Syria, Yemen, Bahrain (and Beyond): A "Win-Win" Protest?

See also US and the World (Video and Transcript): President Obama to UN General Assembly "Peace is Hard"
US and the World: The Future is Bright, The Future is Drone Attacks (Finn)
Syria: US Is Quietly Getting Ready for Life Without Assad
Yemen Analysis: The Latest Deaths and the Mistakes of US Policy
Tuesday's Yemen, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Blood Flows in Sana'a

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2056 GMT: An activist in Bahrain writes, "the innovation of the Bahraini protesters never stops." The Bahraini government had renamed the road that led to the Pearl Roundabout Monument "Alfaroq junction" after they tore down the monument. This video, reportedly taken yesterday, shows the protesters giving the square what they believe is a more adequate name, by covering up the government's sign with their own that reads "Martyr Square."

2049 GMT: Protesters in the important and central Midan district of Damascus, chant "Long live Syria, down Bashar Assad":

2043 GMT: Evening protests in Khalidiya, Homs, led by students:

A large night protest in the Waer section of Homs:

2039 GMT: The English translation of this video is below:

"A message to the friend countries, look at this child, where are the international organisations? Where are the children's organisations? Where are they not here to witness what Ali Abdullah Saleh did to those children? Why are his snipers killing them? My message to them is to stop supporting him, my message to them is to stand with Yemenis, the people of Yemen, those who will remain here once the regime falls."

2000 GMT: Al Jazeera finally got around to discovering today's protests in Bahrain, and they also covered the establishment of compensation funds for victims of violence during protests in February and March:

On Tuesday, the Bahraini government announced that it would be creating a fund to compensate victims of the unrest, though it did not specify how much money would be paid out, or how it would be allocated.

The National Victims' Compensation Fund is designed to pay anyone who was "materially, morally or physically harmed" by security forces or public officials during protests this year, state news agency BNA reported.

1947 GMT: The new appointee for US ambassador to Bahrain, Thomas Krajeski, has stated that he would like to see more respect for human rights, but that he is determined to maintain the US relationship with Bahrain. He also dismissed Iranian involvement in the uprisings, but warned that IRan would try to capitalize on the situation:

"Political reform and respect for human rights are vital to Bahrain's stability and to the protection of US interests in the region," Thomas Krajeski told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a confirmation hearing.

"Bahrain's long-term stability depends on addressing domestic grievances not through repression, but through genuine reform and reconciliation."

"The events in February and March, in our view, were clearly begun by Bahrainis," he said. "We saw no evidence of Iranian instigation, however we're concerned about Iranian exploitation."

The Iranians "will exploit every situation where they can. We've seen it in other countries, and we're concerned about Bahrain as well," he added, echoing past comments by senior US officials.

1938 GMT: The new Libyan government has discovered $23 Billion (USD) in unspent assets that had been horded by Colonel Mouammar Qaddafi:

According to a senior British official, the Libyan government informed the UK last week that about 28bn Libyan dinars ($22.8bn) had been discovered in the Central bank of Libya.

“These are internal assets found on the Central bank of Libya balance sheet tthat should put them in gravy until well into next year. It takes the pressure off them to get overseas assets unfrozen,” said the official.

1838 GMT: According to the video's description, a crowd of university students and doctors pledged to boycott the Baathist party and its schools in Douma, Damascus, around dusk:

1835 GMT: A large protest at a funeral for Ahmad Faris al-Hariri in Bousr Al Harer, Syria:

1824 GMT: An interesting video. This claims to show Bahraini police conducting nighttime raids in Sitra, last night. One man is arrested, while another gets away. The man who is arrested appears to have something placed over his face. Also, while this scene is playing out, a repeated beeping can be heard, and people chant the occasional anti-King Hamad slogan, as if they are attempting to sound the alarm that the police are in the neighborhood:

1820 GMT: This video, reportedly taken two days ago, claims to show police randomnly vandalizing cars in Sitra, Bahrain:

1813 GMT: Activists in Bahrain are getting more creative in the ways they protest. According to a source in Bahrain:

As a mean of Collective punishment, the government stopped collecting garbage from the village Sanabis, so the youth of the village went collecting [the trash] and taking it outside the village, placing it in the space where police gather before attacking the village, which forced them to remove it.

