Iraq Feature: Lawyers Risking Their Lives to Take on Sensitive Cases (Kami)

Waiting Room for Baghdad Court (Photo: Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)Iraqi lawyer Ahmed al-Abadi put up with years of threatening phone calls for taking on sensitive sectarian cases but, after he narrowly escaped death when three shots were fired at his car last year, he could take no more.

Abadi had just finished successfully defending a woman accused of involvement in a sectarian killing and he thinks this was the reason behind the gun attack --- but he decided against seeking legal redress.

"I did not go to the police station to report it. I knew it would not get me anywhere," he said, seated in the lawyers' room of Rusafa appeal court in eastern Baghdad. "It has affected me mentally and sapped my enthusiasm for work. I started to handle only easy cases which do not cause me problems."

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The Latest from Iran (11 August): US Uses Syria for More Sanctions

See also Iran and Syria Audio Feature: Why Tehran's Conference "Stunt" Means Little --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
The Latest from Iran (10 August): The Regime Fights Isolation

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1955 GMT: Earthquakes in the Northwest. The death toll in the two earthquakes which hit northwest Iran has risen to 180, with 1300 people injured.

The earthquakes, measuring 6.3 and 6.4 on the Richter scale, struck near Tabriz in East Azerbaijan.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Planning for Life After Assad

An 8-minute drive through "liberated" parts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, on Friday --- "Quiet but devastated streets. Tons of garbage. And a long bread queue that I was told was actually short --- they get much longer than this later in the day"

See also Syria Feature: US Plans for a Post-Assad Country
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Has the Regime Lost Aleppo?

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2007 GMT: Egypt. Security officials have said at least 15 Egyptian policemen have been killed and seven wounded in an attack on a police station in north Sinai on the border with Israel.

Egyptian state television said an Islamist group was responsible but did not give details.

A border police patrol was reportedly breaking their fast when they were ambushed by armed men.

A senior security official said the attackers seized an armoured vehicle before driving away.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Is Aleppo "A Nail in Assad's Coffin"?

See also Egypt and Syria Feature: Comic Artists Get Serious
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Inside and Outside Aleppo

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1921 GMT: Syria. The Guardian has a pair of stories on the growing role of jihadists in the conflict. Martin Chulov, drawing from residents and a Turkish smuggler, reports on the growing number of foreigners crossing into Syria from Turkey in the past two weeks, some saying that they are planning to travel to Aleppo to join the battle.

Many of the men reportedly come from the Caucasus, while others have arrived from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Gulf Arab states.

Insurgent leaders say about 15-20 foreign fighters have been crossing each day since mid-July, trying to join up with an estimated 200-300 foreigners already in the country.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad speaks to Syrian fighters who claim connections with Al Qa'eda and car bombings.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for the Showdown in Aleppo

Claimed footage of fighting in Salaheddin section of Aleppo this morning

Bahrain Feature: Pushing A Deal with the Crown Prince
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Aleppo --- Expecting the Regime Assault

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1633 GMT: Syria. A 13-minute video of street fighting in Saleheddin in Aleppo today:

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Divided Country

Insurgents drive a captured tank on a highway near Izaz in northwest Syria

See also Yemen Feature: A New Leader Emerges in Taiz
Turkey Special: Ankara is Overtaken By Events in Syria's Kurdistan
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Fighting Reaches Aleppo

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1948 GMT: Syria. Very interesting news from Aleppo via the BBC's Ian Pannell:

Heavy fighting in #Aleppo City. Seen govt forces shelling neighbourhoods. Reports army reinforcements moving in #Syria

— ianpannell (@BBCiPannell) July 23, 2012

Hundreds of rebel #FSA fighters moving into #Aleppo City.Lightly armed and confident but army remains far stronger. #Syria

— ianpannell (@BBCiPannell) July 23, 2012

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Turkey Live Coverage (12 July): Tension with Moscow around the Corner?

1800 GMT: The US ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, spoke about the Turkish downed jet last month:

Our ally lost its two pilots. It seems that they were in an unarmed plane. As the US government, we conveyed all information we had in hand to the Turkish government. We took side with the Turkish government, conveyed our condolences. American technical rescue opportunities cooperated with the Turkish side. We were glad that the pilots were found.

1545 GMT: Turkey's EU Minister & Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis has spoken to Turkish daily Star regarding 'terrorism' and Kurdish language:

Turkey has a bleeding wound: Terror! After we get rid of this terror problem, there could be many meaningful regaulations to be made in Turkey. However, the priority of Turkey is to stop the bloodshed. Only aftet his, just as English, French and German; why shouldn't my children learn Kurdish, Persian and Arabic, all of which are effective languages providing opportunities in trade? 

1340 GMT: AKP's deputy of the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Galip Ensarioglu, said that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) must be taken into the peace process since it could destabilize the peace atmosphere otherwise.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Annan Calls for "One Authority, One Gun"

1812 GMT: Egypt. In the latest chapter of the battle between Egypt's President Morsi and the former regime(see update 0535), Morsi has no said that he will respect the latest court rulings, despite disagreeing with them, over the parliament issue:

In a statement Wednesday, the president says he will seek dialogue with political forces and judicial authorities in an effort to ease tensions over the dispute.

CNN's Ivan Watson has this analysis - "Morsi blinks."

1722 GMT: Syria. Shells fall in a neighborhood of Deir Ez Zor:

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The Latest From Iran (3 July): Beyond the Propaganda, Nuclear Talks in Istanbul Today

See also The Latest from Iran (2 July): Winners and Losers in the Economic Crisis

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1954 GMT: One Mistaken Story is Unfortunate, Two Is... (Egypt Edition). Last week, Fars carried a disputed headline story that it had interviewed new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. The claim spiralled into an open fight with State news agency IRNA, which denounced Fars' fake conversation with Morsi.

Now Morsi's spokesman Yasser Ali has denied the report, carried in Fars and other Iranian media, that Morsi will visit Tehran in August and discuss bilateral relations with President Ahmadinejad.

The story was apparently based on a news report in Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which published Tuesday morning that Morsi planned to visit Iran to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Transition Plan Going Nowhere?

Two insurgents try to destroy a regime armoured vehicle with an RPG in Deir Ez Zor Province in Syria

See also Sudan Video Feature: Will the Protests Spread?
Syria Snap Analysis: As The World Talked in Geneva, The People Were Blown Apart in Zamalka
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: World Powers Agree to Disagree

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2202 GMT: Syria. At least 114 people were killed today, according to the activist network LCCS:

34 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs, 27 martyrs in Hama, 23 martyrs in Homs, 13 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, 6 martyrs in Idlib, 4 martyrs in Aleppo, 4 martyrs in Daraa, 2 martyrs in Damascus and 1 martyr in Lattakia.

The dramatic violence continues, and it is not isolated to a single region. The daily death toll appears to consistently stay above 100, just another sign of how quickly things are deteriorating in Syria.

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