Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in and Near Damascus

Britain Channel 4's Jonathan Miller on the flight of a group of Syrians to Jordan

See also Syria Audio Feature: The Israeli Airstrikes...Now What? --- Scott Lucas with the BBC
Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Declares Jewish Settlements in West Bank "Illegal"
Thursday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will There Be a "National Dialogue"?

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2215 GMT: Where is the Aid Money Going? Al Jazeera's James Bays reports:

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: What Next in Aleppo...and Elsewhere?

1959 GMT: Syria. 129 people have been killed today, according to the LCC:

27 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs, (most of them were killed in the massacre of Qaboun neighbourhood, their bodies were discovered today), 22 in Aleppo, 21 in Homs, 15 in Hasakeh, 12 in Hama, 12 in Idlib, 11 in Deir Ezzor and 9 martyrs in Daraa.

1354 GMT: Bahrain. EA's John Horne reports:

Following escalating complaints and concerns, "12 free-standing air conditioning units and large generators to power them" have been fitted at Jaw Prison "as an emergency measure", reports Trade Arabia. Jaw Prison is Bahrain's largest and where many political prisoners are currently being held. The installation of the air conditioning units is something of a victory for activists online who have been raising awareness of the lack of air-conditioning for several days through Twitter using the hashtag Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Assad Shoos Away UN Envoy Annan

2112 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees, at least 40 people were killed by Assad forces today nationwide:

14 martyrs in Homs, 10 martyrs in Daraa (Tayba, Nawa, Inkhel), 7 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs (Douma, Daraya, Thayabiya), 5 martyrs in Aleppo (Izaz and Atareb), 2 martrs in Idlib and 2 martyrs in Kafr Zeita, Hama.

According to the LCCS, only 2 of those killed were members of the Free Syrian Army - 38 were unarmed civilians.

2033 GMT: Syria. Two videos released today give an impression of the scale of violence reported in the Hamidiyah district of Homs today. The first, 2 minutes long (before it repeats without sound), shows shells falling on the district at the center of what was once Syria's 4th largest city. The second video, more than 10 minutes of nearly constant shelling and gunfire, as smoke fills the sky:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Deadline Passes as 160 Die

2020 GMT: Back from a development break to find that today's deathtoll in Syria has reached 101, according to the LCCS. The Deir Balbaa district of Homs suffered the hardest hit, but the deaths were distributed as follows:

56 in Homs, 22 martyrs in Hama, 12 martyrs in Idlib, 6 martyrs in Daraa, 3 martyrs in Aleppo, 1 martyr in Harasta in Damascus Suburbs and 1 martyr in Deir Ezzor.

At this late hour, the LCCS also reports that the Assad military is raiding Qa'alat al Madiq, in Hama province.

So, on the day that withdrawal was supposed to start, there has been an escalation in Homs and Hama, a continuation of the campaigns against Idlib and Daraa provinces, and though Aleppo suffered far fewer action than previous days, it too is reporting casualties at the hands of the regime.

A friend of EA's quips that every time Kofi Annan speaks, Assad seems to kill a few dozen people, so for the sake of all of Syria we should hope that Annan gives up his mission of peace.

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The Latest from Iran (23 February): Don't Panic!

See also Iran Snapshot: The World's Worst Pundit Today --- Mr Tucker Carlson
Iran Snap Analysis: Nuclear Postures and "War is Coming!"
The Latest from Iran (22 February): Rafsanjani Far from Finished?

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2134 GMT: A Warning to Ahmadinejad. Prominent cleric Mehdi Taeb, the brother of an important Revoutionary Guards commander, has put out a wide-ranging statement. He said oil sanctions against "impossible" and declared that the Islamic Constancy Front, vying for influence in the Parliamentary elections, has no relation with the "deviant current". That deviant current "has swallowed Satan", and the "2009 fitna (sedition) was one of their invisible actions".

Most interesting, however, was Taeb's message for the President. He said Ahmadinejad's right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, is seeking his downfall, although the Iranian people are too intelligent for this. He continued that "most elites have deserted Ahmadinejad, but most people accept him with Ayatollah Khamenei if not with Rahim-Mashai".

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