Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Not So Fast

2100 GMT: Tonight's take-away from the 40-nation gathering in London to discuss Libya is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's indication that arms supplies to the opposition may be under consideration: "It is our interpretation that [United Nations resolution] 1973 [authorising the no-fly one and measures to protect civilians] amended or overrode the absolute prohibition of arms to anyone in Libya so that there could be legitimate transfer of arms if a country were to choose to do that. We have not made that decision at this time."

2025 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman quotes an eyewitness that residents of Brega are fleeing east after the Libyan army regained control of Ras Lanuf, the next town to the west, tonight.

2010 GMT: Activists have posted a list of 279 detainees --- 167 of them still in prison --- during the current Syrian protests.

The ships were reportedly targeted because they were firing at merchant vessels in the port of Misurata, 210 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, on Monday.

Tunisia Snapshot: Turning Repression Into People's Art (Sandels)

Libya Feature: Who are the Insurgents? (Anderson) Libya Video & Transcript: President Obama's Address to the American People
Libya Audio Snapshot: The Latest from Regime Stronghold Sirte
Libya, Syria, and Yemen: Scott Lucas on BBC Radio Wales
Libya Poster: Dude, Where's My Country?
Monday's Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Breakthrough?

1905 GMT: Two explosions rocked the area close to Muammar Qaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli tonight, while seven explosions shook the eastern suburb of Tajoura. A resident told AFP that warplanes fired missiles at a military radar installation.

A twist in State TV's coverage, as it targeted Arab states for the first time: "Military and civilian locations were bombed in Tripoli a while ago by the crusader colonial aggression, bearing in mind that the cost of each rocket and bomb is paid for by Qatar and the [United Arab] Emirates."

1850 GMT: A doctor in Misurata has told AFP that 142 people have been killed and 1,400 wounded in the city since 18 March. Opposition fighters said regime tanks and troops moved through the streets today, firing shells.

US officials say the coalition launched 22 Tomahawk missile and flew 115 sorties overnight.

1835 GMT: Back from a break to find more from Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid on the back-and-forth battle in north-central Libya....

Regime forces have continued their counter-attack today, moving on from Bin Jawad to shell Ras Lanuf. Abdel-Hamid reports:

Well, we had to evacuate Ras Lanuf about half an hour ago. We are about 20km away from there, that's because we starting hearing all of a sudden the 'crump' of explosions getting closer and closer, and again there was a wave of retreat. Hundreds of cars of the opposition fighters down this road, they've just gone by, probably you might see some more come by as we talk.

So certainly what we can say at this stage is that Bin Jawad is not any more in the hands of the rebels, actually the Gaddafi forces now are managing to pound Ras Lanuf and are getting closer and closer to them, pushing the opposition fighters eastwards more and more. I think this is an exact repeat of what happened about three weeks ago.

Abdel-Hamid, echoing earlier reports from Ian Black (listen to audio in separate entry) says regime forces are not using tanks or airstrikes, thus avoiding coalition forces, and relying instead on artillery and mortars.

1535 GMT: Human rights activists say Syrian authorities have arrested four lawyers.

One of the lawyers, Hussein Issa, was arrested on Sunday outside the Palace of Justice in Damascus. He had just submitted papers in defence of protesters who staged a silent demonstration for the release of political prisoners and of 15 children arrested in Daraa for writing freedom slogans on school walls.

A lawyer from Deraa, Thamer al-Jahmani, was also arrested on Sunday after he made statements to the press, while attorneys Suleiman al-Nahili and Nidal al-Sheikh Hamoud were arrested as they marched on Friday in a demonstration in the city of Homs in support of Daraa.

Leading lawyers Anwar al-Bunni and Mohannad al-Hussani, who have spent their careers defending political prisoners, are serving five and three-year sentences respectively for "weakening national morale".

1525 GMT: Al Jazeera English is reporting that the oil port Bin Jawad, taken on Sunday by the opposition, has fallen once more into regime hands, with insurgents retreating to Ras Lanuf to the end. Its correspondent says that opposition military commanders are complaining that their fighters "do not want to be" disciplined or act in a structured way and that insurgent supply lines are stretched.

1515 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Ottari's government has submitted its resignation to President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad designated Ottari as caretaker premier pending the formation of a new cabinet.

A Syrian offical has told AFP that Assad will address the nation on Wednesday.

Amidst growing protests, Assad's advisors have promised in recent days that there will be reforms, including an end to the 1963 Emergency Law.

1148 GMT: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, resisting pressure to step down (see 0940 GMT), told young activists that the vast majority of the people back him: “If 95% of the Yemeni people support the unity of Yemen and only 5% destabilize national security, then who should leave? Of course the minority that threatens the nation.”

1145 GMT: A note from today's large pro-Assad rallies in Syria (see 1035 GMT), "School children were given the day off and bank employees and other workers were allowed two hours to attend the demonstrations."

1140 GMT: An unknown number of protesters have been detained in Oman as the army stormed a camp at the Earth Roundabout in Sohar.

