Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Coalition Attacks

Footage from Britain's Channel 4 of the aftermath of coalition airstrikes on Libya

2210 GMT: We're going on an overnight break. Coverage continues via the Live Feed from Al Jazeera English.

2145 GMT: Little confirmed information tonight, but several blasts have rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli, with a plume of smoke seen from the direction of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's home in the Bab el-Aziziya compound in a south Tripoli suburb.

1920 GMT: Latest from Libya....

There was a spate of fire from anti-aircraft guns, apparently from nervous troops expecting airstrikes, in Tripoli. The capital is now quiet.

The Libyan military spokesman announced a new ceasefire for 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

An Italian tugboat has been escorted out of port by officials of the Libyan port authority and military. The 11-member crew had been detained this weekend.

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Yemen Analysis: Bracing for a Massacre (Johnsen)

The lesson from watching Tunisia and Egypt fall and then Bahrain and Libya remain, is that the tougher you are the longer you stay.  And President Salih wants to stay.

Most Yemeni officials I know are bracing themselves for a massacre.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Saudis Intervene in Bahrain

2200 GMT: Another appearance by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi tonight. Addressing supporters in Tripoli, he chided his opponents: "You are saying Gaddafi is going to leave the country. Do you think Gaddafi would leave?....Those traitors who let Libya down during the Italian imperialism, they have left their children with the shame."

Qaddafi spoke as the opposition held an anti-regime rally in their base in Benghazi in the east.

2105 GMT: A gang armed with clubs and butcher knives attacked the printing press of Bahrain's only opposition newspaper, Al Wasat, early Tuesday morning.

Al Wasat, which means "The Centre" in Arabic, was set up in 2002 after Bahrain's King introduced reforms that allowed independent press licences. All of Bahrain's other newspapers are pro-government or affiliated with senior officials.

2100 GMT: Two clips claiming to be of protests in Syria today:

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Libya, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Can a Proposal Avert A Crisis?

1915 GMT: A resident has told Reuters that regime forces are now in control of Zuara in the west of Libya.

1730 GMT: Media are reporting that regime tanks have entered the opposition-held town of Zuara, in the far west of Libya, and are moving toward the centre of the town.

1720 GMT: The Foreign Minister of the UAE says the country has sent 500 police to Bahrain.

1710 GMT: At least 30 people were injured when police opened fire on protesters in Marib Province in eastern Yemen.

Police also shot live ammunition at protesters in northeastern Jawf Province. In the capital, Sanaa, soldiers and armoured vehicles tried to cut off and surround an area near the university building where thousands of protesters have camped out for weeks.

Video of Sunday's clashes in Sanaa in Yemen that killed two and injured dozens:

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Yemen Feature: Is President Saleh Finished? (Johnsen)

Sanaa, 12 March 2011This leads us to the big question: what does it all mean?

To put it succinctly: this is the end for [President Ali Abdullah] Saleh in Yemen....The only question left is when and in what manner he goes.  But he will not survive this term.

The sooner the US recognizes this the better it will be for not only US policy in Yemen but for the security of the homeland --- already people in Yemen are chanting against the US for its support of Saleh.  Getting shot at with US-made tear gas canisters doesn't help either. 

Saleh has alienated too many different segments of society in Yemen.  He can no longer survive as president.  This is his final dance.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Battles and Clashes

2040 GMT: More oppositionsclaims from Libya (see 2025 GMT) --- their special forces have counterattacked in Brega, arresting 20-60 regime fighters, killing 25, and seizing weapons.

The regime had claimed earlier today that it had taken the oil port in north-central Libya.

2035 GMT: Egypt’s military police have prevented a rally organised by imams calling for the independence of the Islamic institution Al-Azhar and for an investigation into alleged corruption at the Ministry of Endowments.

An eyewitness said that the police prevented nearly 1000 imams and preachers from reaching the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt's ruling body, and assaulted them with fists and electric batons. Clashes resulted between the two sides.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Is the Noose Tightening Around Qaddafi?

2210 GMT: In Egypt, actor and activist Aly Sobhy, whose detention we noted earlier today (see 1430 GMT), has been released.

Sobhy was seized by the military on Wednesday as he tried to get the names of protesters who had been detained in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

2130 GMT: Another video of today's mass pro-democracy march to Safriya Palace in Bahrain:

2020 GMT: Al Jazeera cameramen, Ali Hassan Al Jaber, has been killed after a crew of the Arabic-language channel was ambushed by regime forces near the town of Benghazi.

Reporter Nasser Al Haddar was also injured by a gunshot.

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Egypt, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Dramas with State Security --- Continued

2050 GMT: Two claimed videos from Az Zintan, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Tripoli, where the opposition says it attacked regime forces on the outskirts of the city: the first is of questioning of captured Qaddafi troops, the second is a brief clip of the pre-1969 flag flying over the town:

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North Africa and the Middle East: Your Top 10 List for Democracy This Weekend (Cole)

Juan Cole gets to grips with all the developments to produce his Top 10 List of changes for democracy. It's a good round-up, but we should also note events ---covered in EA's LiveBlog --- that did not make the list, such as weekend protests in Lebanon and Casablanca (see inset picture):

10. In the Sunni-ruled monarchy of Bahrain, which has practiced employment discrimination against the Shiite majority of citizens, the Ministry of Interior has announced it will create 20,000 security-related jobs, apparently intended to be filled mainly by Shiite Bahrainis with college degrees. The protest movement, however, is unlikely to be satisfied unless there are political, not just economic concessions.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Friday of Counting Protests

2245 GMT: A video of State Security Headquarters in Alexandria after protesters entered the building:

2150 GMT: The scene in front of the State Security Headquarters in Alexandria tonight:

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