Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Talks and Declarations as 234 Die on Sunday

2131 GMT: Bahrain. EA's John Horne reports:

Amidst calls for an independent investigation, the Bahrain government has blamed the opposition for the reported bombings. Minister for Information Sameera Rajab said that the attacks "are due to religious fatwas issued by some religious figures who haven't ceased inciting violence against civilians and policemen". This is a likely - if false - reference to Sheikh Isa Qassim, spiritual leader of AlWefaq, the largest opposition society. The Interior Minister implied that the deaths were an end to any possible dialogue between the regime and the opposition:

What happened was a terror act and major part of our work focuses on chasing those terrorists. Negotiation couldn't be carried out with terrorists and talks couldn't take place within this violence.

In a statement, AlWefaq condemned the incidents, adding that it is its "fixed stance to refuse violence". They also demanded "independent parties" to investigate this and previous incidents, as well as "to allow credible media and human right organizations to take part in presenting the truth to the public".

2125 GMT: Bahrain. Images, broadcast by State TV, of the victims of today's bombings:

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Syria Video Analysis: A Beginner's Guide to the Spread of the Insurgency

Joseph Holliday of the Institute for the Study of War explains how he tracks the spread of the insurgency through international media, YouTube videos, and Facebook pages:

Syria 1st-Hand: Opposition Tries to Implement Justice Through Courts in Aleppo (Chick)

Insurgent in Aleppo (Manu Brabo/AP)The legal council hears about 15 new cases a day, says Abu Ibrahim. It has recognized marriages and divorces and mediated family disputes. There have been many cases of theft, but in each case the council has ordered the thieves to return what they stole, and has declined to punish them because of the difficult circumstances of war.

In fact, the council has yet to punish anyone. That's partly because it has little power to enforce its rulings, or to force an armed group to turn over prisoners.

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The Latest from Iran (5 November): Questioning Ahmadinejad

2005 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Back from an extended break to find the definitive answer, from Kazem Jalali of Parliament's National Security Committee, for international sanctions on Tehran --- they are all because of the economic problems of the "West": "By imposing further sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, countries such as the US, Britain and France seek to divert the public opinion of their people."

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The Latest from Iran (4 November): A False "Breakthrough" on the Nuclear Issue

The Latest from Iran (3 November): Will the Political Fighting Stop? (Probably Not.)

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1740 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, has said Iran will increase its naval presence in the Persian Gulf, near three islands claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

"The security of the Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf is part of the various strategies of the naval force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," Jafari said at a ceremony inaugurating a fifth "naval defense zone" at the port of Bandar Lengeh.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Better-Armed Insurgents Step Up Pressure on the Regime

Claimed footage of insurgents using a T-55 tank to attack regime forces near Taftanaz in northwest Syria

See also Kuwait Feature: A Moment of Truth for the Country?
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths from the Air

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2035 GMT: Kuwait. An indication of the size of the demonstration tonight:

Emerging pictures from Kuwait protests. Attendance estimates up to 200,000. Cannot confirm yet. twitter.com/MoAlsuwaidan/s…

— Mohammad Alsuwaidan (@MoAlsuwaidan) November 4, 2012

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Kuwait Feature: A Moment of Truth for the Country? (Lynch)

A car hits two protesters on Wednesday --- both survived

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Wednesday's violent clashes in Kuwait have brought its long-brewing political crisis to a dangerous point. It did not have to be this way, in a Gulf state that has long stood out for its robust public sphere, electoral traditions and vibrant parliament. But a series of unusually provocative steps by both the royal family and the opposition, in the context of a long-running battle over the powers of parliament and accountability for the royal family, have taken their toll and tempers are running hot. After months of growing popular mobilization and a complex crisis of political institutions, Kuwait's political future suddenly seems deeply uncertain.

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The Latest from Iran (3 November): Will the Political Fighting Stop? (Probably Not.)

Sadegh Larijani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani2135 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Earlier we noted the escalation of a statement by Mohammad-Hassan Asfari, a member of Parliament's National Security Committee, about a possible nuclear deal into a claim that Iran has unilaterally suspended enrichment of 20% uranium (see 1806 GMT).

Now an "informed source" has told Fars that the Islamic Republic is continuing the enrichment with "no changes".

2111 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Pedram Nasrollahi, a member of the Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations, has been sentenced to 19 months in prison by an Appeals Court.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths from the Air

Bahraini police arrest Said Yousuf Almuhafda of the Bahrain Center of Human Rights on Friday

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2125 GMT: Egypt. About 1000 activists rallied in Cairo on Saturday demanding an end to brutality in Egyptian prisons and calling for a ban on torture in the new Constitution.

Aida Seif al-Dawla, of the El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, told the crowd near the Ministry of Interior that the group has documented 150 cases of torture in the 100 days since President Mohamed Morsi took office in June.

"Oh martyrs rest in peace, the struggle continues," chanted the demonstrators, who hung posters showing the disfigured faces and bodies of torture victims.

The protest commemorated the death of Essam Atta, a young Egyptian whose family said he was tortured to death by authorities in October last year while held in Torah prison south of Cairo.

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EA on the Road: Talking US Elections in The Netherlands

Following Wednesday's seminar at the Roosevelt Study Center in Middleburg on the US Elections and What Happens Next, I am on a weekend break before EA's Election Day coverage on 6 November.

Updates to Live Coverage will be limited this weekend until I return on Sunday afternoon.  Please enjoy new features, including this morning's video "endorsement" of Mitt Romney and the situation in southern Yemen, and we thank readers as always for bringing in news and ideas.