Afghanistan's President Karzai condemns latest airstrike in southern Afghanistan that killed seven civilians, according to preliminary reports. Elsewhere, in Farah province, insurgents destroyed at least nine trucks in a raid.
In Yemen's capital, the protests turned deadly, and Saleh orders an investigation.
Iraq city of Basra the site of three bombs today, which have killed 19 people and wounded at least 65 others.
Arab League foreign ministers have given Syria until Friday to sign an agreement allowing observers into the country.
Egyptian media reporting on Thursday the country's military rulers have appointed former Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri to form a new government after the previous civilian Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf resigned.
Libyan militia leaders who helped to topple the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi in an uprising this year have won top security posts in a new Cabinet appointed by the country's National Transitional Council.
Details after the break.
Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned a NATO airstrike that reportedly killed seven civilians, mostly children, in southern Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai's office said Thursday that reports by local officials indicate that an airstrike conducted by international forces in the Zheri district of Kandahar province killed seven people, including six children. Two young girls were wounded.
The Afghan president's office says Mr. Karzai was saddened when he heard the news and has designated a team to investigate the incident. NATO also has launched an investigation into Wednesday's incident.
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, U.S. General John Allen, said he also was saddened by the event and that protecting the Afghan civilian population is central to the coalition's mission in the country.
The governor of Zhari district, Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, told the French news agency that the strike was aimed at Taliban fighters planting roadside mines but missed its target and hit nearby residential areas.
In a statement, NATO officials said they had identified and were responding to offensive actions by insurgents.
In western Afghanistan Thursday, Afghan officials say Taliban militants killed at least seven local guards in an attack on a convoy carrying goods for international forces.
A spokesman for the governor of Farah province said insurgents destroyed at least nine trucks in Thursday's raid. Afghan police arrived at the scene to intervene.
The Associated Press quoted the provincial spokesman as saying no foreign troops were involved in the attack.
While the Taliban did not immediate claim responsibility for the assault, attacks on NATO convoys have been a major tactic in the militant's 10-year-long insurgency.
The major land routes for NATO supplies to landlocked Afghanistan also go through Pakistan, where militants there frequently target the trucks.
Yemen
At least five protesters were killed and scores of others wounded Thursday in the Yemeni capital Sana'a after gunmen in civilian clothes opened fire on them. Violence broke out despite the signing Wednesday, by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, of a plan to hand over power and hold new elections in three months.
Witnesses say gunmen in tribal attire opened fire on the crowd of mostly young protesters Thursday after they began marching from their main encampment at what is now called “Change Square.”
Arab satellite channels said the shootings took place as the protesters began marching in the direction of the presidential palace. Journalist Tom Finn also tweeted that “thousands of angry men marched out of Change Square.....saying they're heading for the palace.”
Al Arabiya TV showed video of the bodies of five dead protesters, along with images of ambulances ferrying wounded protesters to hospitals.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who signed a Gulf Cooperation Council plan Wednesday to transfer power to his vice president along with new presidential elections in three months, condemned the killings and ordered an investigation into what happened.
"The government wants people to feel that if Saleh leaves everything will turn chaotic," said
Hakim Almasmari, who is Editor-in-Chief of the Yemen Post newspaper. He insists that supporters of President Saleh are behind the shootings.
"Most of the protesters today blamed the ruling family for the attacks and eyewitnesses said that they saw gunmen escape the scene of the attacks in government vehicles," he said.
Iraq
Three bombings in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have killed 19 people and wounded at least 65 others.
Iraqi security officials and medical officials said Thursday the first two bombs, on motorcycles, exploded simultaneously in a busy market located in the city's center. A third blast went off as Iraqi army authorities and police arrived at the scene.
The officials said most of the casualties were soldiers and policemen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings.
Syria
Arab League foreign ministers have given Syria until Friday to sign an agreement allowing observers into the country.
League officials said Thursday representatives will meet again on Saturday to discuss sanctions if Damascus refuses to comply with their demand.
The regional group is considering further measures if Syria's government continues its bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters.
The Arab League, angered that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to fulfill a pledge to bring an end to the violence and pull Syrian forces out of major cities, suspended Syria's membership two weeks ago.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has suggested that the international community create what he called ""a humanitarian corridor" in Syria, sending in international monitors to ensure the safety of civilians.
Juppe said he would seek Arab League support for the measure and also discuss it with the United States and international partners at the United Nations.
Egypt
Egyptian media said Thursday the country's military rulers have appointed former Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri to form a new government after the previous civilian Cabinet of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf resigned.
State newspaper Al Ahram said on its website that Ganzouri agreed in principle to lead a national salvation government after meeting with the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
The council also insisted that parliamentary elections will go ahead as planned Monday, despite escalating violence that has left at least 35 people dead. After days of excusing the violent crackdown on demonstrators, the council reversed course Thursday and apologized for the deaths.
Meanwhile, thousands of Egyptian protesters and police observed a fragile truce Thursday, but the crowd remained in Cairo's Tahrir Square to press ahead with demands for the immediate resignation of the military leaders.
Libya
Libyan militia leaders who helped to topple the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi in an uprising this year have won top security posts in a new Cabinet appointed by the country's National Transitional Council.
Interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib announced his Cabinet line-up in a news conference late Tuesday after weeks of negotiations. He granted the defense minister position to Osama al-Juwali, a militia leader from the western town of Zintan whose forces helped to drive Gadhafi out of Tripoli in August and captured his fugitive son Seif al-Islam last week in the southern desert.
Seif al-Islam has been detained in Zintan pending arrangements for a trial. Zintan militiamen had pressured the NTC to award a prominent Cabinet post to Juwali.
Keib handed the other major security post of interior minister to Fawzi Abdelali, a militia leader from the western city of Misrata, Libya's third-largest. Anti-Gadhafi militiamen in Misrata resisted a months-long siege by Gadhafi forces during the uprising and later went on the offensive by storming into Tripoli, the dictator's power base.
Libyan oil executives also won key positions in the transitional government. Libya's new finance minister is Hassan Ziglam, a former executive at Libya's National Oil Corporation, while the new Libyan oil minister is Abdelrahman bin Yazza, a former executive with Italian energy company ENI, the biggest investor in Libya's oil sector.
Libya's ruling NTC also appointed a little-known diplomat, Ashour Bin Hayal, as foreign minister.
Prime Minister Keib told the news conference that he tried to form a Cabinet that will represent the interests of all of Libya's regions.
"We aim to achieve the justified dreams and goals of the Libyan people. Dreams of freedom, equality, development, justice and the establishment of a country of law with organizations that will improve education and increase the level of the Libyan people's income, provide equal chances to all in society," he said. "We want no separation by race nor sex and we will work on raising the next generations on the principles of the Islamic religion and teach them how to love and how to participate in making human civilization richer."
Keib said the transitional government will seek to achieve the dreams of the Libyan people for freedom, equality, development and justice under the rule of law. He also said the government will not discriminate on the basis of race or sex and will be guided Islamic principles.
All content based on VOA News reports
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