BBC在线收听下载:菲律宾禁止菲律宾人前往科威特务工

Hello, this is David Austin with the BBC News.

On his first visit to the Middle East as the new US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has bitterly condemned what he called Iran's efforts to destabilize the region. He was speaking after talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Our Middle East analyst Alan Johnston reports.

The Trump administration is keen to bring more pressure to bear on Iran, and Mr. Pompeo painted the darkest picture of Iranian influence in the Middle East. He accused Tehran of supporting terrorist groups and arming rebels in Yemen who launched rockets into Saudi Arabia, but he also called for a political settlement to Yemen's war in which the Saudis have sided with the government against the rebels. Mr. Pompeo indicated too that he wants an end to the damaging, diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.

The Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has permanently banned Filipinos from going to work in Kuwait. He imposed a temporary ban in February after a Filipino maid was murdered. Here's Michael Bristow.

The Philippines and Kuwait are locked in a worsening row over the treatment of Filipinos working in the Gulf state. Last week, Manila apologized after embassy staff helps some of them escape their employers. Mr. Duterte has now made permanent his temporary ban on new workers going to Kuwait, until those still there to come home. It doesn't matter how poor we are, we'll survive, he said, but to stay or leave will be a tough decision. Many Philippine families depend on money sent back for more than a quarter of a million relatives working in Kuwait.

Protesters in Armenia have put up roadblocks on major routes in response to the opposition leader's call for civil disobedience against the governing Republican Party. It's a further indication of the support Nikol Pashinyan has built up in two weeks of protests, barely a year after his alliance got less than eight percent in the general election. Rayhan Demytrie is in Yerevan.

Self-organized groups of protesters have blocked the main road on the Georgia Armenia border after the resignation of the former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan on Monday. Protesters want the governing party to give in to their demands and elect Nikol Pashinyan as interim Prime Minister so that he can oversee snap parliamentary elections. The parliament is due to vote for the next Prime Minister on May the first. World news from the BBC.