Friday, April 19, 2013 at 6:37 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 1315 GMT: Protest Watch
Protesters in Kafranbel in Idlib Province have expressed condolences to the victims of Monday's bombings of the Boston Marathon:
Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 14:11 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran See also Syria Live Coverage: The Humanitarian Crisis
Wednesday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Criticises Israeli "Pattern of Provocation" Over Settlements
2123 GMT: Mali. The United Nations Security Council has unanimously authorised an African-led military force to try and oust Islamist insurgents from northern Mali.
The Council gave the force an initial one-year mandate to use "all necessary measures" to help Mali recover the north of the country from "terrorist, extremist. and armed groups". The resolution authorises the European Union and other UN member states to help rebuild Malian security forces.
Insurgents took control of northern Mali after a military coup in March and established Islamic law.
The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) says it has 3,300 troops ready to deploy, although an operation is not expected to begin before September 2013.
Insurgents take over a post on the Turkish border on Thursday
See also Syria Opinion: "Insurgency, Not Diplomacy, Will End This Conflict"
Syria Feature: Alawites Flee to the Coast
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Regime is Shocked and Awed
2030 GMT: Syria. At least initially, the greatest threat that the Syrian crisis poses to the region has nothing to do with terrorism or chemical weapons or cross-border firefights, but has everything to do with the massive amounts of refugees flooding some countries, particularly Turkey and Lebanon, but also Iraq and Jordan. As fighting is heating up in Damascus, the amount of refugees in Lebanon has rapidly risen to an extraordinary number:
Between 8,500 and 30,000 Syrians have crossed into Lebanon in the last 48 hours, an agency spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, said at a news briefing in Geneva. The new flood adds to an exodus of more than 112,000 who have already registered as refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, and many thousands more who have fled but not registered. United Nations relief agencies say three-quarters of them are women and children, often arriving in a desperate state with no more than the clothes they are wearing. Internally, as many as a million people have been displaced, according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
1942 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army has engaged the Assad military in heavy fighting in the city of Zabadani, northwest of Damascus (map), for the second day in a row today...
See also Syria Opinion: If the Houla Massacre Isn't a Turning Point....
Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Nabeel Rajab Released from Detention
Turkey Live Coverage (28 May): Erdogan's Dilemma on the Kurdish Problem
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: After the Houla "Massacre", Another 60 Deaths
2130 GMT: Egypt. Protests have reportedly spread to the headquarters of Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, which has been set on fire:
Protesters in Aleppo burn the Russian flag on Saturday night
See also Bahrain Special: Who Exactly is Ill-Informed? And How Did That Happen?
Bahrain Feature: Problems for the Financial Sector?
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Hundreds Dead in Homs as Regime Strikes
2250 GMT: A demonstration tonight in the Dummar section of the Syrian capital Damascus:
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 17:01 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2215 GMT: Mass rally in Homs in Syria tonight:
2100 GMT: Two clips of tonight's protest in Harasta, northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus, demanding the fall of the Assad regime:
The Security Council expresses its grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, and expresses profound regret at the death of many hundreds of people.
The Security Council condemns the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities.
The Security Council calls for an immediate end to all violence and urges all sides to act with utmost restraint, and to refrain from reprisals, including attacks against state institutions.
1. The action in Libya was authorized by the United Nations Security Council. That in Iraq was not. By the UN Charter, military action after 1945 should either come as self-defense or with UNSC authorization. Most countries in the world are signatories to the charter and bound by its provisions.
2. The Libyan people had risen up and thrown off the Qaddafi regime, with some 80-90 percent of the country having gone out of his hands before he started having tank commanders fire shells into peaceful crowds. It was this vast majority of the Libyan people that demanded the UN no-fly zone. In 2002-3 there was no similar popular movement against Saddam Hussein.
Friday, March 18, 2011 at 9:51 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
2055 GMT: Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister has said that the regime has asked Turkey, Malta, and China to send observers to monitor a cease-fire, denying reports that attacks on the opposition were continuing: "The armed forces are respecting [the cease-fire] and will protect civilians."
2010 GMT: Al Jazeera English summarises King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia's carrot-and-stick in his televised speech.
The King decreed that media must not criticise clerics and praised security forces for blocking protests, "You are the hitting hand against whoever considers undermining the nation's security and stability." He also thanked Saudis for not taking to the streets: "I am so proud of you. Words are not enough to describe you. You are the safety valve of this nation and you struck at that which is wrong with the truth and at treachery with loyalty."
Sweeteners in the King's speech included $66.7bn would be spent on 500,000 housing units, $4.3bn on more medical facilities, an extra $40m for private hospitals, an additional two months' wages for all government workers, and two extra payments for university students worth around $500.
4. Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 (2011), to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory, and requests the Member States concerned to inform the Secretary-General immediately of the measures they take pursuant to the authorization conferred by this paragraph which shall be immediately reported to the Security Council....
6. Decides to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians....
