Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak's Police Behind Almost 900 Killings of Protesters in 2011 Uprising

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Saudi Support of the Insurgency
Wednesday's Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Death of Vendor Who Set Himself on Fire

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1815 GMT: Bahrain. Dozens of people have reportedly been injured amid widespread protests on the second anniversary of a Saudi-led military intervention to help suppress the pro-reform movement.

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Opposition society Al Wefaq said that at least 35 protesters had been hurt, three of them critically.

The Ministry of Interior claimed "domestic terrorists" had blocked roads and burnt cars. It said two police officers were injured.

Witnesses reported heavy clashes as police used tear gas and stun grenades against youths who, according to the Ministry of Interior, carried "Molotov cocktails, iron rods, and a number of homemade bombs."

In March 2011, the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council sent in troops to back up Bahrain's security forces, who overran the camps of protesters, including the main one at the iconic Pearl Roundabout.

1535 GMT: Egypt. An International Monetary Fund official will visit Egypt on 17 March to discuss a stalled $4.8 billion loan, an IMF spokesman said today.

"The IMF remains fully committed to supporting Egypt at this critical time through a homegrown program that addresses the country’s economic and financial challenges and lays the foundations for a durable and socially inclusive recovery of the economy,” William Murray said.

The talks on the loan, needed by an Egyptian Government in serious economic difficulties, stalled amid political conflict last autumn as Cairo introduced but then quickly withdrew tax increases that were conditions for the assistance.

1445 GMT: Iraq. At least 22 people have been killed in a series of explosions in central Baghdad, followed by an assault by gunmen on a government building and on security forces in the streets.

The attack occurred shortly after midday in the Allawi area, a largely commercial area that is home to the Iraqi National Museum and the city's main bus station. At least two blasts, including one car bomb and another believed to be from a suicide bomber, went off near a building currently housing the Ministry of Justice.

Six gunmen Ministry wearing police uniforms then stormed the building. The fighting lasted about an hour, ending with security forces killing the gunmen and evacuating hundreds of people from their offices.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

0905 GMT: Israel. After almost seven weeks of bargaining, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reached a deal for a governing coalition.

Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu list will ally with centrist Yesh Ati, led by journalist Yair Lapid, and far-right Jewish Home, headed by high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett.

Yesh Ati was the surprise emerging force in the 22 January elections, with Jewish Home and Bennett receiving a great deal of attention up to the vote as the new presence in Israeli politics. The Likud-Beitenu led the poll suffered losses compared to the last election, weakening their position.

The coalition also includes a smaller centrist faction led by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to control at least 68 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

The deal was reached just ahead of a 16 March deadline for Netanyahu to announce a new government.

0755 GMT: Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has denounced a proposed United Nations declaration, "End Violence Against Women" because it "contradicts principles of Islam and destroys family life and entire society".

The UN Commission on the Status of Women, currently meeting, has put forward the declaration. However, the Brotherhood warns it might "lead to complete disintegration of society, and would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries".

The Brotherhood's objections include "granting girls full sexual freedom, as well as the freedom to decide their own gender and the gender of their partners..., while raising the age of marriage"; providing contraceptives for adolescent girls and training them to use them; legalising abortion; "granting equal rights to adulterous wives and illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships"; and "granting equal rights to homosexuals, and providing protection and respect for prostitutes".M.o<

The Brotherhood also claims the declaration would give wives "full rights to file legal complaints against husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment".

0745 GMT: Egypt. A high-level enquiry into the deaths of almost 900 protesters in the uprising in 2011 against the Mubarak regime has concluded that police were behind nearly all the killings.

The report said snipers on rooftops overlooking Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the focal point of mass demonstrations, shot into the crowds.

Those details lead to the conclusion that the deadly force could only have been authorised by Hosni Mubarak’s Minister of Interior Habib El Adly, with the ousted President’s full knowledge.

Mubarak and El Adly face a retrial next month over charges that they ordered the killings. The former President and Minister of Interior were convicted in June 2012 and given life in prison, but they successfully appealed the sentences.

Six top police commanders, including the head of security in Cairo and the commander of the riot police, were acquitted last June, but the prosecution has appealed.