Yemen, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Celebration Amidst Uncertainty

Sunday protest in Safi in Morocco --- the crowd mourned Kamal Amari, allegedly beaten to death by police on Thursday

2047 GMT: We're wrapping up for the day. Tomorrow we'll try to untangle the story, from Syria, that 120 policemen have been killed. We'll follow up on the air campaign against Tripoli and the rebel advances near Zintan. We'll figure out if Saleh is going to return to Yemen, and we'll see if there is more fallout in Bahrain.

Thanks for reading. We'll be back tomorrow morning. 

2030 GMT: A Damascus lesbian-blogger, Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, has been kidnapped, potentially be security forces, according to her cousin who has updated her blog. Her father cannot find her, and her family is attempting to contact police stations in Damascus to discover her location. 

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Yemen, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: While We Waited for the President...

2120 GMT: Videos of a pro-reform demonstration today in Casablanca in Morocco --- estimates are circulating of 20,000 to 30,000 in the crowd:

And an image of thousands more in Tangier:

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Yemen, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A President Is Wounded

Video of the destroyed Presidential Mosque in the Yemeni capital Sana'a

2130 GMT: Media are reporting tonight that the Vice President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is now acting President and Supreme Commander of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Abdel Rahman Ba Fadel, an opposition member of the Yemeni parliament, has told Al Jazeera, "A medical team arrived from Saudi Arabia but there is a plane ready to take him [President Saleh] there if they fail to treat him in Yemen."

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Syria 1st-Hand: "I Don't Want My Girl to Grow Up Afraid Like Me" (Anonymous)

Protest in Homs, April 2011A Homsi friend, whom I’ll call Ghada, told me why she decided to take part in the protests. While visiting Damascus, she was sitting in the back seat of a taxi as the driver began to interrogate her daughter, a four-year-old. “Who is he? This is Dr. Bashar, an eye doctor, are your eyes hurting?” the driver said, pointing at a billboard image of President Assad (who was trained as an ophthalmologist), with the line “The master of country” written over it. “Do you know him? Do you love him?”

For a second, the only image Ghada could think of was the picture of a dead man in Al-Sanameen, near Daraa, who was shot in the eye by government snipers early on in the Syrian uprising. And she remembered a fact every Syrian knows too well: many taxi drivers work for the Mukhabarat, the secret services, and one way they have of gathering information and watching over the current mood in the country is through chit-chat with passengers. For years, Syrians have bitten their tongues when a taxi driver suddenly decided to talk about fuel prices or the government’s performance in any area.

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Latest Syria Video: Protests Defy the Internet Blackout

People of Kobani to President Assad --- "Leave, Leave!"

Burning of Chinese, Russian, and Iranian flags in Daraa in south:

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Yemen, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: City on Fire

2115 GMT: We'll be shutting down the liveblog for the night. We'll be back at 0530 GMT tomorrow.

Here is a roundup of the news.

In Syria, protesters took to the streets all across the country during what protesters were calling "Children's Friday." Reports were that these wre the largest protests yet, but the internet was almost completely shut off. Still, we have many videos posted in a separate section:

Latest Syria Video: Protesters Defy the Internet Blockout

The scale of the protests would have been major news, but they were overshadowed by violence. Protesters were killed in Taiz, security forces continued to shell Al Rastan, but the big news was that the military opened fire on a crowd of 50,000 peaceful demonstrators in Hama, killing at least 70.

In Yemen, the big news of the day was the rocket attack which hit the Presidential palace and wounded President Saleh and an unknown number of his advisors. However, there were also protests elsewhere, and at least 4 civilians were killed by government air strikes in Abyan. 

Latest Yemen Video: Protests Among the Chaos in Sana'a

In Libya, the rebels have made significant advances, and now threaten the city of Tripoli.

In Bahrain, there were major protests and clashes with security forces (video below).

Just another Arab Spring Friday.

2059: Another country heard from...

Breaking news: Protests have erupted in Egypt over the death of a microbus driver in Azbakeya. He was arrested yesterday for a traffic violation, and died in custody. There is a report that he attacked one of the officers, though details are all emerging from Twitter right now. 

There is also a report that a gunfight between the relatives of the man and police was the ultimate catalyst.

There appear to be clashes between protesters and security forces in Azbakeya and Ramses. Below is a picture of a truck lit on fire in Ramses.

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Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: States of Denial

The Yemenia Airways building burns to the ground amidst clashes in Yemen's capital Sana'a:

2216 GMT: We have conflicting reports from Yemen, but Abe Alansy, who has been the fastest source to update information, is Tweeting that the situation is now calm in Sana'a, Yemen, though it is entirely possible that this is subject to change. There are reports of casualties, but any numbers are likely to be unreliable until daybreak.  

In Libya, an opposition website is claiming multiple victories today near the city of Yefren (updated since our post at 1446 GMT). 

We're taking a break here and preparing for a very busy day tomorrow morning. In Syria, we'll be watching "Children's Friday," in Yemen the growing violence around the capital, in Bahrain the funeral of the most recent martyr, and in Libya the advance of rebel forces. It's going to be another busy Arab Spring Friday.

We'll pick up our coverage at 0530 GMT tomorrow.

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Yemen, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Ceasefire?

2055 GMT: Another clip of protest in Morocco today --- at the end of the footage, the marchers flee from security forces:

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Syria 1st-Hand: A Journalist's Account of Detention and Abuse (al-Khalidi)

The young man was dangling upside down, white, foaming saliva dripping from his mouth. His groans sounded more bestial than human.

It was one of many fleeting images of human degradation I witnessed during four days as an unwilling guest of Syrian intelligence, when I was detained in Damascus after reporting on protests in the southern Syrian city of Deraa.

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Yemen, Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Battle Resumed

2110 GMT: Protest in Homs in Syria in memory of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb (see 1625 GMT):

2105 GMT: Refuting earlier reports, Yemeni opposition tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar has said that no truce has been reached between his tribe and President Saleh's forces.

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