Revered Authority on Jewish Law Elyashiv Dies at 102

Thousands crowded the streets of Jerusalem Wednesday for the funeral of one of the world's top authorities on Jewish law, Israeli Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

The rabbi died earlier Wednesday of heart failure at age 102.

The Lithuanian-born Rabbi Elyashiv came to what is now Israel as a child. After retiring as a judge in the rabbinical courts, he dedicated his life to the study of the book of Jewish law and customs known as the Talmud.

He became the preeminent authority on Jewish law. Hundreds of people would line up for hours outside his tiny Jerusalem apartment for advice or to spend just a few moments with the rabbi.

He also led a small ultra-Orthodox party in the Israeli parliament.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country has lost an unmatched authority who left a deep mark on the Israeli people.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shamir Dies

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who staunchly opposed giving up land to the Palestinians, has died. He was 96.

Shamir served as prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and again from 1986 to 1992.

He was known for resisting international pressure to make concessions, yet initiated a peace process in Spain that led to many future diplomatic overtures by his successors.

Born Yitzhak Jazernicki in Poland, he emigrated to British-ruled Palestine in 1935. He joined Lehi, the most hardline of Jewish movements fighting the British rule.

After Israel became a state in 1948, he became one of the founders of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

Shamir gave up spying in 1965 and entered politics five years later to become speaker of the Knesset after his right-wing Likud party won general elections in 1977.

In 1999 he left Likud, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu, the current prime minister, of betraying his party's ideology by agreeing to limited Palestinian sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank.

He lived in a retirement home north of Tel Aviv until his death.

(Photo by Gerald B. Johnson: Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel is greeted by officials at Andrews Air Force Base as he and his entourage arrive for a state visit, 14 March 1988.)

Egypt’s Mubarak Reported Clincially Dead

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the man long seen as the symbol of stability in the Middle East but who was ousted in a popular uprising, has been declared clinically dead after suffering a stroke in prison. He was 84.

Egypt's state news agency announced that his doctors declared his clincially dead late Tuesday.

Mubarak ruled Egypt for almost 30 years until he was swept from power in an 18-day wave of mass protests in February 2011.

The son of a justice ministry official, he rose through the ranks of the Egyptian Air Force, eventually becoming commander and deputy defense minister.

Mubarak was named President Anwar Sadat's deputy in 1975 and was at his side when Sadat was assassinated in October 1981 by Islamist militants.

The autocratic leader then assumed the presidency and retained power by positioning himself as a trusted Western ally who honored the 1979 peace treaty with Israel despite fierce opposition throughout most of the Middle East.

At home, he ruled with an iron fist, imposing Egypt's infamous emergency law, which gave Mubarak and his security forces sweeping powers to crack down on dissent and curb basic freedoms.

The reviled measures – including the use of torture – remained in effect for 31 years, until Egyptian military rulers revoked them last month . Rights activists hailed the law's expiration as a historic milestone and among the most important dividends of last year's popular revolt.

When Islamist extremists killed hundreds of Egyptian policemen, soldiers and civilians and dozens of foreign tourists in a violent campaign in the 1990s, Mubarak cracked down.

The authoritarian president had long fought to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood – the Arab world's largest transnational Islamist movement, which originated in Egypt. In doing so, he also marginalized moderate Islamists, alienating their supporters. Many accused him of corruption.

For three decades, Mubarak presided over an uneasy period of enforced stability and economic development. Every six years, he staged rigged elections to maintain power.

After intense international pressure, Mubarak allowed the formation of opposition parties in 2005, but that year's vote was marred by heavy irregularities.

In January 2011, mass protests against his government erupted in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. On February 1, the aging leader announced he would not seek re-election in a vote scheduled for September. He also promised constitutional reform.

But Egyptians demanded more radical change in the wake of the Arab Spring movement beginning to sweep the region. On February 11, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak was stepping down and the military's supreme council would run the country. The defiant leader and his family fled to their Red Sea resort home.

Mubarak was later arrested and tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters. On June 2, he was found guilty of complicity for failing to prevent the killing of hundreds who had revolted against him. He was sentenced to life in prison along with his former interior minister, Habib Al-Adly.

Corruption charges against Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were dropped.

Mubarak's health had deteriorated sharply since his sentencing and officials said he resisted for hours leaving the helicopter that had flown him to Cario's Tora prison.

(Photo: Presidenza della Repubblica.)

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Dies

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud has died. He was in his late 70's.

State media reports on Saturday say Prince Nayef died while abroad. He recently traveled to Europe for medical treatment.

The news reports say he will be buried on Sunday but did not provide additional details about his illness or cause of death.

Prince Nayef was serving as interior minister when King Abdullah named him crown prince last year.

He had led the Interior Ministry since 1975 and was closely aligned with the country's conservative clerics.

As crown prince, he would have assumed the throne upon King Abdullah's death.

(Photo of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud in 2011 by Sultan alSultan.)

Egypt’s Coptic Spiritual Leader Dies

Egyptians are mourning the death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian community.

Shenouda died on Saturday in Cairo at age 88 after suffering from what the official MENA news agency says was liver and lung disease.

