Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Trapped in Homs...and Hama...and Douma...and...

Shelling of Hama in Syria, amid calls to prayer, on Wednesday

See also Sudan Feature: The Protests Revive
Syria Revealed: CIA Helping with Arms Shipments to Insurgents
Turkey Live Coverage (21 June): A Questionable Military Declaration
Wednesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak Not Quite "Clinically Dead"; 50+ Very Dead in Syria

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2042 GMT: Sudan. To comply with austerity measures ordered by the national government, Khartoum State Governor Abdel Rahman Khedr has dissolved his Cabinet.

On Monday, President Umar al-Bashir ordered cuts to cope with the loss of about 75% of the country’s oil output when South Sudan seceded last year.

The measures have sparked student protests (see separate feature). About 200 gathered at the University of Khartoum early today to prepare for another anti-government rally, defying police who fired tear gas and warnings shots on Wednesday to disperse protesters.

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Syria Revealed: CIA Helping with Arms Shipments to Insurgents (Schmitt)

A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.

The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.

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The Latest from Iran (21 June): A Silence in Tehran

1355 GMT: Justice Watch. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi, speaking to the “Human Rights and National Security” summit, has claimed that the "architect" of the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists has been identified and arrested.

Moslehi said earlier this week that 20 people were arrested in connection with the cases, and the Ministry had claimed that “the key perpetrators" of the assassinations of Majid Shahriari and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan had been detained.

Moslehi also claimed that Iran had blocked the US, Israel, and the British intelligence service MI6 from carrying out a "massive cyber attack against Iran's facilities" after the Moscow nuclear talks. He added, "They still seek to carry out the plan, but we have taken necessary measures."

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak Not Quite "Clinically Dead"; 50+ Very Dead in Syria

1610 GMT: Syria. There are a series of reports of heavy shelling, air strikes, and gunfire in a series of towns in Daraa province, including: Daael, Nawa, Tel Shehab, and Mezayrib. Putting them all our map of the day's events, and a clear pattern is formed, that the cluster of towns just north of Daraa city are seeing a large-scale military campaign today. In Daael alone more than 50 injuries, and at least 3 deaths, are reported. This video reportedly shows an assault helicopter attacking ground targets in the city:

The LCCS provides a possible clue - there is a report of heavy fighting between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces in Nawa. The question is - did the FSA attack the regime, sparking the military campaign, or are they simply responding to an Assad attack?

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 90 Die as Obama and Putin Talk About Conflict

See also Monday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Claims Presidential Win, But Military Tightens Grip on Power

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2145 GMT: Egypt. Rumours have circulated for hours that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suffered a stroke today. Now a Ministry of Interior spokesman has confirmed the report, while State news agency MENA says Mubarak is "clinically dead" after he was moved from prison to a military hospital.

MENA said Mubarak's heart stopped and a defibrillator was used to restart it.

1925 GMT: Egypt. The massive crowd in Cairo's Tahrir Square tonight, protesting military rule:

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Claims Presidential Win, But Military Tightens Grip on Power

See also Turkey Analysis: An Opposition MP Gives Prime Minister Erdogan An Edge on the Kurdish Issue
Bahrain Opinion: Why Younis Ashoori's Imprisonment Points to Repression Rather than Reform
Sunday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote of Uncertainty

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1948 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria claim 51 people have died at the hands of security forces today, including 15 in the Damascus suburbs and 12 in Homs Province.

1639 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of Syrian forces dragging away two unarmed women:

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Turkey Analysis: An Opposition MP Gives Prime Minister Erdogan An Edge on the Kurdish Issue

Last week, Leyla Zana, an MP of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peace and Democracy Party, expressed hope in an interview that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would solve the Kurdish issue:

There is a solid fact here. Let’s say this openly and accept this fact. If he wanted, the strongest can solve this [Kurdish] issue. Who is the strongest one? It’s the government and its head, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The person who is the head of the strongest government in [our] history is able to show the willpower and has the power to sort out this issue. I believe that he will be able to solve this issue. I have never lost my faith in him solving this issue. And I don’t want to lose my faith in him. If I had lost [my faith], I wouldn’t be here.

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Syria 1st-Hand: A Day's Existence in Homs (Big Al Brand)

Homs, Syria, 14 June 2012

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This is the day that I lived today. It wasn’t all bad, but it was bad enough. Not every day is similar to this one, some days are better and some are much worse. I hope you got a glimpse of the kind of life we live here in Homs, and I hope you appreciate the little things in your life because you don’t know when they might go away.

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote in Cairo, Violence beyond Damascus

A cameraman on a motorbike shoots 10 minutes of dramatic footage from the battleground of Jouret al-Shayeh in Homs in Syria

See also Bahrain Audio Feature: Scott Lucas with Monocle 24 "A Guide to the Current Situation"
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: How Will Protests Respond Today to More Deaths?

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1655 GMT: Egypt. Mixed reports of turnout in the first of the two days of the Presidential run-off, amid stories of security forces closely monitoring foreign journalists --- Ahram Online has rolling coverage of developments.

A couple boycotting the vote handcuff themselves on Qasr El Nil Bridge in Cairo:

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Syria Live Coverage: How Will Protests Respond Today to More Deaths?

2048 GMT: Syria. Earlier, we heard a report that a mortar shell fell on a hospital in Douma, an important suburb just outside Damascus. Now, this video claims to show the heavy damage. It is unknown how many injuries or fatalities occurred as a result of this attack:

Hospitals in #Douma #RifDimashq being targeted by rockets & shells. youtu.be/8HC-u0B-vPQ #Syria

— Um Farouk(@Mou2amara) June 15, 2012

2008 GMT: Syria. I've been having a conversation with several bloggers, micro-bloggers, and activists about improvised weapons and mortars being used by the Free Syrian Army. It's clear that the FSA is increasingly finding ways of going on the offense against the Syrian military, not just the defense. However, the video below, apparently showing a remote controlled bomb, could indicate that the FSA is using more sophisticated weapons against Assad military convoys and checkpoints:

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