See also Syria Video Feature: Friday's Protests Across the Country
Syria Transcript: Kofi Annan's Speech to the UN General Assembly
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 140 Die as US and Russia Talk of "Plan B"
2105 GMT: Syria. The Salaheddin section of Aleppo tonight:
2035 GMT: Syria. Security forces fire at protesters in Aleppo 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:
Nikahang Kowsar on "time" and the Supreme Leader after the Baghdad nuclear talks
See also Iran Analysis: 4 Lessons of The Baghdad Nuclear Talks...And What's Next
Iran Document: Statement By EU's Catherine Ashton After Baghdad Talks
The Latest from Iran (24 May): Day 2 of the Nuclear Talks in Baghdad
1803 GMT: Nuclear Watch. Journalist Scott Peterson has a telling follow-up quote from an Iranian diplomat who was speaking with him throughout the Baghdad talks, "I think [they were] a complete failure, in terms of content. The more they talk, the worse it gets."
Peterson's description makes clear that a tough opening proposal by the 5+1 Powers did not include a reference to easing of sanctions or a recognition of the level of enrichment that would be acceptable inside Iran.
Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:05 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran A Saturday evening demonstration in the Khamidiya section of Homs, including the children of those who have died in the 14-month conflict
One of a series of photos of fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime --- at least four people died (see 0905, 0955, and 1603 GMT)
See also Syria Snapshot: Assad's Supporters Clash With Kurds --- But Can the Kurds Unite?
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Bahrain Live Coverage: Challenging the US Arms Sale
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Uneasy Frontline
1733 GMT: Lebanon. A sit-in demonstration at Aleppo University today:
1603 GMT: Lebanon. Witnesses and officials say at least four people, including a Lebanese soldier, were killed and another 24 injured in the overnight fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between residents for and against the Assad regime (see 0905 and 0955 GMT).
Each side moved some way. Earlier each had escalated in the hope of bringing extra pressure to bear to shift any negotiations their way. The Iranians started 20% enrichment, and then moved it from exposed Natanz to safer Fordow, underlining the perils for the Six in delaying a move to a more flexible and hence constructive position. And ever-tighter financial
sanctions and the partial oil embargo appear to have led Iran to moderate
its defiance and allow itself the option of a change of policy.
It will be tough turning these preliminary moves into a deal. The first requirement for the Six is to recognize in practise that distrust is two-way. They must be seen to negotiate in good-faith on nuclear issues and not to hold regime change up their sleeves.
A march in Bilad Alqadeem in Bahrain today, expressing solidarity with political leaders in prison
A protester amidst the tear gas in Salmabad in Bahrain on Saturday
See also Syria Document: Beginner's Guide to The 27 Points of the "Friends of Syria" Meeting
Syria Feature: An Insurgency Running Short of Ammunition
Bahrain Video Interview: Nabeel Rajab on BBC HARDTalk "Why This Regime and This Revolution Are Different"
Bahrain Video Special: A Tribute to Ahmed Ismail Hassan, Citizen Journalist of Salmabad
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Teenager is Shot to Death in Salmabad
2005 GMT: CNN posts a video profile of prominent Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat --- abducted and badly beaten by gunmen in Damascus last August, he left the country but now hopes to return:
After Bahraini police attack funeral procession for Ahmed Ismael Hassan (see 1445 GMT), youth respond by throwing Molotov cocktails at armoured vehicles
See also Bahrain Feature: The Killing of Ahmed Ismail Hassan
Libya Feature: With the "Islamists" in a New Country
Syria Flashback: The Schoolboys Who Sparked an Uprising
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Friday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: No Sleep Until....
2150 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria report that 65 people have died today across the country, including six children and 10 defected soldiers. Twenty-seven of the deaths were in Daraa Province, including 18 claimed executions; 19 perished in Homs Province, and 12 in Idlib Province.
2145 GMT: Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, detained earlier this evening in the Bahraini capital Manama, has been released:
Rajab facing a policeman before he was detained (Photo: EPA):
1950 GMT: Al Jazeera finds this picture, reportedly taken in the town of Dael, Daraa, a small town that is no stranger to the ferocious crackdown of the Assad regime. The protesters hold signs, in English, and wave pre-Baath party Syrian flags, the symbols of the opposition. The message echoes that of many in Syria:
;)
1945 GMT: A bold claim by the opposition in Quriyah, Deir Ez Zor:
"The Free Syrian Army killed the Major General Mohamed Hameem, the Commander, 17th Division-Armored Vehicles."
One of a set of photos of President Ahmadinejad's appearance in Parliament
See also The Latest from Iran (13 March): "Tehran is a Pioneer of Human Rights in the World"
1805 GMT: Drumbeats of War Watch. Some of the better journalists on the Iran beat have noticed the "intriguing signs of potential diplomatic progress over Iran’s nuclear program", but that should not stop others from fishing for readers with the "Could It Be War?" bait.
CNN simply asks, "Will Israel Strike Iran?", opening:
It's late in Iran on a dark night, moonless or with heavy clouds. Suddenly the silence is broken by sonic booms, followed by the sound of jets roaring overhead.
Flying in tight formation, Israeli fighter planes drop bunker-busting bombs on a nuclear enrichment plant built into the side of a mountain.
Iranian pilots race for their own jets to fight back, but by the time they take to the sky, it's too late. The Israeli jets streak away.
And The Atlantic, which introduced "The Iran Doomsday Clock", seeks profit by arguing against itself --- James Fallows derides speculation without knowledge...by speculating without knowledge:
While I am skeptical of the journalistic bias toward guessing what might happen rather than analyzing what has actually occurred, in the current climate I'll hazard this prediction: the United States is in fact not going to bomb Iran, and in anything like the current set of facts not even Netanyahu's Israeli administration is likely to do so. Indeed we will look back on the hyped-up bomb-Iran frenzy of the past two months with an air of wonder and dismay.
2126 GMT: Turning to Bahrain, a woman who was arrested for listening to a revolutionary song in her car has been released, and was greeted by a large crowd upon getting out of prison:
Fadhila al-Mubarak was detained during martial law last year at a checkpoint for listening to a tape praising a pro-democracy protest movement that erupted in February after uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Said Yousef al-Muhafda said.
Mubarak was sentenced to four years in jail for taking part in the Pearl Roundabout protests, inciting hatred of the government and insulting a public official, Muhafda said. The sentence was later reduced to 18 months and must still be appealed.
2025 GMT: This video, according to the Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre, was taken today, and shows the Assad military bombarding Zabadani (see updates below):