1728 GMT: And now Al Jazeera is reporting that the parents of an activist have been attacked:

A Syrian rights group says the parents of Malek Jandali, an internationally recognised Syrian pianist and supporter of Syrian anti-government protests, have been attacked in their home by pro-government militiamen.

Militiamen loyal to President Assad "have beaten the elderly parents of the pianist because of the sympathy shown by their son for the revolution of freedom and dignity," the Syrian Human Rights Committee said in a statement on Wednesday, carried by the AFP news agency.

1720 GMT: Earlier, we reported that a rights group said 12 had been killed in Syria. Now, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights is reporting that 4 people have been killed by snipers in Homs, including 1 in Bab Amr:

"A woman and a man were also shot dead by security agents in the Baba Amro and Bab al-Sibaa neighborhoods," of the city of Homs, the Britain-based group said in a statement.

Another man wounded earlier this month died of his injuries Wednesday in Homs, it said.

Meanwhile, "security forces arrested three wounded people in a Homs hospital and took them to an unknown destination," the Britain-based Observatory said in a statement.

It also reported that the body of a young man was found on Wednesday in Al-Huweiz village, in Hama province further north, "days after he was arrested by security forces."

1707 GMT: Dr Tariq Noman, chief surgeon in Sana'a Change Square, has spoken to Al Jazeera about the sheer chaos in Yemen, despite reports that a ceasefire has been agreed to. He is calling on the international community for help. Below is an excerpt.:

Actually today the only activity of the youth revolution was the [funeral prayers] of the last three days ... there were 76 [deaths]. During the prayer we start to hear the shelling on the square ... and we found we have at the moment nine dead people, six we have already evacuated them from the change square, but three of the dead people they are still now in the square ... we couldn't evacuate them from there because the Salah forces did everything by shelling the ambulance, cars, in reaching to evacuate these innocent people.

"Although there was a ceasefire, they announced it last night, they didn't stop firing, they didn't stop shelling on the innocent people in the Change Square. So this is the main problem which we are facing now.

"I mean this regime is killing people by sniping, by shelling from the sides and we don't know where we are going with this kind of regime.

We have almost now 950 injuries in the hospitals."

1630 GMT: A women's demonstration in the Qosour section of Homs in Syria today:

1600 GMT: Bahrain’s default risk is at its highest since March, amidst renewed conflict between security forces and protesters and concern over demonstrations around this weekend's Parliamentary by-elections.

The cost to insure Bahrain’s debt against default rose to a mark of 328 on the risk index yesterday from a post-crisis low of 219. The contracts surged to 359 on 15 March, as Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency and Gulf troops arrived to help local security forces quash the protests.

1540 GMT: A mass funeral has taken place for 30 people killed in Sana'a, Yemen, over the last few days:

Also, another mass funeral has taken place in Taiz, Yemen:

1532 GMT: A source also uploads two photos, both of which were reportedly taken in Demistan, Bahrain, before the crackdown broke out:

1520 GMT: A source in Bahrain describes this video this way:

"While Hamad is having his speech in NewYork @ UN his Mercenaries attack anti-govt protesters in Demistan "

1511 GMT: This video, uploaded today by a reliable source, claims to show a group of soldiers, with an armored personnel carrier, defecting to the protesters in (we believe, though our translation is questionable) Buser al Harir, Daraa, Syria.

1500 GMT: According to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, at least 12 people have been killed in Syria today, and at least one has been killed in Bab Amr, Homs.

1455 GMT: Journalist Tom Finn, who is in Sana'a, Yemen, Tweets this:

"Blood-splattered tents, bullet holes in nearby houses, the missiles rained down whilst protesters were praying.

"Just spoke to father clutching the corpse of his ten-month baby son, Anas, calmly he said, 'the people of Yemen will outlive Saleh."'"

Earlier, he spoke to The Guardian:

1448 GMT: We'll try to get a transcript when it is available of President Barack Obama's speech at the UN, but James' favorite comment so far comes from Foreign Policy Analyst Matt Duss:

Obama UN comments on Arab Spring confirm Jon Stewart's joke: "Offer not valid in West Bank or Gaza."

