Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will Morsi Give Back His New Powers?

2356 GMT: Syria. Another video claims to show the downing of a helicopter - with an interesting twist. In the video, this vehicle opens fire on a helicopter, but the pilots have already jumped out and their parachutes appear to be visible:

We believe this is the same helicopter we documented earlier today, shot down west of Aleppo. We believe that it was hit by a SAM missile, and then it took time to crash, then the pilots jumped, and then nearby anti-aircraft guns opened fire.

It should be noted that in another video men driving a vehicle such as the one in this video take credit for the downing of the helicopter. This video explains why both claims that the FSA shot the helicopter down with a missile and claims that they shot it down with machineguns are consistent.

2340 GMT: Syria. Things have calmed a bit in Damascus - according to sources in the opposition, residents were on edge after unusually high volumes of violence, but the probability of anything dramatic happening tonight is dropping.

By morning we will know answers: Is the airport closed? Is the regime reinforcing the center of the city or the Presidential Palace? Is the FSA prepared to take the fight for Damascus into its final stage?

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Syria Feature: Tales from the Cyber-War (Faris)

A CNN report from November 2011 on Syrian cyber-warfare

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Much has been written about the rebellion in Syria: the protests, the massacres, the car bombs, the house-to-house fighting. Tens of thousands have been killed since the war began in early 2011. But the struggle for the future of the country has also unfolded in another arena—on a battleground of Facebook pages and YouTube accounts, of hacks and counterhacks. Just as rival armies vie for air superiority, the two sides of the Syrian civil war have spent much of the last year and a half locked in a struggle to dominate the Internet. Pro-government hackers have penetrated opposition websites and broken into the computers of Reuters and Al Jazeera to spread disinformation. On the other side, the hacktivist group Anonymous has infiltrated at least 12 Syrian government websites, including that of the Ministry of Defense, and released millions of stolen e-mails.

The Syrian conflict illustrates the extent to which the very tools that rebels in the Middle East have employed to organize and sustain their movements are now being used against them. It provides a glimpse of the future of warfare, in which computer viruses and hacking techniques can be as critical to weakening the enemy as bombs and bullets.

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Backing Away from His Decrees?

2140 GMT: Egypt. Mohamed al-Qamash, a journalist for Al-Siyasi magazine, has reportedly been arrested near the US embassy in Cairo. Qamash was reportedly in Simon Bolivar Square, near a protest for Gaber Salah who was killed on Sunday, when a fire broke out. According to the report, he was beaten and his cell phone was confiscated.

2105 GMT: Syria. Earlier today, the CFDPC, a coalition of activists who report on Damascus and its suburbs, posted this dire message, with accompanying video, about the largest suburbs west of Damascus, Darayya:

A new massacre was committed by regime forces that arrested and killed at least 30 displaced people who fled their homes in Daraya and found refuge in the nearby areas. The victims were also tortured.

The LCC has reported that there were 28 bodies, and they have identified 6 of them:

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Syria Feature: How Russia Flew In Tons of Money to Keep Damascus Afloat (Linzer/Grabell/Larson)

This past summer, as the Syrian economy began to unravel and the military pressed hard against an armed rebellion, a Syrian government plane ferried what flight records describe as more than 200 tons of “bank notes” from Moscow.

The records of overflight requests were obtained by ProPublica. The flights occurred during a period of escalating violence in a conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead since fighting broke out in March 2011.

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Faces a Protest of Judges and Tents

Insurgents celebrated with a captured BMP armoured vehicle following Saturday's takeover of the Marj al Sultan helicopter base

See also Bahrain Propaganda 101: The Regime Turns Britain's Criticism Into Praise
Saturday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi v. The Protests

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2146 GMT: Syria. Activists, including the Local Coordination Committees, are reporting the death of 10 children today when a regime shell hit a playground in the Damascus suburb of Deir Assafer. Video (Warning: Graphic Images) has been posted of the casualties.

2106 GMT: Gaza. Israeli security forces have shot a Gazan near the border fence east of Khan Younis.

Israeli military sources said "Palestinians gathered at the fence, and a military force shot rubber bullets in the air", adding that they were not aware of injuries.

