Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prosecutor Orders Arrest of TV Host

Yemen Feature: A Snapshot of the "National Dialogue"
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Friday's Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 17 Killed in Mosque Bombings

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Bassem Youssef1440 GMT: Egypt. Prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for TV host and political satirist Bassem Youssef on accusations of insulting President Mohamed Morsi, denigrating Islam, and spreading false news with the aim of disrupting public order.

Youssef confirmed receiving an arrest warrant, saying he will head to the prosecution office Sunday "unless they [prosecution] send me a police car today and save me transportation trouble".

Youssef hosts a weekly satirical programme El-Bernameg (The Show) on the private satellite television channel CBC.

The complaints were filed by 12 citizens after Youssef's 1 March episode in which he mocked a Morsi TV interview.

In January, a number of Islamist lawyers filed a lawsuit against Youssef, accusing him of "undermining the standing of the President" during his show. However, charges were dropped before the case reached court.

Iran Live Coverage: The Pre-Election Fight Escalates with Ahmadinejad

1300 GMT: Obama Conspiracy Watch. Joanna Paraszczuk writes....

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Basij militia, has accused President Obama of "congratulating the Iranian people in Persian but acting in Hebrew" in his message for Iranian New Year.

Naqdi accused Washington of spouting rhetoric and expecting the Iranian people to believe its slogans. Referring to a 2010 nuclear deal put forward by Iran, after mediation by Turkish and Brazilian leaders, the commadner said that Obama had promised to solve the issue but had refused to accept that deal.

Naqdi also commented on Michelle Obama's announcement of the Best Picture Oscar for the "anti-Iranian film" Argo, saying that her actions proved that the annual awards were political in nature.

"We are glad that these facts were made clear to the Iranian people," he said, noting that Michelle Obama had shown the world the truth about the Oscars.

Naqdi's comments follow those of a senior military commander, Yaghoub Soleimani that some "supporters of the Islamic Revolution" want to organize a prize for Michelle Obama for proving that Hollywood movies are politically and not artistically motivated.

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Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 17 Killed in Mosque Bombings

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Thursday's Saudi Arabia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prosecutor Demands "Death by Crucifixion" for Dissident Cleric

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2055 GMT: Bahrain. Police used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse hundreds of protesters who demonstrated in the capital Manama against the regime.

The marchers chanted, "The people want the fall of the regime" and "Down with [King] Hamad."

Several protesters were arrested, witnesses said.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Parliamentary Elections in October?

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Syria Live Coverage: The Arab League Recognises the Opposition
Tuesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Only President Morsi Can Save the Economy"

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President Mohamed Morsi1625 GMT: Egypt. An appeals court has ordered the reinstatement of Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, dismissed by President Morsi last November.

The court also cancelled Morsi's decision to appoint a replacement, Talat Ibrahim.

Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party has expressed its surprise at the decision, which may go to a higher court for review.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Only President Morsi Can Save the Economy"

See also Egypt 1st-Hand: The Immersion in Political Violence
Syria Live Coverage: Will the Arab League Recognise the Opposition?
Monday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Writes from Prison

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1910 GMT: Egypt. Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah handed himself to the authorities for hours of questioning, a day after being accused along with four others of inciting violence.

Abdel-Fattah was cheered by a crowd as he entered the Cairo office of Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah, who ordered the arrests for encouraging "aggression" against members of the Muslim Brotherhood last week.

The blogger's supporters chanted: "Down, down with [President] Morsi's rule."

1750 GMT: Egypt. Lawyer Hamdy Al-Fakharany has been arrested for allegedly inciting violence against the Freedom and Justice Party's headquarters in Al-Gharbeya.

Al-Fakharany’s daughter Abeer said her father was on his way back from a meeting with the provincial Governor, Mokhtar Al-Hamalawy, when Central Security Forces stopped him.

Abeer said she could not contact her father and did not know where he was taken.

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Egypt 1st-Hand: The Immersion in Political Violence (Hill)

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Amid the hours of violent street battles near the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood on Friday, one moment stood out, captured by Shorouk newspaper photographer Sabry Khaled.

A young man dressed in blue and black track pants and a blue hooded sweatshirt with a bandana around his face points a hand gun at a bearded man he holds by the shoulder as both run through the street. Other young men who stand nearby, one of whom holds a rock, look uninterested or are not watching at all. The bearded man’s face, though half-turned toward his attacker and away from the camera, grimaces in anticipation.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Writes from Prison

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Syria Live Coverage: Who Represents the Opposition?
Sunday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Restarting Negotiations?

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1950 GMT: Libya. Oman has granted the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s widow and her family asylum on humanitarian grounds, an official at the Foreign Ministry has said.

The move was co-ordinated with Libya and Algeria, where the Qaddafis had lived after the fall of the Libyan ruler, following a pledge by the family that they will not use Oman as a base for political or media activity.

The group --- Qaddafi’s widow Safiyyah Farkash, daughter Aisha and sons Mohammad and Hannibal, as well as their children --- has been living in Oman since October 2012, and their expenses are being covered entirely by the Omani Government.

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Lebanon (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Resigns --- What Next?

See also Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in Aleppo and near Damascus
Friday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Obama Concludes Trip with Netanyahu Meeting

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Najib Mikati1825 GMT: Turkey and Palestine. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that he may travel to Gaza and the West Bank in April.

The statement follows Friday's reconciliation between Ankara and West Jerusalem, with Israel’s apology for the killing of nine Turkish citizens on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May 2010.

“I may eventually visit Gaza and the West Bank in April. This visit would take place in the context of a general effort to contribute to the resolution process [of the Palestinian issue],” Erdoğan told reporters.

1755 GMT: Bahrain. Security forces have fired tear gas to prevent protesters from reaching the house of Nabeel Rajab, the imprisoned head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Riot police clashed with hundreds of people marching for Rajab, sentenced to two years in prison on charges of backing “illegal” protests.

Authorities also set up roadblocks to keep cars from reaching the house.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Arrested in Cairo Protests

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Sunday's Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

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1425 GMT: Egypt. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ossama Kamal has said that the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry will be unable to provide power plants with enough fuel in forthcoming months.

Kamal, in a meeting with the Egyptian Cabinet, said, “There is a 25% in fuel insufficiency for power plants in the country."

In an attempt to reduce the shortage, the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry announced a bid to import 500 million cubic feet of fuel daily to meet the needs of power plants.

“Egypt has a dire need to import 750 million cubic feet of gas daily to meet needs of power plants and factories,” officials from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said. “A total of 5.75 billion cubic feet of gas is being produced on a daily basis, but what is actually consumed is 6.5 billion cubic feet daily."

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Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

1555 GMT: Egypt. The Pope of Egypt’s Coptic Church has received the Libyan Ambassador in Cairo to discuss the fate of three Egyptian Coptic-Christians and an Egyptian evangelical, detained in Libya on charges of "promoting Christianity".

Yesterday the Libyan Embassy temporarily suspended operations in Egypt amid concerns over the safety of its staff.

One Egyptian national was released earlier this mohth in the case.

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