An EA correspondent adds "and Bahrain," though Obama did mention that, despite some efforts to reform, the situation in Bahrain is not yet satisfactory. It was a slap on the wrist, though one that was given with a smile.

1443 GMT: More terrible scenes from Syria. This video shows the mother of Malek Darwish, who was killed in al Rastan today. There are unconfirmed reports that at least 3 have been killed in the city today.

1437 GMT: Iraqi leader Nuri Al-Maliki has joined the growing chorus of world leaders who have moved from close allies of Syrian President Bashar al Assad to critics of the Syrian regime:

“We believe that the Syrian people should have more freedom and have the right to experience democracy,” said the adviser, Ali al-Moussawi. “We are against the one-party rule and the dictatorship that hasn’t allowed for the freedom of expression.”

1429 GMT: Another video, from a different angle and a different videographer, of the gunfire that is concentrated on the mosque in Talbiseh, Homs. The cameraman can be head saying, "I will film this even if I get killed."

1425 GMT: Until the last several weeks, students may have been involved in protests in Syria, but they have not organized themselves specifically as a group. That is changing. From small children to university students, the students of Syria are uniting against the regime, and the regime has begun to take notice. The Guardian reports:

Video of the body of headteacher shot by gunfire in the Syrian town of Rastan, near Homs, has emerged. Activists claim the security forces are targeting schools that demonstrated against the Assad regime.

The Local Coordination Committees, says dozens of pupils were rounded up in the southern village of Jassem.

It claimed pupils staged demonstrations at three school in the northern city of Aleppo. In one they shouted Aleppo: "No studying and no teaching until the vile falls," activists claim.

The reports emerged as UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon singled out Syria for "special concern," during his opening address to the general assembly in New York.

1421 GMT: This video was reportedly taken today in Talbiseh, Homs, Syria, where intense gunfire can be heard and bullets can be seen ripping into the minaret of the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque:

1416 GMT: NPR talked with the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who once again stated his disgust in the tactics of the Syrian regime. He also added that he believed that the opposition was larger than the protesters, and growing larger every day:

They have not changed their policy for oppression. In fact, I have to tell you, frankly, in recent days, if anything, I think it's gotten even worse. On the positive side, I think the Syrian people understand that the international community backs them. And at the same time, the protest movement's leaders are able to use the constant signs of international support to convince their own followers that non-violence remains the best avenue forward.

1410 GMT: According to the pro-regime Al-Ayam newspaper, Bahrain's Council of Ministers is discussing the implementation of sanctions against anyone boycotting this weekend's Parliamentary by-elections. The Council claims this has been done in countries in other countries since the early 20th century, but activists argue this is a threat against those who intend to express opposition by not voting.

The 14 by-elections are to replace MPs from the opposition Al Wefaq party, who resigned soon after the protests against the Bahraini regime began on 14 February.

1406 GMT: According to multiple international news agencies, the headquarters for the defected 1st Armored Division, under the leadership of General Ali Mohsen, has been bombarded by the Yemeni military and at least 5 people have been killed in renewed shelling in Sana'a. Yesterday we reported that there was a ceasefire in effect, but the truce has clearly been broken.

1402 GMT: Older students in Maarat Masreen, Idlib Province, Syria, have a simple message for their President (in English):

"We want to study without you, Bashar"

1351 GMT: James Miller takes the reins.

Children in America, and probably Britain, rush out of school so that they can play sports, or games, or watch cartoons at the end of the day. Politics have little impact on their reality. But things are different these days in Syria. This video, reportedly taken today in the Damascus suburb of Kanaker, shows kids excited about another prospect. They chant, "The people want the execution of the president" after school.

1345 GMT: Another photo this morning of a highway in Bahrain amidst the opposition's declaration of a "Chain of Dignity" to slow traffic in protest at the regime's repression of protests calling for reforms.

1335 GMT: Wafik Shater, a finance official with the National Transitional Council, says the Libyan Central Bank has enough money to cover state spending for up to six months and has no urgent need to resort to bridging loans.

Shater said the central bank had "several billion Libyan dinars". One billion Libyan dinars is worth about $820 million.

He continued, "We're confident the money is sufficient for six months. We're in better shape than we anticipated initially. I am talking about actual funds in the account for the state which are enough to cover needs for the next three months and possibly six months.

