Russia hit out on Tuesday at a U.N. resolution proposed by European nations that condemns Syria's deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests, describing it as "unacceptable."

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal had dropped the word "sanctions" from their draft text in a bid to win over members of the U.N. Security Council, but it was not enough to avoid opposition from veto-wielding Russia.

Egypt's state of emergency, which allows authorities to detain suspects without charge, will not be lifted until stability returns, its military ruler said in comments published on Tuesday.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who took charge when a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February, said the state of emergency would end "as soon as possible," the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

Bahraini authorities banned Tuesday the Shiite opposition from organizing a demonstration against the jailing of medics and activists over their roles in pro-democracy protests quelled in mid-March.

The head of Public Security, Major General Tareq Mubarak bin Daina, turned down the request by Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group al-Wefaq to organize a "human chain" protest in Manama, BNA state news agency said.

Shells fired into a popular shopping district of Yemen's capital killed one civilian and wounded two others on Tuesday, witnesses and medical officials said.

The two shells slammed into Hayel Road late in the morning as the area was packed with shoppers and pedestrians, killing one man, the witnesses said.

European nations were to seek a vote on Tuesday on a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protests.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal dropped the word "sanctions" from their draft text in a bid to win over council opponents but diplomats said it was unclear whether it would be enough to avoid a Russian veto.

Israeli police were on high alert in the north of the country on Tuesday after an attack targeting a mosque in a Bedouin village, where locals staged angry protests overnight, police said.

"Large numbers of police remain deployed in the village of Tuba Zangaria," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse.

Syrian embassy officials have been systematically harassing emigre dissidents in a bid to silence their protests against the government's crackdown, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The London-based watchdog said it had documented cases involving more than 30 activists in eight countries -- Britain, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United States.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday moved to block the sale of telecommunications equipment to Syria, the latest in a series of sanctions aimed at isolating Bashar al-Assad's regime.

According to a Treasury document signed on Monday, U.S. firms will now be barred from selling the Syrian government, or anyone in the country, telecoms equipment or technology, "including satellite or terrestrial network connectivity."

It is "a matter of time" before the Syrian regime headed by President Bashar al-Assad is ousted from power by a popular uprising, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday.

Speaking in Tel Aviv after meeting his Israeli counterpart, Panetta said Washington and other foreign capitals had "made clear Assad should step down."

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday urged Israel and the Palestinians to take "bold action" to end the Middle East conflict while also scolding U.S. lawmakers for blocking aid to the Palestinians.

"There is a need and an opportunity for bold action on both sides to move towards a negotiated two-state solution," Panetta told a joint news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Ehud Barak.