Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Protests Close Border with Jordan

See also Syria Live Coverage: A Mass Killing in Idlib Province?
Tuesday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Regime Shuts Away Its Political Prisoners

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Protest in Anbar Province Last Week1925 GMT: Libya. Four people have been killed, in clashes between Toubou tribesmen and a brigade linked to the Libyan army, in the southern town of Kufra.

A military spokesman claimed the Shield Libya brigade intervened "to prevent student casualties" after a skirmish between Toubou and Zwai tribesmen escalated inside Kufra University.

Local authorities ordered that the university, which is in a Toubou area, shut for two days until order is restored.

A tribal chief called on "the army to secure Kufra, and not a group of civilian revolutionaries who have no military principles".

Kufra, a town of about 40,000 people, is located in a triangle where the borders of Egypt, Chad. and Sudan meet. Fighting last February claimed more than 130 lives and displaced half the population. Last June, 47 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: International Meeting in London Discusses Support for "New" Opposition

2240 GMT: Syria. The website for the FSA in AlBukamal still claims that despite the fact that 37 Assad soldiers defected today, the Hamdan airport (map) is still in Assad hands.

Still, the FSA made significant strides against it today. The FSA has demonstrated that it is stronger in the east than many analysts expected. If this base falls, it will be a major blow to the Assad military in the region.

2139 GMT: Syria. Al Jazeera reports on how civilian volunteers, using Italian ambulances, help save lives in the northern city of Aleppo:

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurgent Success on the Turkish Border

See also our live coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza, with links to our analysis.

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1854 GMT: Syria The Local Coordination Committees claim 95 people have been killed by security forces today, including 45 in Damascus and its suburbs.

1728 GMT: Egypt. An Egyptian army source denies reports that the military is on alert in Sinai. Speaking to Ahram Online, the source also denied earlier rumours that additional troops had been dispatched to the border.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: New Opposition Coalition Gathers International Support

Israeli military video of the airstrike that killed senior Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jabari

See also Israel-Palestine Opinion: Why Obama's Re-election Offers Renewed Hope for an Agreement
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus and in East

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Today's live coverage is closed. Follow the story at Thursday's Israel-Palestine Live Coverage: Day 2 of Operation Pillar of Cloud

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2228 GMT: Israel-Palestine. The number of rockets fired at Israel may wind up being in the hundreds (it's too early, but clearly many dozens have already been fired), yet the Israel Defense Forces are confident that their missile defense, Iron Dome, is working:

Iron Dome system has so far successfully intercepted 25 rockets fired from #Gaza, aimed at major Israeli cities. #Hamas

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012

2220 GMT: Israel-Palestine. AlAkhbar reports:

Below are the names of Palestinians in Gaza who have been killed so far in this latest attack by Israel:

1. Ahmed al-Jaabari - Hamas leader - 52 years old

2. Mohammed al-Hams - 28 years old

3. Mohammed Kusaih - 18 years old

4. Esam Abu Meza - 19 years old

5. Heba al-Mashharawi - 19 years old

6. Renan Yousif Arafat - 3 years old

7. Omar al-Mashharawi - 11 months old

8. Mahmoud Abu Sawaween - 62 years old

The death toll is expected to rise even further.

More than 50 have been injured.

Many of the victims appear to be children:

@idfspokesperson These are the people you are killing. #GazaUnderAttack twitter.com/Mohamad_AlAssa…

— وطني سوري (@Mohamad_AlAssad) November 14, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The UN Talks Cease-Fire --- Is Anyone Listening?

