Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Court Suspends Parliamentary Elections

See also Iraq Feature: The US Pentagon is Linked to Torture Centres
Syria Live Coverage: Insurgent Brigade Kidnaps 21 UN Peacekeepers
Wednesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Top Mubarak Ally Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison

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2025 GMT: Tunisia. Prime-Minister designate Ali Larayedh has presented a new coalition Government to President Moncef Marzouki after two weeks of difficult negotiations.

Earlier today, the hopes of Larayedh and his Ennadha Party, the leading faction in the Government, appeared to be dashed when three political parties that had been asked to join announced they were pulling out of the talks. That left only Ennahda and its secular allies in the previous Government --- Marzouki's Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol -- -- to discuss a new Cabinet and a proposed Government programme.

Tonight's announcement comes a day before a Constitutional deadline to announce the proposed Government.

The current political crisis was sparked by the 6 February protest of opposition politician Chokri Belaid and subsequent protests. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned when he was unable to form an apolitical Government of technocrats.

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Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Two Detainees in Israel Prisons End Long-Term Hunger Strikes

See also Syria Live Coverage: US "Non-Lethal" Assistance --- and More --- for the Insurgency
Wednesday's Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Pressure Builds Over Settlements

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Tarek Qaadan1656 GMT: Bahrain. After a five-day visit, Human Rights Watch officials have declared that "rulers have made no progress on key reform promises, failing to release unjustly imprisoned activists or to hold accountable high-level officials responsible for torture".

Human Rights Watch also declared that a draft association law "significantly undermines what few rights independent non-governmental associations have under the country’s current law".

In the visit, the first permitted to Human Rights Watch in almost a year, three representatives met with the Minister of Interior; the Attorney General; leading police officials; John Timoney, the British adviser to the Ministry; and representatives of the Ministries of Social Development and Human Rights.

1650 GMT: Iraq. Two car bombs near a football field in north Baghdad have killed at least 11 people and wounded another 30, security and medical officials said.

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Plan for New Government Collapses

Tunisia PM Hamadi Jebali2123 GMT: Bahrain. Meanwhile, the regime claims that their police were attacked by rioters and vandals, some of whom threw molotov cocktails:

(14) صور لأعمال الشغب والتخريب على شارع البديع في ختام عزاء متوفى بالديه twitter.com/moi_bahrain/st…

— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) February 19, 2013

2110 GMT: Bahrain. The Bahraini government is saying that it has arrested 8 members of a terror cell suspected of plotting against the government. Here is part of the press release, which can be read in full here:

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2nd Anniversary of Mubarak's Fall

11 February 2011: The crowd in Cairo's Tahrir Square reacts to news of Hosni Mubarak's resignation

See also Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus
Sunday's Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Threatens Resignation if New Cabinet Not Accepted

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2030 GMT: Egypt. Clashes continue at the Presidential Palace --- Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera English tweets:

Police firing tear gas at protesters #presidentialPalace #Egypt twitter.com/SherineT/statu…

— Sherine Tadros (@SherineT) February 11, 2013

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Government is Dissolved After Murder of Opposition Leader

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Insurgents Attack Inside Damascus
Wednesday's Mali (and Beyond) Live Coverage: France to Withdraw in March After Successful Military Operations?

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1855 GMT: Palestine. A boy in his the rubble of his home, destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer:

1755 GMT: Palestine. A Palestinian court has sentenced a West Bank man, Anas Awwad, to a year in jail for "cursing the President" on Facebook.

Awwad's father said his son --- commenting on a picture of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas kicking a soccer ball during his visit to Barcelona Football Club in 2011 --- wrote, "The new striker in Real Madrid".

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Breaking Through the Blackout

Today's rally in Cairo in support of Egyptian President Morsi and the draft Constitution:

See also EA Video Analysis: Mr Obama, Why Should We Trust You With Drones?
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: The Country Goes Dark as Internet Cut Off

Friday's Palestine, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Statehood for the Palestinians, A Constitution for Morsi

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1948 GMT: Egypt. President Morsi has set 15 December as the date for the referendum on the draft Constitution.

1945 GMT: Syria. Medics announce the opening of a new field hospital Aleppo, some of them covering their faces for anonymity.

A previous field hospital was shelled by the regime last month.

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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: More Deaths, More than 200,000 Refugees

2000 GMT: Syria. The violence is usually the headline. The story is usually about the regime dropping bombs, or battles between the military and the insurgents, or the worsening humanitarian crisis, or the international response to the death. But an activist reminds us that, though they've been largely pushed to the shadows because of all the violence, there are still protests, even in the center of Damascus:

Despite all the battles! RT @lccsy: مظاهرة مسائية في كفرسوسة بدمشقEvening Demonstration in Kafar Souseh, #Damascus... fb.me/1G9jAHIKh

— zain (@ZainSyr) August 25, 2012

...Even though the most likely form of protest is a protest at a funeral, like this one in Idlib province:

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Pause in the Conflict?

A Saturday evening demonstration in the Khamidiya section of Homs, including the children of those who have died in the 14-month conflict

One of a series of photos of fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime --- at least four people died (see 0905, 0955, and 1603 GMT)

See also Syria Snapshot: Assad's Supporters Clash With Kurds --- But Can the Kurds Unite?
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Bahrain Live Coverage: Challenging the US Arms Sale
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Uneasy Frontline

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1733 GMT: Lebanon. A sit-in demonstration at Aleppo University today:

1603 GMT: Lebanon. Witnesses and officials say at least four people, including a Lebanese soldier, were killed and another 24 injured in the overnight fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between residents for and against the Assad regime (see 0905 and 0955 GMT).

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Heavy Fighting in Damascus?

Workers in front of a building in Aleppo, Syria, damaged by a Sunday car bomb --- three people reportedly died

See also Syria 1st-Hand Video: Secretly Meeting the Activists
Turkey Live Coverage (19 March): New Year Celebrations, Clashes, and the Syria Crisis
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: After the Damascus Explosions

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2056 GMT: An energetic evening demonstration in Qosour in Homs has a message for President Assad, "We're coming, curse your soul, we're coming!":

2006 GMT: I've been discussing this video with several sources. According to the description, the video shows Free Syrian Army soldiers destroying a tank in Deir Ez Zor. We never see the tank, but we do see the RPG launch at an unknown target.

I showed this video to Ahmed al Omran, from NPR, who says that the videographer appears to say today's date. Also, another source says that this video shows a battle in the Ghassan Abboud roundabout, an area where we have received reports of heavy fighting today:

Video said to show clashes between FSA fighters and gov security forces in Deir ez-Zour youtube.com/watch?v=RTMY4i… #SYRIA (via @JMiller_EA)

— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) March 19, 2012

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