Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: News Seeps Out of Deaths

2027 GMT: A contact in Bahrain clarifies the "iron skewer" story:

The irony, for months police & govt loyalist have been accusing anti-gov protesters of throwing those metal sticks on police!!!

2020 GMT: A police officer throws "iron skewers" at protesters, reportedly today in Al Eker, Bahrain:

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Victors as Abusers?

Protesters in the Barzeh district of Damascus chant, "We don't bow down except to God"

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2034 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have released a statement describing the events that took place today in Syria:

The Governorate of Idlib has witnessed a fierce military campaign that involved the death of several dozen martyrs from the village of Binnish alone, along with dozens of forced disappearances and arrests. Most of the villages and towns in the Idlib Governorate reported gunfire and a complete shutdown of telephone, satellite, and Internet communicatons.

In Binnish, a massive number of mourners, including more than 10,000 people who were able to travel in from neighboring villages, came out to hold funerals for the martyrs.

Nighttime demonstrations began all over Saraqeb and Idlib proper, and continued in a number of Governorates. In the Damascus suburbs, protesters came out in Douma, Harasta, Saqba, Zamalka, Daraya, Irbeen, Kafrbatna, and Jdeidet Artouz. Protesters were chanting for the toppling of the regime and for the victory of Homs and the cities under siege.

Homs, Daraa, and other neighborhoods were also subjected to a major military campaign, according to activists and confirmed by the LCCS:

Homs, as usual, did not fail to hold nighttime demonstrations; protesters came out in most neighborhoods. Security forces responded by firing on protesters in Dablan, Insha’at, and Khaldieh. In Hawla, Ghouta, and Qasir, security forces injured two protesters. Even Rastan held nighttime demonstrations, and today Homs experienced new kidnappings: Mrs. Sawsan Al-Saghir, her daughter Qamar Al-Rajab, and Mrs. Al-Rajab’s 1-year old twins Bahaa and Diaa were kidnapped.The Shabbiha kidnapped them from their home in Bayada.

In Qamishli, Deir Ezzor, Bokamal, Daraa, Basr Al-Harir, Hirak, Hara, and Daeel, thousands protested. Security forces fired on protesters in the Jabileh neighborhood to disperse them.

People in Douma, the Qadam neighborhood in Damascus, Homs, and Rastan were all subjected to a campaign of random arrests.

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Libya, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Waiting for Sirte to Fall

1819 GMT: Reuters is reporting that the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Jalil, has visited Sirte, as NTC fighters close in on the center of the city. The BBC is also reporting that all civilians fleeing the city are being searched for weapons, and if it is suspected that they are pro-Qaddafi fighters, then they will be tried accordingly.

1812 GMT: Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has said that the violence between Christians and Muslims is not representative of his country, and he will be launching investigations into the circumstances. He also said that the Finance Minister, who resigned over the violence, will remain in place until a replacement can be found:

The situation in Egypt... there is no doubt that what is going on, based on feelings like this... it is something strange. It is impossible that this is the relationship between one Egyptian and another Egyptian, or a Muslim and a Christian; it is impossible. I will not go into any details, however investigations are currently underway and let us leave it there until we find out what it is. But I sense that this is not the nature of the Egyptian people neither is it the relationship between the Egyptian people with various institutions. Therefore, when the investigations are over, we'll be dealing with more direct issues but for now what I am saying is that one's personal feelings is that when you see what happened, could this have happened from one Egyptian to the other? it is impossible.

1759 GMT: Al Jazeera reports on the latest situation in Sirte, one of Qaddafi's last real strongholds in Libya, where Qaddafi loyalists are increasingly cornered by NAtional Transitional Council Fighters:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Activist's Death Sparks Protests

Demonstration in Aleppo, Syria last night, expressing solidarity with the slain Meshaal Tammo

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Bahrain Special: Zainab Omran Tells Her Story of Abuse in Detention --- Part 2
Yemen Feature: Nobel Prize Winner Karman "Our Revolution is Uniting Yemen"
Bahrain Special: Zainab Omran Tells Her Story of Detention at City Center Mall
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Celebration in Yemen, A Killing in Qamishli

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2217 GMT: Mohammad Sudam, a Reuters correspondent in Yemen, was kidnapped on Saturday night in Sana’a by forces loyal to defected General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, according to Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday.

Sudam, who is also a translator for President Saleh, was arrested at a checkpoint run by Al Ahmar’s troop as he travelled from Sana’a airport to his house.

The Yemen Journalist’s Syndicate condemned the arrest of Sudam and called for his immediate release.

2215 GMT: We are getting unconfirmed reports that the Syrian military is shelling Homs, the country's third-largest city, tonight. It is impossible to verify this at the moment, as almost all communication with the city is cut off.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Manama Tsunami?

1910 GMT: Earlier we reported that there were protests in Saudi Arabia. Now, Saudi State News SPA is reporting that 14 people were injured, including 11 police officers, during attacks sponsored by foreign governments:

"A group of outlaws and rioters on motorbikes gathered" at a roundabout in the village of Al-Awamia in Al-Qatif province on Monday "carrying petrol bombs," SPA said, citing the Sunni-ruled kingdom's interior ministry.

