Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: From Houla to Douma

2039 GMT: Syria. In Damascus, there are protests reported in multiple areas, but heavy gunfire reported in far more areas. The reports, from so many sources, are pouring in at this late hour - it will be a long night for Syria's capital.

2032 GMT: Syria. Meanwhile, protests continue, in the heart of Aleppo, and the heart of Damascus:

#Aleppo: protesters in #Khaldiyeh district chanting in solidarity with the suburbs of Aleppo tonight 5-6-2012youtube.com/watch?v=RHTDS8…#Syria

— Zilal (@zilal1) June 5, 2012

Protest in Kafarsouseh neighborhood of #Damascus tonight. Vid: youtube.com/watch?v=sQA8-o… #Syria twitpic.com/9t6acn

— Free Syrian (Sami) (@HamaEcho) June 5, 2012

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Protest Renewed in Cairo, Ever-Present Beyond Damascus

Al Jazeera English on Saturday's events in Egypt, from the sentencing of former President Mubarak to mass protests

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: "I Was Tortured by Prince Nasser"
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Largest Protests Ever?

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2025 GMT: Libya. Members of an elite unit set up by the Government to rein in militias have been accused of kidnapping and severely beating a prominent surgeons.

Salem Forjani, a heart surgeon working for the Ministry of Health, was seized on 17 May when he went to Tripoli Medical Centre to carry out the Ministry's order to remove the director, who was accused of links with the Qaddafi regime.

Instead, Forjani was confronted by members of the Government's Supreme Security Committee, who dragged Forjani through the hospital, beating him unconscious in front of the staff.

A fellow medic photographed Forjani being carried, shirtless and spreadeagled, down the hospital's ambulance ramp while an SSC soldier threatened to shoot unarmed hospital security staff giving chase.

The SSC troops bundled the doctor into a car and incarcerated him in a base at Naklia, a suburb of Tripoli, where he was beaten and kicked so hard in the groin that he was left with a ruptured testicle. For five days neither his family nor the Ministry of Health could find him or get confirmation that he was still alive.

Finally, after Forjani had been moved to a second facility, at Tripoli's Mitiga Airport, the SSC contacted the Ministry and released him.

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Egypt Live Coverage: Former President Mubarak Learns His Fate

Tahrir Square in Cairo tonight

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Largest Protests Ever?

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2100 GMT: State TV is reporting at least 61 people injured in clashes today.

2000 GMT: Egyptian football supporters, known as "Ultras", have been part of the uprising and protests since January 2011. They were in Tahrir Square again tonight:

And in the Sinai Peninsula, a march in Arish:

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

UN military observers view dozens of victims of Friday's killings in Houla in Syria

See also Bahrain Special: Preaching Religious Tolerance, Practicing Religious Discrimination
Bahrain Live Coverage: UN Human Rights Council Sends Message to Regime
Friday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for a Presidential Outcome
Egypt Opinion: A Reminder After the Presidential Vote "The Revolution Lives"

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2015 GMT: SyriaTonight's protest in the Kafarsouseh section of Damascus, in sympathy with the people of Houla:

1945 GMT: Algeria. Lawmakers of the "moderate" Islamic Green Algeria Alliance and two smaller Islamic factions have walked out of the inaugural session of the new Parliament to protest against an election they claim was rigged to give a majority to the ruling party.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

Saturday's Live Coverage has now been moved to the top of the homepage....

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for a Presidential Outcome

2103 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees, today's death toll has risen to 51, with at least 40 killed in Houla, Homs (see previous updates).

2054 GMT: Egypt. It was messy, it was long awaited, it was ovedue, it's going to be disappointing to some, but it's hard to argue that it isn't historic. There are the results of the first presidential election in Egypt:

1. Mursi 5,553,097 (25.30 per cent)

2. Shafiq 5,210,978 (23.74 per cent)

3. Sabbahi 4,739,983 (21.60 per cent)

4. Abul-Fotouh 3,936,264 (17.93 per cent)

5. Moussa 2,407,837 (10.97 per cent)

As we predicted earlier, the results will trigger a runoff election between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander and Mubarak's last Prime Minister.

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Election in Cairo, Conflict Beyond Damascus

1924 GMT: Syria. Speaking of gasoline, scenes like the one below, reportedly taken today in Kanaker, Damascus, are increasingly common. The prices of refined gasoline and diesel have skyrocketed, and widespread shortages are reported. The government claims that the shortages are the result of sanctions, but as Robert Ford points out (in the previous update) refined oil was exempt from foreign sanctions in order to avoid this problem. These shortages are the result of the military using up all the fuel.

1835 GMT: Syria. The Syrian government claims that foreign economic sanctions have cost the country $4 billion, a number which is low, according to many other estimates:

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Uncertainties After the Damascus Bombs

2013 GMT: Syria. Protests have lasted well into the night. This impressive video was reportedly taken in Douma, a key Damascus suburb:

However, a quick check of the LCCS suggests that the evening protest may have been disrupted by violence:

Reports of the fall of tank shells on Misraba and Hijarieh neighborhoods along with powerful explosions shake the Great Mosque's yard. In addition to heavy gunfire reported in Shuhada (Martyrs) Square and Shefonieh roundabout and the deployment of snipers in multiple places.

2007 GMT: Syria. Activist Rami Al Jarrah shares this video reportedly showing violence in Saqba, Damascus, earlier today:

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Relative "Calm"?

Syrian security forces fire on students at Aleppo University, killing at least four (see 1015 GMT)

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2015 GMT: Syria. Back from a break to find confirmation that Alepppo University, after the death of four students at the hands of regime forces and arrests of dozens more, has suspended classes for 10 days:

Dear students, due to the current situation, classes of theory-based majors will be suspended until the beginning of exams.

Classes of practice-based majors and institutes will be suspended until 13-5-2012, in order for the practice-based exams to take place.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Meeting in Tunis

Shelling of the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria this morning

See also Syria Feature: Asking Again, "Will Aleppo Rise?"
Bahrain Feature: The Long Tentacles of the Regime's PR Octopus
Sudan 1st-Hand: Protests and Raids at the University of Khartoum
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths of The Journalists

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2142 GMT: The Local Coordination Committees of Syria are now reporting that 97 people have been killed today nationwide, including victims of two "massacres."

Two massacres were committed while the Friends' of Syria Conference being held The Syrian regime committed two new massacres today in Homs and Hama; where the number of martyrs in Hama reached 30 in two separate massacres and the number of martyrs in the Khaldieh massacre in Homs reached 33. The number of martyrs in Syria today is 97 so far in different cities. The Local Coordination Committees regrets the world's inability to stop the regime's brutal violence, which is increases steadily and kills more innocent Syrian victims every day

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