Hamas had deployed police to prevent clashes after Israeli troops killed one Gazan and wounded 19 in the "no-go" area on Friday (see 1659).

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi v. The Protests

Supporters and opponents of Egypt's President Morsi clash in front of the Judges Club, where the judiciary condemned Morsi's decrees, on Saturday (Photo: Hassan Ibrahim/Daily News Egypt)

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Visiting the "Deadly Stalemate" in Aleppo
Friday's Egypt, Gaza, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi, the New Pharaoh?

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2113 GMT: Syria. James Miller reports, from several opposition sources, about rumours that a major helicopter base east of Damascus, Marj al Sultan (map), has fallen to the Free Syrian Army.

Blogs and microbloggers have posted claimed video of the FSA attacking the base at night, with tanks:

#Syria #Damascus Rebels stormed Marj Sultan military airport with a tankyoutube.com/watch?v=m_3b7T…

— Mark (@markito0171) November 24, 2012

Another blog suggests that the FSA destroyed 2 helicopters, at least one of which appears to be on fire in this video:

A statement by the Al Habib Mustafa brigade, which is reportedly responsible for the raid, claims:

• 1 T72 tank captured.
• 1 BMP armored troop transport captured.
• 2 regime tanks were damaged.
• 2 armored personnel carriers were damaged.
• 50 prisoners were taken.
• 10s of Assad soldiers were killed or injured.
• The FSA controls a nearby early warning radar (which Markito suggests is north of the base), part of the air base, and the FSA is taking the fight to the other half of the base.

If true, this would be another significant victory for the FSA, just 15 kilometres outside the capital. It would indicate that, if the regime has been sacrificing bases in the rest of the country to focus on Damascus, the strategy is not working.

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Syria Audio Analysis: The Latest Insurgent Advances --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

Celebrating insurgents after Thursday's capture of the regime military base near Mayadeen in Deir Ez Zor Province

See also EA Video Analysis: Syria --- Is Assad's Military Crumbling?

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I spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily last night about the series of insurgent victories this month, assessing their political as well as military significance.

The discussion, which complementing our new EA Video Analysis, begins at the 17:33 mark.

EA Video Analysis: Syria --- Is Assad's Military Crumbling?

For weeks, we have reporting on insurgent advances across Syria. Reviewing that coverage, we ask, "Are we at the point where President Assad's military is crumbling?"

Answer: "We are not ready to declare that, but we are now past the point where the regime has any prospect of a successful counter-attack to regain control. Assad and his forces now have to rely on holding on to major cities."

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Pressure Builds On Assad

Aftermath of the shelling of the Al-Shifa hospital in Aleppo in Syria on Wednesday --- at least 15 people were killed and 20 wounded (see 1009 GMT)

See also Gaza Live Coverage: A Ceasefire is Declared --- Now What?
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Damascus Shakes as Assad Regime Wobbles

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1735 GMT: Egypt. Nobel Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei is not happy about President Morsi's orders:

Morsi today usurped all state powers & appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh. A major blow to the revolution that cld have dire consequences

— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) November 22, 2012

1650 GMT: Egypt. President Morsi has issued a series of wide-ranging orders on the political and legal fronts.

Morsi has commanded the retrials of all executives and politicians of the Mubarak regime accused of "committing crimes against the Revolution". He has extended the deadline by two months for drafting of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly, plagued by divisions. He has ruled that the Assembly and the Shura Council cannot be dissolved by a court, and he has replaced the Prosector General.

Morsi also declared that his decrees cannot be reversed by a court.

Journalist Ahmed Aboul Enein summarises critically:

#BreakingNews: President #Morsy issues constitutional decree; declares himself god. #Egypt

— Ahmed Aboul Enein (@aaboulenein) November 22, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Damascus Shakes as Assad Regime Wobbles

2114 GMT: Syria. Markito0171 posts an interesting video, reportedly taken yesterday, showing an FSA rocket attack on an airforce intelligence building in Aleppo (map):

#Syria #Aleppo Video of the Air Force Intelligence building- besieged from rebelsyoutube.com/watch?v=O51xBi… wikimapia.org/#lat=36.229081…

— Mark (@markito0171) November 21, 2012

As you can see from the screenshot of Google maps, the video matches the satellite images:

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