Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has tentatively agreed to a five-point plan from opposition leaders that includes the demand that the man who has ruled this troubled nation for more than three decades step down by the end of the year, according the president's office.

Forces loyal to embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were reported to be moving Wednesday against areas held by the opposition in the country's east. But details of the reports conflicted, and the status of one key city, Port Brega, was unclear.

Fighting between rebels and government loyalists in Libyan cities intensified Monday as the United Nations reported that more than 100,000 refugees had fled into Tunisia and Egypt over the last week to escape the bloodshed that had drawn international condemnation.

Days after the police were run out of town or joined the revolution, the police station was burned down and its files strewn on charred ground, residents of this coastal Libyan city still are on the streets protesting Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

A defiant Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi vowed Tuesday not to resign and denounced the anti-government protesters who have challenged his regime as "greasy rats" and "drug-fueled mice" who deserve to be executed.

Four Americans, including a couple from Southern California, who were taken hostage by Somali pirates were fatally wounded by their captors while negotiations between the pirates and U.S. military forces were under way in the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.

The U.S. citizen who shot to death two motorcyclists in the eastern city of Lahore last month works with the CIA, Pakistani and U.S. officials said Monday — a revelation that could further aggravate anti-American sentiment within the Islamic, nuclear-armed nation and complicate Washington's efforts to secure his release.

Civilians with weapons seized from overrun army bases fought Sunday for control of Libya's eastern city of Benghazi as residents accused troops and mercenaries trying to crush an uprising against President Moammar Gadhafi of massacring more than 200 people.

Bahraini troops fired live ammunition and tear gas Friday at thousands of peaceful protesters in the capital's main square, causing dozens of casualties.

A judge Tuesday ordered Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl, then abused his authority by trying to get her released from custody after police picked her up on suspicion of stealing.