The group carried out acts causing "insecurity with incitement from a foreign country that aims to undermine the nation's security and stability," SPA quoted a ministry spokesman as saying. "Security forces managed to deal with those traitors at the spot and after they were dispersed, machinegun fire erupted from a nearby neighbourhood

Activists report a much different story. According to them, several elderly men were injured in Awamya, and one man had a heart attack while they arrested his son. Several protesters have reportedly been shot by Saudi security, and afterwards groups of young men responded to the violence by lighting police cars on fire and throwing rocks. They have also provided several videos of those events, reportedly taken last night, and it appears that those men were also met with gunfire, which is clearly audible. Also, in 1 video, a protester appears to have been shot with bird-shot:

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Trying to Stem the Protests

A police jeep hits a man in Salmabad in Bahraini and keeps speeding away, the man clinging to the hood

See also Yemen Feature: Locals "We Have Bigger Problems Than Al Qa'eda"
Bahrain Feature: The 20 Doctors' Reply to Their Prison Sentences
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Months of Protests and Violence

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1930 GMT: Five opposition political societies have announced a "human chain" in solidarity with detained medical staff and other political prisoners. The demonstration will begin at 4:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

1555 GMT: Medical workers have said that people injured in fighting in Libya's besieged city of Sirte are dying on the operating table because fuel for the hospital generator has run out.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Showdown Looms?

Residents of Sanabis in Bahrain clear up the debris after security forces went through the village

See also Bahrain Video: The Police Attacks on the Women and Men of Sanabis
Wednesday's Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Libyan-Style Civil War?

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2003 GMT: The leader of the transitional government in Libya, Mahmoud Jabril, will not be part of the permanent government, the formation of which will be delayed until the conflict is over:

Asked at a news conference in Tripoli about the timetable for the government's announcement, Jibril said: "I hope that soon we will free Sirte and Bani Walid to begin negotiations on the formation of the transitional government, of which I will not be a part."

1953 GMT: A source in Bahrain informs us that there were protests in 25 villages today, including Sanabis, Al Eker, Karbabad, Nabih-Saleh, Al Dair, Barbar, Bani-Jamra, North & South Sehla, Jabalat-Habashi, Saddad, Bori, A'ali, Salmabad, Nuwaidrat, Alma'ameer, Al Juffair, Tubli, and Al Mugsha. In Sitra, there were protests in Al Qarya, Al Kharjia, Wadyan, Mhaza, Sufalah, and Markkuban. Below is a map of the protests:

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Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Libyan-Style Civil War?

2045 GMT: In Bahrain, five leading opposition parties have announced a mass rally on Friday, begining at 4:30 p.m. local time, " We Demand Democracy":

EA sources report demonstrations across the country tonight including Muhaza, Sufala, Wadian, Sanabis, Aldaih, Karbabad, Dar-Khulaib, Alhamalah, Barbar, Buri, and Al Eker. A photo from Sanabis this evening:

And video from Dar-Khulaib:

Claimed footage last night of a clash in Sufala village in Sitra:

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Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Blaming the "Foreign"

A protest last night in Bayada, not far from the battle in Rastan in Homs Province in Syria

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2025 GMT: One addition to James Miller's outstanding snap analysis below (see 1955 GMT) before we sign off for the day....

Reuters reports sharp rises in the prices of food and consumer goods after a widespread ban on imports imposed by the Syrian regime last week.

Amidst expanding sanctions by the US and the European Union, the regime banned all imports except grain, raw materials, and 51 essential items, in an effort to preserve dwindling foreign reserves.

Traders in Damascus and Aleppo said average prices had risen by up to 30%. Some said they have begun to hide stocks in the hope of selling at still higher prices as shortages take hold.

Damascus residents have complained that the prices of biscuits and potato chips, which have already risen during the six months of unrest, have jumped by more than 20% since last week, while 100-gramme bags of coffee and flour have risen 50%.

Six years ago, Assad lifted the import ban implemented by his father Hafez.

1955 GMT: At the end of the day, there have been very significant developments in Syria.

Today there were three main stories in Syria. The first, a renewed assault by Syrian military against al Rastan, Douma, and even certain areas of Damascus, just to name a few. Though it is early, and video evidence is still trickling in, the violence of these assaults matches some of the most heavy handed tactics the regime has used yet. Though we never saw security opening fire on a large crowd, we saw evidence of widespread use of artillery and tank bombardment, sometimes near schools and mosques.

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Bahrain, Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Trouble in the Villages

Claimed footage of police breaking into a parked car in Bahrain on Friday, possibly taking items from inside the vehicle

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2025 GMT: Bahraini authorities have said they will hold a second round of by-elections on 1 October in nine of the Parliamentary constituencies where voting took place on Saturday.

The authorities said no candidate had won 50% of the vote in the first round in the constituencies.

The second-round ballots will be another test of political strength after the low turnout of 17.4%, amidst a boycott by the opposition Al Wefaq party, on Saturday.

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