Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Protests and Fighting at the Presidential Palace

Supporters of President Morsi clash with his opponents near the Presidential Palace on Wednesday

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Wednesday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Protests Surge, But What Next?

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2125 GMT: Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood says its headquarters in the Mokkatam section of Cairo, is on fire, with hundreds of protesters surrounding the building.

Journalist Reem Abdellatif sends a picture of demonstrators in Alexandria, "Oh God, Morsi and his clan must leave":

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Attack in Homs

Gunfire and explosions in Homs as defectors defend the city against the army

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EA Video Feature: A Tribute to Journalist Gilles Jacquier, Killed Today in Syria

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2103 GMT: A large protest in Idlib in Syria tonight:

And a mass rally in Khalidiya in Homs chants to the Arab League Secretary General "Nabil El Araby is a traitor":

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Europe and the Middle East: Reading the Questions over the Veil (Iskander)

A week after France’s Senate voted in favour of a ban on face coverings in public, diverse reactions across the Middle East underline that this region cannot be viewed as a monolithic bloc.  It was expected that the forbidding of the niqab and burka would elicit angry reactions: there has been some anger, but reactions have not been uniform nor entirely negative. 

There is no single view on the veil that dominates in the Middle East, with many countries debating the place of the niqab even more urgently than their European counterparts.

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