Iran detains son of prominent opposition leader (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran – An Iranian opposition website says authorities have detained the son of opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi.

The Tuesday report on Sahamnews.net also says Ali Karroubi was taken into custody on Monday. Ali is not known as an activist, and his detention is widely viewed as at attempt to gain leverage on his father.

The website also says security forces raided the elder Karroubi's house, locking him and his wife Fatemeh in separate rooms and confiscating books and documents.

Karroubi and fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been under house arrest since organizing a rally last week.

At least two people were killed Feb. 14 in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters in Tehran. The rallies were the opposition's largest in more than a year.

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Yemen separatist leader held, two die after protests (Reuters)

By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Mohammed Ghobari Mohammed Mukhashaf And Mohammed Ghobari – Sun Feb 20, 6:19 pm ET
ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) – The leader of Yemen's secessionist Southern Movement was arrested and shots were fired on the ninth day of demonstrations in the capital Sanaa on Sunday.
A male protester and a young girl died in a hospital in the southern city of Aden, after being wounded, apparently by stray bullets, during protests on Saturday in a nearby town, a doctor told Reuters. Their deaths brought the toll from the past two days to seven.
Thousands of people staged sit-ins in the cities of Ibb and Taiz, as well as in two districts of Aden, to demand the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who renewed an offer of dialogue to opposition parties.
Saleh, a U.S. ally battling a resurgent al Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has held power for 32 years in the poor Arabian Peninsula state, which faces soaring unemployment, dwindling oil and water reserves, and chronic unrest in northern and southern provinces.
Security in Aden was stepped up on Sunday, with tanks and armored vehicles out on main streets.
Hasan Baoum, head of the secessionist Southern Movement, was arrested by an "armed military group" in an Aden hospital where he was being treated, his son Fadi Hasan Baoum told Reuters.
Baoum was also arrested in November last year, accused of planning illegal demonstrations.
CALL FOR DIALOGUE
Saleh renewed his call for dialogue with opposition parties and blamed the latest protests on "elements outside the system and the law."
"Dialogue is the best way. Not sabotage. Not blocking the roads," he told tribal, military and civil leaders in Sanaa.
But the coalition of main opposition parties, including the Islamist Islah and the secular Socialist Party, said there could be no dialogue with "bullets and sticks and thuggery," or with a government "which gathers mercenaries to ... terrorize people."
Around 50 government supporters tried to break up a demonstration outside Sanaa University by 1,000 protesters.
A Saleh supporter fired shots from an assault rifle but there were no reported casualties and the government supporters soon dispersed, while the protesters chanted, "Leave, Ali!"
Both sides fired weapons on Saturday outside the university -- the first reported use of firearms by demonstrators. Several protesters were hurt in those clashes.
PROTESTS AND SIT-INS
Protests have taken place across Yemen, a country of 23 million which borders the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
In the southern city of Ibb, around 1,000 protesters set up camp in Freedom Square waving banners which read "Leave" and "The people want the fall of the regime," witnesses said.
In Taiz, thousands continued a sit-in for a ninth day. Hundreds launched new sit-ins in the Mansoura and Crater districts of Aden.
Twelve Yemeni human rights groups demanded in a statement that security officials in Aden, Sanaa and Taiz be put on trials over attacks on protesters.
On Saturday, Saleh blamed a "foreign agenda" and a "conspiracy against Yemen, its security and stability" for the protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption which have gained momentum since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
Saleh is facing an al Qaeda branch that has launched attacks at home and abroad. He is also confronted by a separatist revolt in the south and trying to maintain a shaky truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north.
(Additional reporting Mohamed Sudam; writing by Jason Benham, Dominic Evans and Firouz Sedarat; editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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Harper talks to NDP leader Layton as election threatens (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed the upcoming budget with the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party on Friday, a meeting that could bring concessions that might avert an election this year.

Harper's Conservatives, re-elected in October 2008, have a minority of seats in the House of Commons and need the backing of one of three opposition parties to pass the budget bill in March. A defeat over the budget would force an election.

"Our talks were cordial and respectful. The prime minister offered no assurances, but I am confident that my proposals were received and well understood," NDP leader Jack Layton said in a statement afterwards, without saying there was any agreement.

The NDP is on the left of the political spectrum, but it has been seen as the only party that might agree to back the budget. It is trailing in the polls and Layton has been recovering from cancer and now has a fractured hip.

March 22 is the most likely date for presenting the budget, though the government has made no announcement.

Layton said he provided four practical proposals: taking the federal sales tax off home heating bills; boosting pension payments for low-income seniors; strengthening the Canada Pension Plan; and taking action to help the 5 million Canadians who do not have a family doctor.

"Our New Democrat record is clear. I am always ready to work with other party leaders to get immediate action for Canadian families," Layton said.

"If Mr. Harper wants to head into an election showing that he is unable to put the needs of Canadians ahead of his own political goals, New Democrats are well prepared to fight that election."

Conservative sources said it was likely the government would be able to sweeten pensions for poor seniors. The government has also been taking some action to broaden the Canada Pension Plan, but the sources weren't sure if that would be enough for Layton.

Harper insists he does not want an election any time soon, but his lead in recent opinion polls is sufficiently strong that he may not be inclined to make too many concessions.

"The prime minister was pleased to hear Mr. Layton's views," Dimitri Soudas, Harper's communications director, said in a statement released after the meeting. "As the prime minister has stated publicly, this is not the time for an opportunistic election."

(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Frank McGurty)

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Rwanda jails opposition leader, fines 3 others (AP)

KIGALI, Rwanda – Rwanda's High Court has sentenced an opposition leader to four years in prison.

Bernard Ntaganda of the PS-Imberakuri was sentenced Friday for endangering national security, attempting to organize unauthorized protests and inciting ethnic divisions.

Three members of another opposition party, FDU-Inkingi, were fined.

Human Rights Watch says the sentences are a blow to freedom of expression and democracy, and that Ntaganda has criticized the government but not called for violence.

The sentences come a week after two female journalists were jailed for publicly criticizing the government in an article.

Rwanda's National Public Prosecuting Authority issued a statement welcoming Friday's sentences.

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Maine Tea Party leader to challenge Snowe in 2012 (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine – The Maine coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots says he will run against U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe in the 2012 Republican primary.

Andrew Ian Dodge of Harpswell announced Friday that he's challenging Snowe for the seat she has held since 1995. Calling Snowe a "rubber stamp for Obama," Dodge says she's vulnerable in the primary because of her moderate political positions.

He made his formal announcement at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Snowe's chief of staff, John Richter, said he was surprised that Dodge didn't make his announcement in the state whose people he wants to represent. He also said Snowe has never taken a race for granted, "and 2012 is no exception."

Former Republican congressional candidate Scott D'Amboise of Lisbon Falls previously announced he intends to challenge Snowe, as well.

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