Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Division over Powers for "Citizen's Arrests"

Egypt Prosecutor Talaat Abdullah1905 GMT:Egypt. Political activist Hassan Mustafa has been sentenced to two years in prison, accused of physically attacking a prosecutor.

Mustafa was arrested on 21 January after he slapped the prosecutor on the cheek.

1650 GMT:Bahrain. Five policemen were in court today, on charges relating to the deaths of Ali Isa Ibrahim Saqer and Zakariya Rashid Hassan Al-Asheri in April 2011. Both Saqer and Al-Asheri were found to have been tortured to death at the Dry Dock Detention Centre, whilst under the custody of the Ministry of Interior, according to the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.

Two policemen were found guilty of the manslaughter of Ali Saqer and sentenced to ten years. The three other policemen were found innocent of "failing to report the crime" of Saqer's murder.

All five policemen were found innocent on charges relating to the death of Al-Asheri.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Qatar Says No More Aid to Cairo

Qatari Minister of Finance Youssef Kamel1617 GMT: Bahrain. An interesting political development --- a royal decree has appointed Crown Prince Salman, often framed as a "moderate" within the regime, as 1st Deputy Prime Minister --- working with his uncle, the "hard-line" Prime Minister --- "to develop the performance of the executive".

1610 GMT: Egypt. Cairo is studying an offer from the International Monetary Fund of a bridging loan, a source at the Ministry of Finance ministry has said.

The funding, known as the IMF's Rapid Financing Instrument, is temporary and would not replace Egypt's negotiations with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan, the source said.

The source added, "Egypt continues to work towards restructuring its economy through the economic reform programme."

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Port Said Braces for Protests After Court Verdicts

Soldiers stand guard in front of the Security Directorate on Friday (Photo: Reuters)

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Saudi Arabia Feature: The Protests in the Central Cities
Friday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Policemen on Strike

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1715 GMT: Egypt. Three people have now been killed in clashes in Cairo, following the verdicts handed down over the Port Said football deaths, is now three.

An eight-year-old child and a worker were found dead inside Omar Makram mosque near CTahrir Square. Both were killed by birdshot during fighting near Qasr El-Nil Bridge.

Ambulance personnel refused to transport the corpses to the morgue, leaving them at the mosque instead.

1625 GMT: Egypt. Back from a Saturday day to find that a protester has been killed by tear gas inhalation near Qasr El-Nil Bridge in Cairo.

Fadel Ahmed Abdel-Qader, 36, died after he was transferred to Qasr El-Eini Hospital suffering from breathing problems.

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Saudi Arabia Feature: The Protests in the Central Cities (Perazzo)

In recent months, however, protests in the central cities of Qassim and Riyadh have become more frequent. In January 2013, a group of 11 women and children were arrested for demonstrating in front of the Board of Grievances in Buraida, a town in Qassim. In February 2013, 50 more women were arrested in Riyadh and Qassim. Finally, in the first week of March, more than 170 men, women, and children were arrested in Buraida after organizing a sit-in in front of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution. A spokesman for the Buraida police reported that one hundred protesters have been released, According to Saudi activists, several female demonstrators remain unaccounted for.

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UAE (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 94 Activists Go on Trial

January protest on behalf of 94 detained activists in the UAE (Photo: AP)

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Sunday's Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis

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1635 GMT: Yemen A suicide bomber today killed "at least 10 members of a pro-government militia".

A local commander told Reuters that 15 others were wounded, some seriously, in the attack which struck a local office of the Popular Committees in Lawdar, a town in the southern province of Abyan.

According to Reuters, the targeted militia had "helped the Yemeni army to drive al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants out of southern strongholds in a U.S.-backed campaign last year".

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Syria Audio Analysis: Why Politics Means No Humanitarian Aid - Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

http://goo.gl/6n12OScott Lucas speaks to Monocle 24 Radio about the reasons why we're seeing countries scramble to give other types of aid to the rebels, but humanitarian aid is almost nowhere to be seen. In fact, less than a quarter of the humanitarian aid that has been pledged to those affected by this crisis has been delivered. The Saudis, in particular, have been criticized for their lack of aid.

Scott Lucas was joined by David Schenker of the Washington Institute. Scott's assessment - this is politics, the Saudis and the Qataris are focused on trying to pick a winner in the insurgency, and the refugees are almost on their own, while the few countries that are housing refugees have not received the assistances they've asked for.

The interview starts after the 1 hour 6 minute mark, and can be heard here.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More Protests Expected After Police Kill Teenager

Today's opposition march in Bahrain

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Thursday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2nd Anniversary of the Mass Protests

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2137 GMT: Bahrain. The Chief of Public Security has announced that an on-duty officer and three non-commissioned policemen were injured on Friday by birdshot fired by a group of people in Karzakan.

2037 GMT: Bahrain. A clash between police and young men today --- at the 0:49 mark, one of the youths is hit in the head and seriously wounded:

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Overnight Clashes In and Beyond Cairo

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting from Damascus to Idlib
Friday's Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: General Strike and Marches as Slain Opposition Leader is Buried

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1745 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Riyadh Bureau reports that dozens of women and children have been arrested in Riyadh and Buraidah amid protests to demand the release of imprisoned family members.

The demonstrators gathered outside the Human Rights Commission office in Riyadh and the Court of Grievances in Buraidah in the central region of Qassim.

A lawyer confirmed that those arrested include the wife, daughter, and granddaughter of Suleiman al-Rashudi, a political activist who was arrested in December after giving a lecture about the permissibility of protests.

Women in the security bus in Qassim, chanting for the freedom of detainees:

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: General Strike and Marches as Slain Opposition Leader is Buried

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

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1642 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Thousands marched in Qatif on Thursday night in memory of leading cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, shot and detained by security forces last year.

Al-Nimr was a leading figure in the protests in the mainly-Shia Eastern Province, protesting detentions and calling for political reforms.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The US Arms Sales to the Regime

Women march in Karzakan in Bahrain on Monday

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Bahrain Opinion: A Nobel Peace Prize for the AlKhawaja Family?
Syria Live Coverage: Scores Die in Mass Killings and Aleppo Blasts
Tuesday's Mali (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurgents Counter-Attack, Move Closer to Capital

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2003 GMT: Mali and Algeria. One of the attackers who seized 41 staff of energy companies, killing two others and injuring six, said they had come from northern Mali. He said, "We belong to the Khaled Abul Abbas brigade led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar," a veteran leader of smuggling and kidnap gangs in the Sahara.

The insurgents said their hostages included seven Americans and French, British, and Japanese citizens. A Norwegian and an Irish citizen are also thought to be among those held captive. The gas plant is jointly operated by BP, Statoil of Norway and Algeria's state-run energy company Sonatrach.

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