The United Arab Emirates Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender group has received reports that 30 people who are believed may be gay were arrested in private 'after' party last at 5am, last Friday (9 March) in the Shangri La Hotel, Dubai.

It was said the party was ambushed and all present were taken for questioning. Some of the men are reported to be from prominent Emirati families.

The US Embassy in Baghdad has sent a message of support to San Franciscan activists holding a vigil for Iraqi emo, goth and LGBT people who are currently being murdered.

International digital LGBT activists All Out have started a petition to halt the emo, gay and trans killings in Iraq.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry knew about the plan to massacre ‘emo’ youths and LGBT people and are complicit in up to 100 killings, new evidence suggests.

Gay Star News can exclusively reveal that Iraqi officials had a list of people who were scheduled for slaughter but did nothing to protect them.

And a new list has been posted, naming future targets from Iraq’s student population with the killings due to start tomorrow (11 March) or Monday (12 March).

A popular privately owned daily newspaper has published an article alleging gays and lesbians are 'prospering' due to the Syrian uprising and are held responsible for social problems.

The removal of an anti-gay video, made in the United Arab Emirates, from YouTube has started the first stirrings of positive dialogue around lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in the Emirates.

Gay Star News, with the help of Gay Middle East, spoke to two gay people in the UAE to get their stories.

A leading gay activist in Libya has responded to his country's delegate who told a planning meeting of the UN Human Rights Council that gays threatened the continuation of the human race.

As Gay Star News reported yesterday, the Libyan representative on the UN council was protesting against its first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, scheduled for 7 March.

Kurds rarely make it onto the international radar – and that’s even more so for Kurdish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, yet they do exist have many stories to tell. So we travelled to the city of Diyarbakir in Eastern Turkey (or North Kurdistan), the centre of the Kurdish culture in the region.

An announcement from Twitter on Thursday that they will now be able to block users and tweets by country has led to fears it will allow restrictive regimes to quash movements towards freedom and obstruct the LGBT movement in the Middle East and North Africa. Previously Twitter could only block tweets and accounts globally.

Tunisia’s Interior Minister, Ali Larayedh, has been embroiled in a scandal as a leaked video allegedly shows him while he was in prison having sex with one of his fellow male inmates.

Activists are concerned for the safety of a 30-year-old man arrested by the religious police in Saudi Arabia for using Facebook to date other men.

The man, whose exact identity is not known, was arrested on 23 December (2011) but full details of the incident are only now becoming clear after a detailed investigation by Gay Middle East on behalf of Gay Star News. Experts warn he may face blackmail or corporal punishment.