SYRIA Syrian gunboats pound the Mediterranean port city of Latakia with heavy machine gun fire, killing at least 19 people in the latest wave of the regime's crackdown on anti-government protests. The attacks are part of an aggressive new military offensive that began with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the start of August. Several hundred people were killed in the first week alone, ___ EGYPT A prominent Egyptian activist is charged with slandering and inciting violence against the country's ruling generals through social networking sites. The military prosecutor uses Asmaa Mahfouz's writing on Facebook and Twitter as evidence, along with a call to a private TV station in which she accused the country's rulers of planning an attack on protesters. She is accused of inciting violence by criticizing the slow procedure of trials, and warning that people may take justice into their own hands. ___ LIBYA Libyan rebels in pickup trucks mounted with weapons and troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi battle in the streets of Zawiya, a day after opposition forces pushed from the western mountains into the strategic city in their most dramatic advance in months. Pro-Gadhafi snipers shoot at rebels from an overpass deep in the city, while loud booms echo and a column of heavy black smoke rises over the outskirts. ___ YEMEN A new wave of fighting erupts in Yemen in a southern provincial capital that has been overrun by extremist militants, killing at least 17 al-Qaida-linked fighters and three soldiers. The United States and neighboring Saudi Arabia are particularly concerned about al-Qaida in Yemen, which is the terror group's most active branch. Al-Qaida-linked militants quickly overtook towns after the June departure of longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after an attack on his palace, part of protests demanding his ouster. ___ OMAN An Omani court orders a two-week postponement in the slander trial of two newspaper editors over articles alleging widespread corruption inside the Justice Ministry. The charges could lead to the closure of the Azzaman daily and have brought complaints from press watchdog groups about media clampdowns in the tightly ruled Arabian peninsula nation, which faced pro-reform protests earlier this year. ___ ALGERIA A suicide bomber crashes a small truck laden with explosives into a police station in the capital of the Kabylie region east of Algiers, injuring at least 29 people. No one claims responsibility for the attack. Kabylie, the Berber capital, is the stronghold of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. ___ JORDAN A reform committee plans to present constitutional changes to Jordan's King Abdullah II, but activists say the changes do not go far enough. The proposed changes would still allow Jordan's monarch to retain most of his absolute power. Protesters have been taking to the streets in Jordan for seven months, demanding more power for the parliament, lower food prices, a greater say in politics, an end to government corruption and the election of a prime minister.