The devastastion in the Khalidiya section of Homs

See also Israel-Palestine Live Coverage (23 October): Gaza, Settlements, Iran, and Elections
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Revolution Was Won When Wall of Fear Was Broken Down"

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1709 GMT: Kuwait. Last Thursday, former MPs Bader Al-Dahoum, Falah Al-Sawwagh, and Khaled Al-Tahous were arrested and charged of criticising the Emir at an opposition gathering on 10 October. The following picture was taken shortly after their arrest:

Today, they appeared in court with shaved heads, wearing prison uniforms:

Former MPs: Altahous, Alsawaq, &Aldahoum appear in court with shaved heads wearing prison uniforms. Source: Alrai..twitter.com/AlraiMediaGrou…

— mohammad Almutawa (@m_watan) October 23, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Revolution Was Won When Wall of Fear Was Broken Down"

2046 GMT: Syria. Another massacre reported in Syria. The LCC publishes this claim:

New massacre by the regime forces, the number of martyrs range between 60-70 martyrs, they were found in the city with sings on torture, most of these martyrs were detained in Sejn Mukhabarat Jaweye, ages of martyrs range between 18-40 years old.

Earlier the town, the site of several such massacres in the past, was reportedly shelled by regime forces.

We've yet to see any videos or photos of the bodies - treat this as unconfirmed, despite the LCC's reliable track record.

1922 GMT: Bahrain. EA's John Horne reports:

King Hamad today "affirmed his keenness on the independence of the judicial authority" as he received newly appointed High Court of Appeal Judges, according to Bahrain state media.

His comments come as NGO Reporters Without Borders said they were "outraged" by the acquittal of a policewoman for torturing France 24 journalist Naziha Saeed, which they called "a verdict that illustrates the Bahrain’s judicial system’s lack of independence".

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Syria (and Beyond) Live: Regime Advances in Homs, But Insurgents Take Key Town

2008 GMT: Turkey/Syria. According to Turkish reports, weapons equipment was also found on the planes (updates below):

Turkish inspectors also found parts that could be used in missiles in the Syria-bound plane intercepted by Turkey.

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) October 10, 2012

2003 GMT: Turkey/Syria. No weapons, but military communications equipment, we found on the plane detained by Turkey (see updates below), according to a Turkish journalist:

Turkey seizes military communication equipments in Syria-bound civilian plane and sends the plane to Damascus with passengers.

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) October 10, 2012

1910 GMT: Syria. 164 people have been killed by the Assad regime so far today, according to the Local Coordination Committees:

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Jordan Video Discussion: An Escalation of Tension? (Al Jazeera English)

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Amid recent protests and King Abdullah's dissolution of Parliament for a November election, Al Jazeera English's Inside Story hosts a discussion of the political situation. 

The guests are Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh; Toujan al-Faisal, a former member of the Jordanian Parliament; Ian Black, the Middle East editor of The Guardian; and Adnan Hayajneh, a professor of political science at the Hashemite University.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Anticipating A Friday of Protests and Clashes

1954 GMT: Bahrain. Earlier we noted that there were clashes between police and protesters as crowds, gathered to mourn the loss of a prisoner of conscience who dies this week fro sickle cell anemia, were disrupted by teargas. It seems that some of the youth reportedly threw molotov cocktails, and injuries are reported. The Ministry of Interior released this statement, along with a phone number to call:

The General Director of Northern Police announced that a group of lawbreakers targeted on-duty policemen on Friday, while trying to secure Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman road near Buquwa. They attacked the police with Molotov Cocktails. The car gutted and one policeman was injured.

1841 GMT: Turkey/Syria. More escalation near the border:

#BREAKING: Turkish army shells al-Qaysaryia town 13km south of Tel Abyad town - Activists #Syria #Assad #Turkey #Ankara

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) October 5, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Grind of the Conflict

2148 GMT: Syria. The daily death toll has reached at least 150, according to the Local Coordination Committees:

72 of them were in Damascus and suburbs including 30 in Hajar Aswad, 20 were slaughtered in Jobar and 3 were field executed in Qadam. 32 martyrs in Aleppo most of them are in Manbej, 25 in Hama most of them are in Hwaija village and Masha' Arba'een neighborhood, 10 martyrs in Deir Ezzor most of them in Almohasan, 5 in Daraa, 3 in Idlib, 2 in Latakia and a martyr in Homs.

See our note on the casualty figures put forward by the Local Coordination Committees).

September is on track to be one of the bloodiest months in the recent history of the Middle East. August in Syria was the bloodiest of the last 10 years, even bloodier than any single month of conflict in Iraq or Afghanistan, even when using conservative numbers.

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