Tunisia LiveBlog: Will President Ben Ali "Go the Way of Romania's Ceausescu"?

2215 GMT: Video has been posted claiming to be of a night-time protest in Hammamet in northeastern Tunisia, with a teenager killed by the police.

And this picture claims to be of riot police in Cite Ettadhamen near the capital.

2150 GMT: Reuters reports that hundreds of youths defied the 8 p.m. curfew in Tunis, setting fire to a bank and throwing stones at police, who responded with tear gas.

The article cites five dead in today's protests: four in Douz (other reports say from two to five) and a deaf victim in Thala.

Reuters notes a protest in Gassrine, about 200 km (125 miles) from the capital, with several thousand people chanting, "[President] Ben Ali, go away!"

1925 GMT: Former political prisoner Lamari Ahmed has reportedly been arrested.

1655 GMT: In neighbouring Algeria, almost 1000 students at the University of Abderrahmane Mira de Bejaia marched today, calling for "regime change" and criticising the Government's attempt to reduce the crisis to the rising prices of cooking oil and sugar.

1650 GMT: A curfew has been ordered in Tunis from 8 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

1615 GMT: A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, the European Union's representative for foreign policy, has said, "This violence is unacceptable, you must identify the perpetrators and bring them to trial. We can not accept the police's use of disproportionate force against peaceful demonstrators. Tunisian authorities must do their utmost to achieve calm and to deal with social issues a priority."

The spokesperson also called on authorities to "ensure that fundamental rights and freedoms such as freedom of expression and freedom of opinion and assembly, as well as the independence of the judiciary" are protected.

1614 GMT: The academic site of Professor Hatem Bettahar, who was shot dead in Douz today by a sniper, lists his latest publication, "Performances of Key Management Schemes in Wireless Sensor Networks".

1610 GMT: AFP is now reporting two deaths today from police gunfire in Douz in central Tunisia. Earlier, a witness told Al Jazeera that five people had died (see 1410 GMT).

1600 GMT: Another image of the miltary in Tunis. The passerby is shouting, "Glory to the Army!"

1445 GMT: Military units deployed on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis:

1430 GMT: Tunisia's stock market index, at its lowest point since May, fell another 2.33% this morning to 4779.57.

The index has now lost more than 8.5% in three days.

1410 GMT: A witness has told Al Jazeera that police shot five people to death in Douz in central Tunisia, with the Army --- focused on protection of buildings --- refusing to intervene.

Video had already circulated claiming to be of one victim, professor Hatem Ben Taber (see 1330 GMT).

1405 GMT: Claimed photograph of Government building in Sfax, southeast of Tunis, on fire:

1355 GMT: Claimed photographs of military units deploying Gabes in eastern Tunisia:

1340 GMT: Claims are circulating that Hamma Hammami of the Workers Communist Party of Tunisia (PCOT) was arrested this morning.

1330 GMT: Footage has been posted which claims to be of a protester shot by a sniper today in Douz in central Tunisia. (Warning: Very Graphic).

There are reports that the slain protester is Hatem Ben Taher, a professor at the University of Gabes.

Hatem Ben Taber

1125 GMT: Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has announced on television that most detainees arrested since the start of protests in mid-December are being freed.

Ghannouchi also announced the appointment of a new Minister of Interior, Ahmed Friaa, replacing Rafik Belhaj Kacem. Friaa is a former mayor, Minister of Communications, and Dean of the National Engineering School of Tunis.

It is also reported that he has called for an enquiry into allegations of corruption and the behaviour of officials in the current crisis.

1035 GMT: Labour activists have told Al Jazeera that there will be general strikes in the provimces of Kasserine, Sfax, and Gabes today, with plans for a strike on Thursday in the provinces of Kairouan and Jendouba and on Friday in Tunis.

The General Union of Tunisian Workers has called for a fact-finding commission to investigation the firing of ammunition into crowds. It has also demanded the immediate withdrawal of military forces from cities and the end to use of special forces by the Ministry of Interior.

1020 GMT: Troops have been deployed in Tunis this morning, according to AFP.

Armoured vehicles are in the streets, and troops are taking up positions at major intersections and at the entrance to the Cite Ettadhamen quarter, where clashes occurred on Tuesday night.

This is the first time troops have been deployed in the capital since the start of current protests in mid-December.

0945 GMT: This image is from a couple of days ago, but I thought it striking enough to feature again --- a group of students assemble themselves to spell out in Arabic, "No to Murder":

0730 GMT: There are reports of an attack on the Tunisian Embassy in Switzerland overnight. Attempts to set a fire caused slight damage.

Earlier this week, there was a similar attack on a Tunisian Consulate in a Parisian suburb. 

0715 GMT: On Tuesday, protests continued across Tunisia, with two incidents of note in and near the capital Tunis. Police broke up a gathering of about 100 artists in the centre of the city, and last night they fired tear gas and shot into the air to disperse demonstrators when they smashed shops and set fire to a bus, two cars, a local government office, and a bank in the suburbs of Ettadem.

The crowd chanted, "We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are afraid only of God." 

Earlier in the day, as more footage emerged of protests, responses by security forces, and the tearing down of President Ben Ali's image, discussion focused on the death toll. Witnesses and activists put the weekend's number of dead at more than 50, and the Government edged up its official tally to 21 last night.

The BBC's flagship domestic radio programme, Today, finally noticed the situation this morning with a four-minute interview (at the 55-minute mark) with correspondent Jon Leyne. He highlighted "unemployment" as the cause of the crisis, although he added that people had been "shocked" by the scale of the Government's response. The interview closed with the provocative question, "If Ben Ali falls, what happens next?"

The Economist writes on similar lines, "It is not clear where Tunisia’s winter of discontent is heading, but it has gone beyond economic grievances and shows no sign of abating," but it slips in this provocative historical reference:

Some Tunisians hope that Mr Ben Ali will go the way of Nicolae Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator abandoned by his military after mass protests.

As well as warning shots, the police fired tear gas grenades to try to force people back.

Tunisia has been hit by a series of riots by protesters saying they want action to create more jobs and better living conditions. 

The army had been deployed in the most restive towns on Tuesday and schools and universities closed after a weekend of violence.