Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Amidst the Assassination Rumors, 60 Die

An anti-regime protest on Sunday night, with a song dedicated to the dead of Homs, in Mare near Aleppo in Syria

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1939 GMT: Iraq. The central government warned authorities in the Kurdish region on Monday that their oil deals with Turkey must have Baghdad’s approval.

On Sunday, Iraqi Kurds announced a deal with Ankara that would allow them to export oil through Turkey to the international market, bypassing Baghdad.

The national government says the region has no right to sign deals unilaterally and that exports must go through state-run pipelines, but Kurds argue that the Constitution gives them the right to sign deals without consulting Baghdad.

Since the 2003 war that toppled Saddam Hussein, the Kurds have signed scores of oil deals. The central governmet considers the deals illegal and has blacklisted the companies involved.

In early 2011, the two sides agreed that the Kurds would send the oil to Baghdad, which would sell it, with an even split of the revenues. But last month the Kurds halted oil exports over a payment row

1903 GMT: Yemen. The big story today may be the suspected insurgent attack in the capital of Yemen that has left at least 90 dead:

The defense ministry said at least 90 soldiers were killed and 222 wounded. Yemen's defense minister and chief of staff were both at the rehearsal for Tuesday's National Day parade -- meant to celebrate Yemeni unity - but neither was hurt.

The explosion in Sanaa's Sabaeen Square left scenes of carnage, with bloodied victims and body parts strewn across the 10-lane road where the rehearsal was held on Monday morning, not far from the presidential palace.

"We had just finished the parade. We were saluting our commander when a huge explosion went off," said soldier Amr Habib. "It was a gruesome attack. Many soldiers were killed and others had their arms and legs blown off."

A year ago, the headlines in Yemen were focused on the peaceful protesters in the streets. Now, despite the fact that the country, the poorest in the Gulf region, faces famine and other economic issues, the headlines are, increasingly, focused on Al Qaeda. As Washington is stepping up its drone attacks against the radical Muslims in the south, this attack will likely mean that this trend will continue.

1421 GMT: Syria. The growth of the opposition to Bashar al Assad has followed a pattern; in every town, every region, it has been the same. Some people protest, there is a crackdown, someone dies, a funeral is held, and many of those funeral mourners then join the crowds. Often, the funerals turn into outright protests, and often those protests are confronted by security forces, thus repeating the pattern.

This was reportedly taken in Nahr Eshe, a neighborhood in southern Damascus. The protest is impressive in its own right, but is more impressive when one takes into consideration that this is not a central hub of the city, and even a few short months ago protests this large were unheard of anywhere in Syria's capital, forget about during the day.

1309 GMT: Yemen. Images from State TV of the aftermath of today's suicide bombing in Sana'a that killed dozens of soldiers during practice for a parade on Tuesday:

1300 GMT: Lebanon. Footage from Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed, passed on by The Guardian, of gunmen moving in Beirut during overnight clashes (see 0450 GMT):

1115 GMT: Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims regime forces ambushed and killed nine army deserters in the village of Jisr al-Ab near the Damascus suburb of Douma.

On Sunday, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded on Sunday in Douma near a United Nations convoy, carrying the head of UN monitors, General Robert Mood, and a senior UN official.

1105 GMT: Palestine. An Israeli military court has convicted Palestinian protest leader Bassem al-Tamimi of urging youths to throw rocks at Israeli soldiers.

Al-Tamimi was convicted largely because of a confession by a 15-year-old interrogated without a lawyer.

The veteran activist has led weekly marches in his West Bank village of Nabi Saleh to protest the seizure of a nearby well by Jewish settlers for their own use.

"I believe in the legitimacy of what I do," al-Tamimi said after the verdict. "I lead peaceful protests," he said.

1035 GMT: Yemen. Further on our previous entry --- the death toll from this morning's suicide bombing varies according to which official has been talking to which news service. Our initial total of "at least 50" came from The National. CNN cites at least 47; Associated Press says 38; AFP says 96 with more than 300 wounded.

0815 GMT: Yemen. A suicide bomber, dressed in a military uniform, has killed at least 50 soldiers and wounded dozens in the capital Sana'a, according to military officials.

The troops were rehearsing for tomorrow's National Unity military parade.

0450 GMT: Lebanon. There were overnight clashes have erupted in the capital Beirut, while residents blocked roads in the northern region of Akkar near Tripoli, after soldiers shot dead two members of an anti-Syria opposition alliance.

Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns in street battles in Beirut, wounding at least six people, between supporters and opponents of Syria's Assad regime.

The fighting erupted hours after Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahid, a Sunni Muslim cleric, and Muhammed Hussein Miraib, both members of the March 14 alliance, were shot in their car near Tripoli on Sunday as they, according to authorities, "sped through a Lebanese army checkpoint without stopping".

At least four people, including a Lebanese soldier, died last week amid fighting in Tripoli between pro- and anti-Assad factions.

0430 GMT: Syria. There are no further developments over the claims of a Free Syrian Army unit that it poisoned eight of President Assad's top advisors, including the Ministers of Defense and Interior and Assef Shawket, the head of military intelligence and President Assad's brother-in-law.

While the commander of the FSA, Riad al-Asaad, said from Turkey that he had no confirmed information, the story evolved in the assertions of activists, including a leading voice from Damascus, that the operation had been successful in poisoning some regime officials who were at a "crisis cell" meeting and that at least one or two of them were dead.

On the other side, State media featured the Deputy Vice President and the Minister of Interior, Mohammad al-Sha'ar, two of the supposed casualties. Al-Sha'ar, saying and showing that he certainly was not deceased, blamed the "baseless" story upon the media, notably Al Jazeera, seeking to undermine the regime.

Meanwhile, the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria say that 60 people died at the hands of security forces on Sunday. Forty of them were in Hama Province, where heavy regime shelling was reported throughout the day.