Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 30 Killed in Port Said Fighting

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Syria Live Coverage: Deaths from Shelling Near Aleppo
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Storm The Prison in Idlib

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1953 GMT: Egypt. President Morsi declares a 30-day state of emergency in Port Said, Suez, and Ismailia, with a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Morsi then calls on political parties to enter dialogue, as "this is the only way to get through the current phase and achieve stability".

1950 GMT: Egypt. Addressing the nation on television after this weekend's violence that has killed at least 50 people, President Morsi has said judicial verdicts --- such as Friday's sentencing of 21 people to executions over last year's 74 deaths in a Port Said football stadium --- have to be respected, as they are not aimed against any group of people. He said "acts of violence, blocking roads are...not something Egyptians are are esed to....They are the ugly face of counter-revolution."

Thanking the police and armed forces, Morsi said, "We will confront any threats firmly in the framework of the state of law....I gave orders to the Ministry of Interior to respond in the strictest terms to those who use arms and frighten citizens....I am against exceptional procedures but if I have to I will impose them."

1825 GMT: Egypt. Five people have been killed in today's violence in Port Said, when security forces fired on funeral processions for 33 people slain on Saturday.

State TV reports President Morsi will address the nation this evening.

1625 GMT: Egypt. The head of Port Said's hospitals says three men, one of them an 18-year-old, have been killed after security forces opened fire on funerals for the 33 people who were slain on Saturday.

The man died from a gunshot wound in the chest.

The medical official said at least 416 people suffered from tear gas inhalation, while 17 were wounded by gunshots.

1435 GMT: Mali. Continuing their rapid advance in the north, French and Malian Government troops have moved into Timbuktu.

Islamist insurgents reportedly withdrew to the north to avoid French airstrikes.

Of three cities taken by insurgents last spring, only Kidal remains in their hands. The French-Malian offensive claimed Gao on Saturday.

1410 GMT: Bahrain. Hundreds of people at the funeral of 8-year-old Qassim Habib, allegedly killed by tear gas, are reported to be moving towards Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic centre of the mass protests from February 2011. Security forces have prevented access to the area since the following month, when they overran the protest camp and later destroyed the symbolic monument.

Another picture of the funeral procession:

1340 GMT: Egypt. Officials say Port Said hospitals have treated 180 people who were injured when security forces fired on funeral processions.

Most of the wounded suffered from tear gas inhalation, but at least 10 were hit by live ammunition or birdshot.

1330 GMT: Bahrain. Mourners at today's funeral of an 8-year-old boy, Qassim Habib --- activists and the opposition society Al Wefaq claim he died from the effects of tear gas that he inhaled almost a week ago:

#happeningnow funeral of 8yr old, died of toxic gas fired by #Bahrain regime forces in his village #SaveUsFromTearGas twitter.com/AlWefaqEN/stat…

— AlwefaqEN (@AlWefaqEN) January 27, 2013

1244 GMT: Mali. Journalist Jenan Moussa is travelling through territory in northern Mali recently retaken by French and Malian Government troops:

We passed checkpoint manned by #Mali soldiers. They search vehicles, check IDs, protect area from Islamists. @akhbar twitter.com/jenanmoussa/st…

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) January 27, 2013

1232 GMT: Egypt. Tear gas was fired on the funeral procession for yessterday's victims, as it passed the Port Said Police Club and Army Club. Alistair Beach of The Independent of London is in no doubt that the assault was deliberate:

Whoever fired gas at funeral did so from deep within their compound with no provocation at all. It was calculated. #Egypt #PortSaid

— Alastair Beach (@Alastair_Beach) January 27, 2013

Some demonstrators appear to have reacted by setting fire to the Police Club, with the blaze spreading to nearby buildings:

Police club - which is next to army club - is on fire. Protester fired his AK towards the building twitter.com/Alastair_Beach…

— Alastair Beach (@Alastair_Beach) January 27, 2013

Several buildings on fire now, in army, police clubs and an apartment block opposite. entire horizon filled with black smoke

— Alastair Beach (@Alastair_Beach) January 27, 2013

Beach has just reported an easing of the situation, but it may be temporary:

Things have calmed. Procession has reached cemetery - high five to the coffin bearers. But talk is of vengeance

— Alastair Beach (@Alastair_Beach) January 27, 2013

March leaders are urging ppl on to the police station

— Alastair Beach (@Alastair_Beach) January 27, 2013

1217 GMT: Egypt. Some of the thousands of mourners at funerals for people killed yesterday in Port Said:

0944 GMT: Mali. French and Malian Government forces, having taken the insurgent stronghold of Gao on Saturday, are now moving on Timbuktu, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said.

Meanwhile, the US has agreed to Paris' request for refuelling of French jets and is considering plans to transport troops from African nations, including Chad and Togo, into Mali.

"The objective is that the African multinational force being put together be able to take over, and that Mali be able to begin a process of political stabilisation," Ayrault said.

A Malian security source in Gao said a first contingent of Malian, Chadian, and Niger troops has arrived in the city to secure it.

0937 GMT: Bahrain. A protest today in Abu Saiba in sollidary with Fadhel AlZaki, a clerk who was among those arrested in Friday's protest in the capital Manama:

0753 GMT: Iraq. Thousands of mourners in Fallujah on Saturday, at the funerals of anti-government protesters killed by security forces a day earlier:

0730 GMT: Egypt. At least 30 people were killed in the Suez Canal city of Port Said on Saturday.

The clashes, including fighting outside the main prison and the city's hospital followed a court's declaration of 21 death sentences on men involved in last year's deaths at the Port Said football stadium of 74 fans, most of them supporters of the Cairo club Ahly.

When the verdicts were announced, Ahly fans celebrated and set off fireworks. However, families of the defendants, most of whom supporters of the Port Said team, gathered outside the prison where their relatives are held. Protesters joined them, and gunfire soon broke out.

Twenty-eight civilians and two police officers were slain as clashes spread throughout the city. At least 300 people have been injured. Some prisoners escaped from a police station amid fighting between officers and demonstrators.

After President Morsi held an emergency meeting of the National Defence Council, the Minister of Information said, “The council holds the right to declare a state of emergency and a curfew, if needed."

Meanwhile, there were other confrontations across Egypt following Friday's anniversary of the 2011 uprising against President Mubarak. The "Black Bloc", a group which first appeared this weekend, tried to storm the headquarters of the Dakahliya Governorate  in the central Delta, fighting with security forces before destroying the entrance to the site.

Fires were reported in several buildings amid fighting near Cairo's Tahrir Square, including the Ministry of Supply and Social Affairs, the old American University in Cairo, and the Hawaiaty School.

A forensic scientist said that the eight protesters killed during Friday's fighting in Suez were shot by live ammunition at close range and in some cases from behind.

A police officer was also killed in the violence.