Bahrain, Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Trouble in the Villages

Claimed footage of police breaking into a parked car in Bahrain on Friday, possibly taking items from inside the vehicle

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2025 GMT: Bahraini authorities have said they will hold a second round of by-elections on 1 October in nine of the Parliamentary constituencies where voting took place on Saturday.

The authorities said no candidate had won 50% of the vote in the first round in the constituencies.

The second-round ballots will be another test of political strength after the low turnout of 17.4%, amidst a boycott by the opposition Al Wefaq party, on Saturday.

1955 GMT: Activists in Syria have said that the regime has sent military reinforcements to Homs Province and put more security forces in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

The activists sadi, "Military reinforcements were sent to Rastan, deploying around the building housing military security, and others to Qusour."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said four people died on Sunday, including Hassan Eid, the head of the surgery department at the state-run hospital in Homs, shot dead outside his home.

State television said Eid was killed by "armed terrorist gangs".

The reported deployments and clashes come after security forces allegedly killed 12 civilians on Saturday in Qusour and one person further north in Hama.

Activists also said 10 students, including a woman, were arrested Sunday by security forces in Dael on Southern Syria.

Despite the reported military build-up, the demonstrators came out again tonight in Rastan in Homs Province:

And despite the deaths this weekend, they also came out in Qosour:

1950 GMT: A video example of the difficulties of assessing events in Bahrain --- the clip clearly shows residents of Sanabis trying to fight a fire started in a rubbish skip on Friday, but who started the blaze?

1940 GMT: Protest in Zabadani in Syria tonight, "Bashar al-Assad is the greatest terrorist":

1850 GMT: Back to our lead story this morning from Bahrain....

Reuters has carried the report from our correspondent (see 0835 GMT) that only 17.4% of registered voters cast ballots in Saturday's by-elections for 14 Parliamentary seats.

In the 14 districts, only 25,130 voters of a total 144,513 came out to vote, according to figures published on the regime's elections website www.vote.bh.

Reuters calls the low turnout "a victory" for the opposition Al Wefaq party, which called on voters to boycott the by-elections. Al Wefaq, whose 18 MPs resigned their seats in March in protest over the regime crackdown on dissent, had predicted a 15% turnout and the regime had said it was hoping for at least 30%.

A Bahraini activist provides a spreadsheet setting out the figures for registration and for Saturday's vote.

1830 GMT: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has said women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura Council as full members.

Abdullah said in a speech, "Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama [clerics] and others … to involve women in the Shura council as members, starting from the next term. Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote."

The changes will take effect after elections on Thursday in which women are barred from voting or standing for office.

1820 GMT: In Libya, Al Jazeera English's Zeina Khodr reports from the outskirts of Sirte, one of the last two Qaddafi strongholds. She says fighters of the National Transitional Council "after a fierce and intense battle. Both sides were using heavy power":

1815 GMT:The Bahrain State news agency declares, "Saudi Arabia today reiterated its strong rejection of any blatant external interference seeking to disrupt Bahrain’s security stability and erode its national unity. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud voiced the strong stance, hailing the restoration of security and stability in the Kingdom."

Saudi Arabia sent military forces to Bahrain in March to support the Bahraini regime's crackdown on protests. Abdullah's statement comes amidst the renewal of those protests, including their resurgence on Friday and Saturday with clashes with security forces.

1805 GMT: A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a Sunni Islamist activist to three months in prison for remarks on his Twitter account which were deemed derogatory to Shiite Muslims.

Mubarak al-Bathali, who is serving another three-month jail term on a similar case, was arrested several weeks ago by the secret service police on charges of undermining national unity.

The same court is due to issue a verdict on Tuesday against a Kuwaiti Shiite blogger for allegedly using his Twitter account to insult the rulers of Kuwait’s Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Nasser Abul, 26, was arrested almost four months ago and tried on charges of undermining national interests and risking severing Kuwait’s relations with “brotherly countries".