Demostrators had sat in for a month demanding reforms from the Sultanate. The State news agency ONA said forces arrested some "wanted people in Sohar" for "blocking roads and attacking security men".

1040 GMT: Regime forces have struck back in the battle in north-central Libya, attacking opposition fighters with machine gun and rocket fire, prompting a retreat to the town of Bin Jawad, according to a Reuters witness.

The BBC is now reporting a battle in Bin Jawad itself, with the opposition on the eastern side of the town and regime forces on the western side, firing at each other with Katyusha rockets and artillery.

1035 GMT: Journalist Liliane Khalil says that rallies sanctioned by the Syrian regime have drawn "hundreds of thousands" in Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, and other areas today.

0945 GMT: CNN reports that US warplanes have fired at three Libyan ships off the coast of Misurata, destroying one and damaging the other two.

0940 GMT: Conflicting accounts on the state of talks in Yemen for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure from power. One opposition spokesman said that talks had been halted.

However, another opposition figure said a deal was still possible. He asserted, "The president is trying to improve the negotiating conditions, especially relating to the situation of his sons and relatives."

0930 GMT: Bahrain's opposition party Wafaq said Monday that 250 people have been detained and 44 others are missing since a security crackdown two weeks ago, accompanied by the entry of foreign troops, suppressed protests.

0910 GMT: Thousands of supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have gathered in central Damascus in a show of support for their leader.

Roads leading to Sabeh Bahrat square in Damascus were cut off by police armed with batons, as men, women and children raised Syrian flags and pictures of Assad and his father, late president Hafez al-Assad and chanted, "The people want Bashar al-Assad."

0900 GMT: A "senior administration official" says the Obama Administration will soon send an envoy, diplomat Chris Stevens, to Libya to meet with leaders of the opposition in Benghazi.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is preparing to meet Mahmoud Jibril, a leader of the opposition National Transitional Council, in London before a 40-nation meeting on Libya. Jibril has already met British Foreign Secretary William Hague this morning.

0830 GMT: A further development in Jordan, as Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Monday has issued orders to security services and governors to prevent any public gatherings that violate the law.

Bakhit announced that special areas will be designated for protests to ensure that public life is not disrupted, but authorities should “firmly confront those who tamper with the law and threaten the safety and security of citizens, regardless of their [political] orientations and opinions, as they have the right to demonstrate peacefully”.

0800 GMT: David E. Miller picks up on the developments in Jordan, where one person was killed and more than 150 were injured in clashes during protests of thousands for and against the regime this weekend.

"The King must intervene and come up with a political initiative accepting the demands of the protesters, including constitutional reform," Fahed Al-Khitan, a columnist with Jordan's Al-Arab Al-Yawm, warned. "If reform does not take place, the sense of animosity could lead to clashes between citizens."

On Sunday, Jordan's legislature declared,"The parliament absolutely rejects the calls of some to limit the king's constitutional authorities. The king is strong in the constitution, and we will see to it that he remains strong to safeguard Jordanian identity."

Meanwhile, 21of the 53-member National Dialogue Committee resigned after Friday’s demonstrations. The Committee had been appointed on 14 March by Prime Minister Marouf Al-Bakhit to discuss amendments to the Elections Law and Political Parties Law.

0430 GMT: A striking contrast to Monday morning, when we woke to the claim --- which turned out to be incorrect --- that the opposition had suddenly taking the regime stronghold of Sirte, east of Tripoli. Based on that, we were speculating that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's forces might be falling back on the capital for a concerted last stand.

In fact, the regime forces were fighting the insurgents to the east of Sirte, with reports putting the front-line anywhere between 80 and 180 kms (50 and 110 miles) from the town. Sirte itself, according to some reports (listen to audio in separate entry), was being reinforced by regime units, albeit with lighter weapons to avoid coalition airstrikes.

So the opposition's advance, which should not be underestimated, had not produced the dramatic breakthrough. And overnight, there was a lull both in military and political news.

Instead, the headline for the media came from the US where President Obama made a nationally-televised speech, primarily aimed at winning over domestic opinion. He went for the general call to freedom and rights:

We have a responsbility to act....We must stand alongside those with same principles and interests....Last month, Gaddafi's grip of fear appeared to give way to the promise of freedom. In cities and towns across the country, Libyans took to the streets to claim their basic human rights.

As one Libyan said, "For the first time we finally have hope that our nightmare of 40 years will soon be over."

Al Jazeera English's Patty Culhane offered an incisive reaction pulling up Obama on "two pretty striking contradictions". The first is that his declaration, "Wwe must stand alongside those who work for freedom", sits uneasily alongside US "lesser response to allies like Bahrain or Yemen".

Not sure that will matter too much to most of his American audience. For them, Culhane's second challenge is of more concern: "He said nothing about the exit strategy [as in] how does this end for the US military and he did not really mention anything about the cost."

Meanwhile, a much quieter day in Syria. Amidst reports that the regime had deployed the army around major buildings in Latakia, where there had been clashes and deadly gunfire this weekend, the most notable incident was the dispersal of hundreds of protesters with tear gas in the flashpoint town of Daraa in the south.