Fighting has intensified in the capital city of Yemen, Sanaa, where parts of the city are being called “a warzone” by international journalists. There are reports that at least 100 people have been killed in the violence. On Wednesday, opposition tribesmen controlled at least the trade and tourism ministries as well as the building which houses the country's state-run news agency, Saba. Is it possible that President Ali Abdullah Saleh will weather the storm? Robert Worth, correspondent for The New York Times, has been following the crisis. Hakim Almasmari, editor of the Yemen Post reports in Sanaa.

Correspondent for The New York Times, Robert Worth reports from a free zone in eastern Libya. Witnesses there say that early Wednesday morning, mercenaries attacked people on the ground and while forces also used airstrikes on unarmed Libyans. "There is a lot of anger," says Worth. He describes the pro-Democracy fighters as a "rag tag blend of ordinary people and soldiers."

A breach in air security and the smuggling of explosives onto two cargo planes bound for the U.S. has raised concerns about the screening process of air-freight cargo. Two packages carrying explosives originating in Yemen made their through four countries on at least four different airplanes before being tracked down in Britain and Dubai. Empty printer cartridges were used to hide the bombs.

Officials are now admitting vulnerabilities in the screening of cargo flights that are being exploited by terror organizations like al-Qaida. 

The US may expand counterterrorism efforts in Yemen, to address a growing threat from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The CIA now believes that al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen may be more dangerous to U.S. interests than the much higher-profile group in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shooting, the attempted Christmas Day bombing, and with names like Anwar Al-Awlaki becoming part of the everyday conversation on terrorism, more and more voices are beginning to feel that the branch of terrorists operating from Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, represents the largest terrorist threat to American interests and security. 

In January, 11 professional assassins wearing fake beards and carrying fake passports killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas official in his Dubai hotel.  Both Israel and Palestine have been accused of being involved in the assassination.

This week, al-Qaida militants made a rare appearance at an anti-government protest in Yemen, proclaiming that they were at war with the United States. This might sound like jihadi boilerplate, except that it came only days after reports of U.S. missiles struck suspected al Qaida sites in the small country on the tip of the Arabian peninsula.  Details are still murky, but if true, those strikes would mark a major escalation in the United States’ approach to Yemen.  This leads us to ask: is the U.S. fighting a secret war in Yemen?   Robert Worth, Middle East correspondent for The New York Times, helps us answer that question.  Gregory Johnsen also joins us; he's a Yemen expert at Princeton University

We're watching more turmoil in Iran this morning. Over the weekend, 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of the Islamic republic's founding leaders, passed away in his sleep. The revered ayatollah was a fierce critic of  the nation's current leadership ... and the country's opposition took to the streets in mourning yesterday.

Joining us is Robert Worth, the New York Times Beirut bureau chief.

There are two major events taking place in Iran this week. On Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be inaugurated. He is remaining in office after a questionable landslide victory that sparked six weeks of protests, international condemnation, and violent crackdowns. Also happening this week is a trial of some of the protesters rounded up in the weeks following the embattled election. Some 100 protesters will be tried en masse, a move that may be outside the normal Iranian judicial proceedings. For more, Robert Worth, Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times, and Roger Cohen, New York Times columnist, join The Takeaway.

For more, read Robert Worth's article, The Making of an Iran Policy, in The New York Times.

In the protests over Iran's disputed presidential election results, hundreds of demonstrators were arrested and sent to Iranian prisons. Now there are accounts alleging that guards abused some imprisoned protestors. Outrage is growing as detainees detail abuse to their relatives, or when bruised and battered bodies are returned to families. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a letter urging the head of the judiciary to show “Islamic mercy” to the detainees, and on Monday Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, personally intervened and closed an especially notorious detention center. For more, we turn to Robert Worth, Beirut bureau chief for our partners The New York Times.