(Press TV: 0252 PT, May 4, 2011) Article nine of the Japanese Constitution forbids the nation to engage in war or maintain state military forces. But while many on the liberal left support this pacifist doctrine, there are others on the right who believe it is misguided. Press TV's Michael Penn reports from Tokyo.

The BBC reports that Libyan opposition forces are trying to hold their ground after Gaddafi loyalists regained control of a number of coastal cities, including Ras Lanuf Port in eastern Libya. The fight between Gaddafi’s forces and revolutionaries continues in Bin Jawad, Misurata and a number of cities. US President Barack Obama said that he is looking at all options pertaining to the current crisis in Libya and is not excluding the possibility of providing the Libyan opposition with American weapons. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded by saying that the international forces in Libya have no right to arm the opposition.

A number of people were injured today in Bahrain in an attack by the government's Saudi-supported forces. Meanwhile, the Bahraini people held a march dubbed the ‘March of the Koran’ in order to affirm that it is a popular revolution, not a sectarian one. An al-Alam correspondent reported that Bahraini forces desecrated the Mosque of Imam Ali and also carried out a number of house raids, arresting unarmed civilians and terrorizing women and children. As the number of causalities continues to rise in Bahrain, opposition forces have declared next Saturday a “day of mourning for the country’s martyrs.”

Al-Jazeera reports from Yemen, where thousands demonstrated in Ibb Province demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. The protestors are holding the president responsible for the violence that occurred in Sana’a on the “Friday of Dignity.” They also blame him for the arms storage facility explosion in Abyan province that killed and wounded dozens of people. Amidst these developments, hundreds of members of the Haima Tribe have announced they will join the revolution.

Under the banner ‘Friday of Perseverance,’ Iraqi residents took to the streets last week to demand political reform, an end to corruption, and an improvement of public services. Meanwhile, the government is preventing demonstrations by arresting civilians. Rafidain TV interviews writer and political analyst Dr. Abdul Karim al-Alluji about the media blackout on the revolutionary events occurring in Iraq. In contrast to the media attention other Arab states have received, he says it is strange that no one is interested in Iraq, “not Arab states, not the media, and not the masses.”

In Egypt, Nile TV reports that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has adopted an interim constitution. The new constitution includes 62 articles and describes the Arab Republic of Egypt as democratic state that will rely on the principles of the Islamic Shari’a laws as a main source of legislation. The constitution guarantees the rights of citizens to form assemblies, associations, unions, and parties but bans political parties based on religious authority. The constitution also states that all people are equal before the law and guarantees freedom of the press, religion, and expression.

(Al Jazeera English: 1056 PST, March 18, 2011) Egyptians are preparing to vote on key constitutional reforms in a nationwide referendum. The vote was one of the key demands of protesters in the run up to former president Hosni Mubarak's departure from office. But some are worried that the proposed amendments do not go far enough. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports.

(Associated Press: 0407 PST, March 4, 2011) Tunisia's caretaker president has announced July elections to pick an assembly charged with writing a new constitution. Demonstrators in the capital greeted the news with cheers and songs.

(Al Jazeera English Headlines: 0635 PST, February 15, 2011) The king of Bahrain has made a rare appearance on television, offering condolences for protesters who have died in anti-government demonstrations. Two people were killed in clashes with police; the king has also promised an investigation.

Police in Iran confirmed that two people were killed during Monday's anti-government protests in Tehran, but they blame oppositions protesters for starting the violence.

The head of Egypt's ruling military council has issued a decree ordering the constitutional amendment committee to finish its work within 10 days. It's hoped reforms can speed up the transition to democratic rule and subdue ongoing labor protests. Sectors such as tourism have been hit economically due to disruptions caused by anti-Mubarak protests.

And the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with an underage girl and then tried to cover it up.