1800 GMT: Back from a weekend break and catching up with today's development --- we start in Yemen where President Saleh, having returned from Saudi Arabia on Friday, has just addressed the nation.

Nothing earth-shattering in either Saleh's rhetoric: he played the terrorism/Al Qa'eda card early in the speech to link himself to the support of Saudi Arabia and the US and to paint those opposing him as extremists.

Later he re-stated that he had authorised Vice President to engage in dialogue with the opposition and sign a transition deal, adding that Presidential and Parliamentary elections would be held after an agreement was signed.

Saleh has made such offers throughout the crisis that began early this year but has never followed through with his signature on a deal.

0835 GMT: An EA source brings us the latest news from Bahrain, "Military court has sentenced Mahdi Abudeeb to 10 years imprisonment and Jalila Al Salman to 3 years imprisonment."

An EA correspondent in the country puts the regime's declaration on Saturday's vote into perspective: "Bragging about '51.4%' turnout? Numbers talk --- out of 144,513 registered, only 25,125 actually voted, which equals a mere 17%".

0715 GMT: We have an official vote count, and the Bahraini regime has claimed its "majority" --- just.

Sheik Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Minister of Justice told reporters that voter turnout for 14 by-elections was 51% of 187,000 registered voters, despite the refusal of the opposition party Al Wefaq to take part.

Witnesses told news agencies that lines at polling stations were short or empty throughout the day, putting into question the claims of a majority voter turnout.

Al Khalifa proclaimed, "[From] today most of the parliament will be comprised of independent members." With Al Wefaq's 18 MPs leaving in March to protest the regime crackdown --- four had already been replaced by candidates who were unopposed --- supporters of the monarchy are unlikely to face any challenge in the legislature.

0705 GMT: Only three of the numerous videos we have of overnight protestsin Syria --- first, the Khalidiya section of Homs:

In Dael in the south:

And in Idlib in the northwest:

0635 GMT: Expect a big day in Yemen. Protesters for and against the regime are promising mass turnouts, and President Saleh, who returned on Friday from months of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, says he will speak to the nation tonight.

0630 GMT: The "new normal" in Syria on Saturday --- on a relatively slow news day, there were still 15 deaths, according to activists. Most of those killed were in Homs.

A demonstration last night in a section of Damascus, calling for the downfall of the Assad regime:

0620 GMT: It appears the Bahraini regime is trying to minimise and even avoid attention to the trouble in the villages on Saturday. Its statement, put out through Manama Press, says:

AT least 22 people have been arrested for trying to derail yesterday’s by-election.. Police responded after a group of youths poured oil on the roads around the polling centre in Sanabis to hinder traffic movement, said Interior Ministry General Co-ordinator of Parliamentary By-elections and General Director of Guards Brigadier Abdullah bin Saif Al Nuaimi.

They also dispersed a gang throwing stones at voters’ vehicles in the car park of the polling station in A’ali.

Deep in the story, there is the note, "The government issued a statement in which it said five policemen had been injured in Sitra after being attacked by protesters throwing Molotov cocktails." That adds an additional curiosity, as we had no reports of violence in Sitra on Saturday.

0600 GMT: We begin this morning with a special feature from Bahrain, where Saturday's staging of 14 Parlaimentary by-elections was punctuated by clashes in villages throughout the country.

The protests, heavy police presence, and conflict overtook the vote for international media, who had taken notice of Bahrain a day earlier with a resurgence of public dissent in the capital Manama. CNN begins its story this morning:

Polls closed Saturday night in a parliamentary election in Bahrain, a day marked by more arrests and clashes between authorities and protesters....

Saturday was marked by more tension. There was no firm count of an injury toll, though many anti-government demonstrators were getting treated for their wounds in makeshift clinics in the capital of Manama, reports an eyewitness, who is not being named by CNN for security reasons.

Around the time the last ballots were cast, at 8 p.m., police said 22 people had been arrested so far. Protests were still ongoing at that time, the witness said.

Given the reports from our sources and a continuing stream of videos, we would be very surprised if only 22 people were detained on Saturday