1954 GMT: NATO has conducted 120 sorties today, 42 of them hitting ground targets near Sirte, Bani Walid, and Hun, the last remaining areas with a heavy pro-Qaddafi presence.
1800 GMT: The World Food Programme [WFP] is tendering for 250,000 tonnes of gasoline on behalf of Libya's ruling interim council. The official statement reads:
At the request of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), WFP is looking to procure 250,000 metric tons of gasoline that would cover immediate life-saving humanitarian needs for one month. Fuel supplies have been disrupted by the fighting, and water and electricity supplies depend on fuel-run generators. Fuel is also required for hospitals, ambulances and vehicles to distribute critically needed medicines, food, water, and other supplies.
1730 GMT: Following the Eid prayers, Muslim Brotherhood called on Egyptians to protect the "freedoms" against "any manipulation of the people’s will or choice" and reemphisezed the importance of handing over power to a civil government as soon as possible.
1710 GMT: Asset freezes and bans on business interactions were imposed on Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, top presidential advisor Bouthaina Shaaban, and Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali, the US Treasury Department announced.
1645 GMT: Four video footages showing demonstrations in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo respectively.
Saeed, because he had known Qadhafi back in the days of the Free Officers, broached the topic of the Arab uprisings and the trouble brewing in Benghazi. He began to give his opinion that, the regional environment being what it is, the regime should be cautious about repressing what were still relatively minor protests in Benghazi. Instead, he argued, it should engage the protestors and be cautious about the potential for the movement to get much bigger, as it did in Tunisia and Egypt so recently.
This enraged Khamis. He stood up and shouted at Saeed, accusing him of being a traitor and a weakling, and said his father would never have to give in to the vermin in Benghazi. Saeed respectfully stated he was just giving his advice, in light of what was happening elsewhere in the Arab world — just being cautious. But this only further incensed Khamis (who may have been on some kind of drugs), and the argument kept escalating.
Finally, Khamis lost it. He pulled out his sidearm and shot Saeed, killing him instantly. Saeed's son jumped towards his father, and the son's wife wailed. Khamis turned out and emptied his gun into them, killing them both.
0451 GMT: James Miller is going to bed. Scott Lucas will be picking things up, with a brand new Live blog and a brand new URL. Check back between 0530 and 0600 GMT.
Senior Libyan rebel figure Mahmoud Jibril said early Monday there are still pockets of resistance in Tripoli from forces loyal to strongman Muammer Gaddafi, after rebels surged into the capital.
"I warn you, there are still pockets of resistance in and around Tripoli," Jibril said in a speech on the opposition television station al-Ahrar.
"You have to be aware that some pockets are coming from the east and you have to be cautious. The fight is not over yet. God willing, in a few hours our victory will be complete."
Today was a hot Friday in Ramadan, a day where traditionally people of faith fast during the day, and stay home out of the sun. Instead, in Syria, possibly 125,000 protesters, or possibly more, took to the streets. They marched, chanted, and prayed for change in their country. Those hopes were met with bullets more often than they were not.
The list of casualties today is likely to be between 15-30, not counting what happens tonight, and what happened today in Hama. Since Ramadan began last weekend, approximately half of the casualties in most of Syria have occurred at night. Regardless, today, and tonight, the Syrians are sending a clear message that the old ways will never return, and Syria will never be the same.
Meanwhile, still very little news out of Hama, and all of it bad. The city is under attack by at least 250 tanks, and their food, medicine, communication, and water supplies have been cut off. The people of the fourth largest city in Syria, a city larger than Boston, have no water. Tomorrow's forecast - 100+ degrees Fahrenheit.
And Yemen is heating up, Egyptians are still struggling with the military, the Libyan rebels still fight Gaddafi, and Bahrainis still protest. Ramadan is going to be a long, ugly, and important month.
We close with this live feed from an incredible and festive Lattakia, on Syria's coast:
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.
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif Al Islam claiming a prominent role in the current crisis, making the rounds of the media to promote the regime position.
This cable from the US Embassy in Tripoli in December 2009 offers a glance at Saif's move to expand his political influence, with his staff lobbying American diplomats for sales of military equipment: "he concerted attention that xxxxxxxxxxxx devoted to military and security issues during recent meetings with Emboffs suggests that Saif is beginning to insert
himself into the political-military and security spheres."
Monday, October 17, 2011 at 14:23 | 