Mourners gathered in the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo to pray and try to get a look at the pope's body. Many wept openly.

Historians say the Coptic church is one of the oldest in the world. It traces its founding to St. Mark, who is said to have introduced Christianity to Egypt in the 1st century. Egypt's Copts make up about 10 percent of the country's population of 80 million

Shenouda was born Nazeer Gayed, entering the priesthood and later a monastery as a young man. He was elected Coptic pope in 1971.

The late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat exiled Shenouda to a desert monastery in 1981 after he accused the government of failing to take action against Muslim extremists. Former President Hosni Mubarak ended his exile in 1985.

Shenouda led Copts through periods of tension with Egypt's Muslim majority. Islamic hardliners have carried out attacks against Christian churches, including bombing a Coptic church in Alexandria in 2011, killing 23 people.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday he is saddened by Shenouda's death, calling him an “advocate for tolerance and religious dialogue.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States sends its deepest condolences to the Egyptian people.

Many Copts are concerned that violence and persecution may continue after conservative Islamists won a large a majority of seats in recent parliamentary elections.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Dies

The heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, has died of an undisclosed illness. He was in his mid-80's.

The death of King Abdullah's half-brother was announced by the Saudi media, which said he died Saturday in New York City where he had gone for treatment of recurring medical problems.

The Saudi monarchy announced King Abdullah was mourning the death of his brother, who was one of the kingdom's most powerful figures, serving as both defense minister and deputy prime minister. His death throws into question the future leadership of a country facing simmering unrest at home and challenges from regional rival Iran.

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed “great regret” over the death, calling Crown Prince Sultan “a valued friend of the United States” who was a strong supporter of the “deep and enduring partnership” between the two countries forged almost 70 years ago.

Saudi officials said the funeral will take place Tuesday in Riyadh.

In late 2010, Crown Prince Sultan governed the kingdom while King Abdullah underwent surgery in New York. Both the monarch and the crown prince had suffered health problems in recent years.

Saudi officials have not announced a successor, but 86-year-old King Abdullah has indicated his preferences, naming Interior Minister Prince Nayaf as second deputy prime minister in 2009, a traditional post in the chain of succession.

Prince Nayaf is said to have closer ties to Saudi Arabia's powerful, puritanical clerics than the king, who has instituted reforms, including allowing women to take part in future elections.

The succession decision will be made by a special council, in a change of policy that was made by the current king. Crown Prince Sultan's son Khaled is expected to take over his father's duties at the defense ministry. Another son, Prince Bandar, served as ambassador to the U.S. for more than 20 years.

King Abdullah, Prince Nayaf and the late crown prince are all the sons of the founder of the modern Arab nation, Abdul-Aziz, known as Ibn Saud.

(Photo: Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation in Saudi Arabia, 1 December 1990. Photo by U.S. military/Department of Defense)

Gadhafi’s 42-Year Rule Marked By Controversy

Moammar Gadhafi was known for both his controversial policies and his flamboyance during his 42-year rule of Libya.

Gadhafi was in power from 1969 when he deposed the nation's king in a military coup until his ouster in August.

Colonel Gadhafi gained a reputation as an eccentric, donning flowing robes and animal skins and surrounding himself with all female bodyguards.

Labeled the “mad dog of the Middle East” by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the Libyan leader drew attention for his often-controversial political decisions.

He supported a number of revolutionary movements around the world, including in Chad and Iran. He was accused of sponsoring Islamic militant groups and terrorist attacks.

In 1986, U.S. President Reagan ordered air strikes in Libya because of the Gadhafi government's alleged involvement in the bombing of a German nightclub that killed two U.S. servicemen.

Just two years later, Libya was blamed for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie that killed 270 people. Gadhafi admitted responsibility for the attack in 2003 and agreed to pay victims' families more than $2 billion in compensation.

That same year, the Libyan leader agreed to renounce terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, clearing the way for the lifting of U.S. and European sanctions, and the restoring of diplomatic relations. The United Nations also lifted its sanctions related to the Lockerbie bombing.

But the goodwill did not last long. Gadhafi fought to hold onto power against a large-scale uprising that began in February. He was under immense international pressure to step down after responding to the uprising with deadly violence. The government crackdown on protesters prompted new international sanctions against Libya, and in March, NATO began an air campaign against Gadhafi's forces under a U.N. mandate to protect the Libyan people.

Born in 1942 to a Bedouin family in the Libyan desert, Gadhafi graduated from the University of Libya and became an army officer.

Less than a decade after taking control of the country at age 27, he invented a system of government called the “Jamahiriya,” Arabic for “state of the masses.” In theory, the system was to be run by people's committees, with Gadhafi assuming the title of “Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution.” But in reality, he quashed dissent and reportedly survived several assassination attempts.

Gadhafi was a strong advocate of the ideology of Arab unity known as Pan-Arabism, and also led a Pan-African effort seeking to unify African nations.

Photo: Muammar Qaddafi, the Libyan chief of state, attends the 12th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 2, 2009. Qaddafi was elected chairman of the organization. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt/Released)