Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Breakthrough?

1820 GMT: The Egyptian stock market has rised for a second day in a row, after almost two months of suspension and then a sharp fall on re-opening last week.

The EGX 30 Index rose 0.8% to 5,251.3 at the close. It has fallen 26% this year amidst the uprising against the Mubarak regime.

1715 GMT: British Tornado jets attacked and destroyed regime ammunition bunkers in the Sabha area of the southern desert early Monday.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Urban Battles

1842 GMT: Two Reuters television journalists --- producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji --- have been missing in Syria since Saturday night, when they were due to return to Lebanon.

1840 GMT: The opposition advance continued across north-central Libya this afternoon as insurgents re-claimed Bin Jawad. AFP said about 100 fighters danced and fired into the air in celebration in the town centre, singing: "Muammar, you're a dog --- we marched straight into Bin Jawad."

Bin Jawad was the far point of the opposition advance this month before the regime pushed back over the last three weeks, but the insurgents say they have surpassed this, taking the next town along the coast, Nufilia, only 100km (60 miles) from Sirte, a regime stronghold and birthplace of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, 370km (230 miles) east of Tripoli.

Al Jazeera reports that two loud explosions, presumably from airstrikes, have been heard in Sirte tonight.

A witness is reporting at least six explosions heard in Tripoli.

Earlier, French warplanes led air strikes on armoured vehicles and on a large ammunition depot near Misurata and Zintan, cities in west Libya that have been fought over for days by the opposition and regime.

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Syria Video: Claimed Footage of Saturday-Sunday Protests

Sunday: Unspecified Location

Saturday in Lattakia

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Serious is This?

2045 GMT: Reuters reports that French warplanes have destroyed five Libyan jets and two helicopters at Misurata airport.

2035 GMT: Video from Misurata in Libya of residents surrounding regime tanks:

2010 GMT: Syria's official news agency SANA has claimed that several people who were arrested by security forces during current protests are foreigners. One allegedly has US citizenship and is of Egyptian descent: “[The arrested man] admitted that he had secretly visited Israel and confessed to being funded from abroad in exchange for sending photos and videos about [the current events in] Syria.”

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Turkey Special: A Hard Look at Ankara's Policy of "Romantic Realism"

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.

The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities”  --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.

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Syria Video: Protest, Conflict, and Deaths in Daraa

UPDATE 25 MARCH: The Attack by Security Forces in Daraa on Wednesday (Warning: Very Graphic):

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Syria: The Necessary Spark of the Daraa Protests (Arar)

Ethnic divisions make it extremely challenging to have a unified popular voice, but what is encouraging is the fact that the Syrian youth who are leading this nonviolent reform movement have made it clear that it is purely secular in nature and they will not allow it to be hijacked by any opportunist ethnic group or opposition party.

It is too early to ascribe the "revolution" label to this Syrian youth movement. But what is clear from the Tunisian example is that revolutions need a spark and it seems Assad has already ignited it in Daraa.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Interventions and Protests

Daraa, Syria2105 GMT: Libyan State TV is reporting airstrikes target residential and military areas in Tripoli and firing from anti-aircraft positions.

2100 GMT: About 500 Jordanians have set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital Amman to press their demands for the removal of the Prime Minister (see 0805 GMT), wider public freedoms, reforms over the selection of the Parliament, and dissolution of the security services.

The group is calling itself "Youth of March 24".

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Libya, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Hanging On

1957 GMT: Protesters gathered for a fifth day in Deraa, Syria, where authorities have arrested a leading opposition figure, Louai Hussein. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that, "his house was broken into. The door was smashed. His fate is unknown." 

Hundreds gathered under very tight security, and the AFP is reporting that their photographer and videographer were attacked by security forces.

Perhaps the most important news, however, is the rumor that the region's governor, Faisal Kalthoum, has been fired, which was one of the demands of the protesters. This has not been confirmed. 

1930 GMT: Al Jazeera English's James Bays filed this report earlier today from the front line outside Ajdabiya in eastern Libya. He reports an attack near his position and says, "No one really is making any progress. The opposition are where they were 24 hours ago....They are lightly armed volunteers....A professional officer on the rebel side told me they're very brave but to the point of being suicidal. Gaddafi forces are much more heavily armed. The opposition have the numbers and they seem to have the momentum but on the other side the Gaddafi forces have the power."

1915 GMT: Thanks to James Miller for taking the LiveBlog through the afternoon.

Libyan State TV is claiming live coverage of the capital under fire, with the presenter saying, "Tripoli is being bombarded now." The sky was lit with fire and the sound of anti-aircraft weaponry could be heard.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Getting Close to Qaddafi

1930 GMT: Libyan State TV is reporting coalition airstrikes on Tripoli.

1920 GMT: Army Officers: Al Jazeera English offers a list of recent resignations and defections by Yemeni officials to the opposition, including six military commanders, dozens of officers, 17 Ambassadors, the entire staff of the Yemeni Embassy in the US except the Ambassador, three MPs, and the leader of Yemen's most powerful tribe.

1910 GMT: President Obama, on a visit to Chile, has spoken to reporters about Chile. He reiterated that "it is U.S. policy" that Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi "has to go" and the international community "can't stand by with empty words" in the face of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe.

At the same time, Obama anticipated that the US would step back from leading the Libyan military mission when Libya's air defences were disabled: "We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days, not weeks."

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