Shater also said the NTC intends to re-open the stock market soon.

The new Libyan leaders have been pressing the international community to lift sanctions to release around $170 billion of frozen assets.

1115 GMT: A National Transitional Council official has said that Sabha, one of the last three strongholds of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, has been largely taken over by forces of the provisional government: “We control most of Sabha apart from the al-Manshiya district. This is still resisting, but it will fall.”

A billboard of the former leader in the town in the Libyan desert:

1055 GMT: Journalist Tom Finn gives a audio report from the mass funerals for about 30 of the victims --- estimated to be at least 83 killed --- of this week's vioence in Yemen's capital Sana'a.

The symbolic focus has been Anas, a 10 month-old boy who was shot in the head. Finn says:

They are carrying bodies which are wrapped in Yemeni flags. People are shouting, "There is no God but Allah." It is a very emotional scene. People are crying. There are posters everywhere of the 10-month old boy who was shot dead. There have got to be 100,000 people here.

With posters of Anas and his bloody forehead throughout the crowd, a cleric on a megaphone has been saying, "This is for the 10-month-old child, what did he do to deserve this?...Now they are turning on our children."

Finn adds that fighting has diminished, with isolated gunfire and explosions. since yesterday. Soldiers confirm reports of a cease-fire arranged by Yemen's Vice President and observed by the troops of dissident general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who say they are acting in self-defence. Finn says, "There is mixed opinion here about whether they are doing that and whether they are making matters better or worse, but on the whole the [defected] army have, until recently, been showing restraint."

0935 GMT: A discreetly-taken video of a Bahraini highway this morning, as the opposition tried to make its presence felt through a "Chain of Dignity" to slow down traffic in the capital Manama:

And a video montage by activists claiming success:

0655 GMT: Another "Through the Keyhole" report on how the family of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi lived in a combination of luxury above ground and a fortified bunker below, this time from Al Jazeera English:

0615 GMT: Syrian security forces killed six civilians on Tuesday, according to activists. Four civilians were killed in Homs, including a woman and an 11-year-old boy who died in gunfire on a bus, as security forces closed roads into the city after large protests on Monday. Another two died during searches in Damascus Province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also siad a policeman was shot dead by unknown attackers in Jabal al-Zawiya in the northwest, and a civilian wounded on Monday died of his injuries,

Meanwhile, an activist group inside Syria announced its backing for the recently-formed National Council of opposition figures.

State news agency SANA said the army deactivated a 25-kilogramme (55-pound) bomb placed near the oil pipeline that feeds the refinery in Homs.

0610 GMT: The African Union has said it will recognise the National Transitional Council as the representative of the Libyan people.

NTC supporters criticised the Union during the uprising against Muammar Qaddafi, claiming it was effectively stalling as it purportedly tried to broker an agreement to end fighting.

South Africa, a key member of the AU, also said on Tuesday it would recognise the NTC, ending its long-standing relationship with Qaddafi.

Libya's interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, repeated again yesterday that Libya will probably have a new government soon: "I'm not bothered by [the] time...to bring about national consensus," he said at the United Nations in New York. "I expect a government to be formed in the next week to 10 days."

0605 GMT: For the first time since Sunday, the streets of the Yemeni capital Sana'a appear to be quiet this morning.

More than 70 people have died in violence that began when supporters and forces of President Saleh shelled positions of opposition tribesmen and then attacked protesters in Change Square and developed into battles with the troops of the opposition General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar.

Last evening the US State Department called upon "all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from further violence" while demanding a "prompt, impartial investigation" into the events that led to the killings.

0545 GMT: We start this morning in Bahrain, where opposition groups had called for a "Chain of Dignity" on the roads of the capital Manama, causing traffic jams in areas such as the financial district.

Reports and pictures indicate that there was some build-up of cars, although regime supporters claimed that this was the "common traffic congestion" of a business day.

In any event, the groups calling for protest received attention. Even the State media had to make an indirect nod in their direction: "Intensive traffic police to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in various streets of the Kingdom". A Bahraini resident summarised, "Opposition got their media coverage, people got to work without significant delays. It is a win-win situation!"

The opposition groups have proposed a bigger challenge for Friday and Saturday, planning a return to Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the symbolic centre of the demonstrations that began on 14 February.