picked competent people capable of doing the job.
His announcement Monday came after Libyan leaders moved to bring the former regime's two most wanted men — Moammar Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, and former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi — to justice. The fugitive son of the country's late dictator was captured Saturday and Senoussi on Sunday — both in Libya's southern desert near the border with Niger.
A Libyan militia that captured Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said it will hold him in the western town of Zintan until a trial can be organized and the Tripoli-based transitional government discusses his fate with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Senoussi, who is wanted by the ICC and by France for his involvement in the 1989 bombing of a French passenger plane over Niger that killed all 170 people on board, is being held in the town of Sabha by revolutionary fighters.
The White House is refusing to comment on reports U.S. spy networks have been uncovered in Iran and Lebanon, in what would be a significant setback for U.S. intelligence efforts.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday he would not comment on intelligence matters. But separately, U.S. officials have confirmed to reporters that Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have identified a number of spies. Officials say many have already been, or are in danger of being, executed.
The agents were paid informants working for the Central Intelligence Agency, and they were helping the U.S. gather information about Iran's nuclear programs and the activities of Hezbollah, considered by the U.S. a terrorist organization.
Some officials said being discovered is one of the dangers of being a spy. But some officials familiar with the situation say there are also indications the CIA may have failed to take adequate precautions to keep its informants safe.
The United States, Canada, and Britain have each announced new measures to increase economic pressures against Iran in response to international concerns that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.
The U.S. said late Monday it was imposing sanctions on goods and services used by Iran's oil and gas industry to discourage foreign companies from investing in the sector, and announced a worldwide diplomatic campaign to encourage countries to buy petrochemicals from other suppliers.
Iranian petrochemical companies have become increasingly involved in refining gasoline as other Iranian energy firms face international sanctions.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said the U.S. has also now designated Iran a territory of “primary money laundering concern.” He says this will send a warning that any transaction with Iranian banks could be supporting Iran's illegal activities. U.S. companies and individuals already are barred from doing business with Iran.
Both officials said further measures are being considered, including against Iran's Central Bank.
Earlier Monday, Britain said it will stop business transactions with all banks in Iran, including Iran's Central Bank, the first time Britain has cut ties with the entire banking sector of a country. And Canada announced it would block “virtually all transactions” with Iran, including those with its Central Bank. Canada said it will also ban the export to Iran of any goods used by Iran's petrochemical industry.
Reuters news agency quotes Iran's trade minister as saying sanctions are a “lose-lose” game for Western nations and Iran because the West will not be able to invest in Iran's oil projects.
The U.S. also said it has expanded the number of Iranian companies and organizations facing sanctions for suspected involvement in the Iranian nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency released a report earlier this month citing intelligence about Iranian efforts to develop the technology needed to build nuclear weapons. Iran has said the report is based on fabrications and insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
Since the release of the report, U.S. lawmakers have urged the Obama administration to impose tighter sanctions, including penalties against the Iranian central bank.
U.S. officials say President Barack Obama is reluctant to take that step because it could block the oil-producing nation's access to international commerce and export markets, leading to a potential rise in oil prices that could hurt global economic growth.
Meanwhile, the IAEA began a two-day meeting of Middle Eastern nations in Vienna Monday to discuss creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. Iran is boycotting the meeting.
Tunisia's three main political parties forming the country's new ruling coalition on Monday announced a power-sharing agreement for the top three state posts.
Under the agreement, Hamadi Jebali from the Islamist Ennahda party which received the most votes in last month's parliamentary elections, will hold the post of prime minister.
The head of the leftist Congress for the Republic Party, Moncef Marzouki, will become new president and Ettakatol's Mustafa Ben Jafaar will be speaker of the assembly which has the task of drafting a new constitution.
Tunisia's landmark elections were widely considered free and fair. The vote came nine months after Tunisians overthrew former president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
The revolt ignited a wave of pro-democracy protests across the region known as the “Arab Spring.”
The Ennahda party took 90 of 217 assembly seats in last month's polls – three times the number won by its nearest rival. Its leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, said his party would work to form a new government in “friendliness” and “brotherhood.”
The center-left Congress for the Republic, a secular party, placed second with 30 seats, while the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties — or Ettakatol — came in third with 21 seats.
Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has called for crisis talks with the country's political forces after the interim civilian cabinet submitted its resignation and three days of anti-military protests and a fierce security crackdown killed at least 24 people.
In a statement late Monday, the military council urged calm and called for a national dialogue “to look into the reasons behind the current crisis and ways to resolve it as quickly as possible.”
The statement, carried by Egypt's state news agency MENA, also voiced its “deep sorrow over the deaths during the recent painful events,” and said the council ordered security forces to take all necessary measures to protect the demonstrators.
MENA said the civilian cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf will continue to perform its duties until the military council decides whether to accept the resignations.
The White House said Monday it was “deeply concerned” about the violence and urged restraint by all sides. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the loss of life and called on authorities to guarantee the protection of human rights and civil liberties for all Egyptians, including the right to peaceful protest.”
Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Egypt's rulers of brutality sometimes exceeding that of former President Hosni Mubarak. The group's Philip Luther said that “by using military courts to try thousands of civilians, cracking down on peaceful protests and expanding the emergency law, the military council has continued the tradition of repressive rule which the January 25 demonstrators fought so hard to get rid of.”
Protests continued across the country Monday, including Cairo's central Tahrir Square, in what some are calling “Egypt's second revolution.”
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