Five people died in anti-government protests in Morocco and many buildings were damaged, but the nation-wide marches were not met with harsh repression from King Mohammed VI’s government.

Under a cold drizzle, thousands of Moroccans gathered Sunday in the main cities of the kingdom to demonstrate in favor of political reform. Many of the demonstrators carried out angry acts of vandalism and five people burned to death when a bank was set on fire in the northern city of Al Hoceima. In all 128 people, including 115 member of the security forces, were injured and 33 public buildings, 24 banks, 50 shops and private buildings and 66 vehicles were burned or damaged, according to the Interior Ministry.

Abdullah al-Kidd was arrested at a Dulles Airport ticket counter in March 2003, led away in handcuffs and sent to three different jails across the country. He says he was strip searched and subjected to humiliating conditions. After two weeks, he was released and never charged with a crime.

The dispute tests when top officials can be held responsible for a policy that violates someone’s rights. It is one of the lingering controversies surrounding Bush administration actions after 9/11, pitting national security concerns against civil liberties.

Just hours after House Republicans passed their bill late last week to cut $61 billion from 2010 spending, or what amounts to $100 billion below President Obama‘s original proposal, Senate Democrats countered with their ante — $41 billion short of Mr. Obama‘s budget, or essentially a straight spending freeze at the current fiscal year’s levels.

Republicans say the fiscal situation is bad enough that deep cuts need to be made now. Democrats say cutting that deeply now could upset the economic recovery, and they argue the key is to have a longer-term plan in place.

The Names of the 92 House Republicans That Votes Against Cutting Government Spending

Several top Chinese rights activists have disappeared into police custody as a web campaign urged angry citizens to mark the Middle East’s ‘‘Jasmine Revolution’’ with protests, campaigners say.

Up to 15 leading rights lawyers and activists have disappeared since Saturday, said campaigners, while the government appeared to censor internet postings calling for the demonstrations.

As many other Arabic countries, Morocco was also touched by the Arab street fever protests. Rallies took place on February 20 in Rabat and Casablanca, the economic capital of the Kingdom.

About 3000 demonstrators in Rabat and a thousand in Casablanca called for more social justice and chanted slogans against the government led by Prime Minister El Fassi. The demonstrators also called for reform and greater democratization of political life, the fight against corruption and a better integration of youth in active life, before dispersing peacefully. The mobilization follows the call by youth on the social network Facebook to protest peacefully on February 20 in support of demands for social and more freedom.

Yemeni riot police in the capital opened fire on thousands marching in the 10th day of unrest rocking the country, killing one and injuring five others yesterday. The country’s leader blamed the unrest on “a foreign plot.’’

Protesters seeking to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key US ally in fighting Al Qaeda, began marching from the University of Sana to the Ministry of Justice, chanting: “The people want the fall of the regime.’’

Thousands of Turks, including the wives of defendants charged with trying to topple the government, marched to the tomb of the founder of modern Turkey on Saturday to protest at the arrests of army officers.

The military leadership denies any coup plots.

Thousands of people have rallied in the Basque city of Bilbao in northern Spain to demand the legalisation of a new separatist party called Sortu.

Sortu’s backers say they now reject the use of violence and are committed to fighting for independence through purely political means.

Iranian media has reported that two Iranian warships were in the Mediterranean, in the first such passage since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and on their way to a Syrian port.

Manakhly did not say when the Iranian ships were scheduled to arrive but canal officials have privately said they were expected early on Monday.

... you would think that they would want him back in the country.

Madagascar’s ousted president, Marc Ravalomanana, was prevented from boarding a commercial flight here on Saturday, stymieing his attempt to return home after two years in exile.

Mr. Ravalomanana, with tickets in hand for himself and his family, arrived two hours early. But officials from the airline South African Airlink informed him that the Malagasy government had requested that he be turned away.

Libyan forces opened fire on mourners leaving a funeral for protesters Saturday in the flashpoint city of Benghazi, and a medical official said 15 people were killed, with bodies piling up in a hospital and doctors collapsing in grief at the sight of dead relatives.

As relatives buried their dead, they fell victim to a mixture of special commandos, foreign mercenaries and Gadhafi loyalists armed with knives, Kalashnikovs and even anti-aircraft missiles trying to quell the demonstrations, witnesses said.

A protest turned violent here in the Jordanian capital on Friday as government supporters clashed with demonstrators calling for political change, injuring several, witnesses said.

“Then,” recounted Firas Mahadin, 30, a movie director who took part in the protest, “more than a hundred young thugs surrounded us from in front and behind and started attacking us.

Thousands of people marched in protest through Djibouti on Friday, rallying against the ruling elite as well as economic stagnation within the small African nation.

“The march was peaceful and diverse,” said Aly Verjee, director of the international election observation mission to Djibouti, who witnessed the event.