Libya Live Coverage: American Ambassador Among 4 Killed in Attack on US Consulate

2011 GMT: With all the talk of the attack on the embassy, nearly forgotten is the fact that Libya also elected a new Prime Minister today. Though there were rumors of a recount, according to Al Arabiya the decision has been made:

#BreakingNews: Libyan parliament chooses Mustafa Abu Shakour as the country's new PM: correspondent

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 12, 2012

Mustafa Abu Shagur is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, and was a former adviser to the National Transitional Council. It appears Shagur has beat the former head of the NTC, Mahmoud Jibril, and 8 others, but only beat Jabril by 2 votes.

Consider this an unofficial result.

1950 GMT: It's been interesting to watch protests develop today in Libya. Not only are protesters still very angry about the video that sparked this, many have also expressed their condolences for the loss of life and have condemned the actions of those who attacked the US embassy. The Guardian points us towards two examples, a tweet and a Facebook page (with some spelling issues):

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Egypt Opinion: Destroying the Books of Alexandria (Nervana)

Our clever pundits, who, thanks to books and literature, have earned various academic degrees and advise think tanks about the Arab world, did not devote even a tweet to the distraught owners of these bookstalls. Perhaps they are too busy dealing with far more pressing issues, such as redefining political terms, in which subtle theocracy is a civil state, backwardness is renaissance, and tyranny of the majority is the desired democracy.  Therefore, and in that context, the destroyed bookstalls are simply irrelevant.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 7 Weeks Later, The Battles in Aleppo Continue

Saturday night's opposition rally in Bab Qibli in Hama Province

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Friday's Manama Protests and the "Overwhelming Humane Side of People"
Syria 1st-Hand: Darayya After the Mass Killing --- "The Stink of Death"
Syria Photo Feature: A Moment of Life and Death in Aleppo
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates in Aleppo and Damascus

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1957 GMT: Bahrain. The Speaker of the Council of Representatives has called on ambassadors of "Western" states to condemn the "vandalism, sabotage, and targetting of the trade sector by the chaotic rallies" of the leading opposition society, Al Wefaq.

Authorities tried to prevent an Al Wefaq march on Friday by declaring it illegal and mobilising security forces around and in the capital Manama, but smaller demonstrations occurred throughout the city, with the police trying to disperse them with tear gas.

See Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Friday's Manama Protests and the "Overwhelming Humane Side of People"

1951 GMT: Libya. The Prosecutor's Office has said that the trial of former leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam will be delayed by five months to include any relevant testimony obtained from the interrogation of Libya's former head of intelligence.

Government officials said in August that Saif al-Islam's trial on charges of war crimes would begin this month, but the extradition of Abdullah al-Senussi from Mauritania on Wednesday led to the postponement.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates in Aleppo and Damascus

Claimed footage of Free Syrian Army fighters inside the Hanano army barracks in Aleppo in Syria

See also Bahrain Video Discussion: The Conflict and the Regime's Public-Relations Effort
Egypt Feature: Who Speaks for the Workers?
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Shelling Returns to Damascus

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2020 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report 172 people have been killed by security forces today, including 89 in Aleppo Province, 55 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 14 in Daraa Province.

State news agency SANA reports amnesty for "227 persons who were misled into getting involved in the recent events [and] whose hands are clean of the Syrians' blood...after pledging to not bear arms again".

According to SANA, some of those released said that they turned themselves in after realizing the scope of the conspiracy targeting Syria in implementation of foreign agendas".

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 250 Civilians Die on Monday

See Also Today's Bahrain Live Coverage: Will High-Profile Activists Receive Court Verdicts Today?
Jordan Feature: The Government's Threat to Internet Freedom (Tarawneh)
Bahrain Opinion: You Can Imprison the 13 Activists. You Cannot Imprison Their Ideas.
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1600 Killed in the Deadliest Week

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2034 GMT: Syria. A second video claiming to show the jet downed in Idlib:

Another video of the MiG that was downed in #Idlib today. youtube.com/watch?v=7kquGa… The pilot was shot in the head while parachuting. #Syria

— Abdullah Aldahhan (@SyrianSmurf) September 4, 2012

The Blogger Brown Moses adds this context:

The man talking to the camera in the video is Jamaal Maaruf, the leader of Shuhada Jebel al-Zawiya Battalion (thanks for Asher Berman for that ID, who explains that the battalion has been attacking Abu Dhuhur air base for 6 days, and the jets are being used to attack civilians.

According to Brown Moses, the jet in question appears to be a Mig 21, based on pictures he has posted on his analysis.

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Egypt Feature: Mubarak-Era Officials "Retain Millions of Pounds" of Assets in Britain (Shenker)

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's ousted former president, was sentenced to life in jail in June. A six-month investigation, conducted by BBC Arabic and released in conjunction with the Guardian and al-Hayat, a pan-Arab newspaper, has identified many valuable assets linked to his family and their associates that have not been frozen.

These include luxury houses in Chelsea and Knightsbridge and companies registered in central London. One member of Mubarak's inner circle has even been permitted to set up a UK-based business in recent months, despite being named on a British Treasury sanctions list of Egyptians who are linked to misappropriated assets and subject to an asset-freeze.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Unavoidable Change on the Ground

See also Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 10,000s March Outside Manama

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2128 GMT: Yemen. At least eight people have been killed by a US drone strike on two vehicles in Radaa in the centre of the country.

"Five were killed and eight injured and we are still investigating who these men are and in what way they were linked to al Qaeda," one official said.

Three women were also killed in the strike, a local tribal chief claimed. He said that the strike had targeted Abdulraouf al-Dahab, a local al-Qaeda leader, but that it failed to kill him.

Some tribesmen and military officials said that no fighters had been killed in the air strike, in which 14 civilians, including three women and three children, died. The officials said Sunday's airstrikes were based on faulty intelligence that the passengers were al-Qaeda members.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Several Hundred Bodies" After Regime Offensive in Darayya

See also Iraq Feature: The Critical Issue of Succession in Kurdistan
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More Deaths, More than 200,000 Refugees

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1658 GMT: Bahrain. For the second time in four months, prominent activist Maryam Alkhawaja is being held at Cairo airport and denied entry. Alkhawaja, the international representative of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been providing a running report via Twitter:

Saying order is from intelligence and reson is "top secret" as to y im not allowed in #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

Theyre putting me under observation with the police cuz im insisting on knowing y im not allowed into #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

They want me to sign docs and im refusing, told them i want lawyer @amr_imam present #egypt

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) August 26, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Damascus and Its Suburbs Hammered Again

Bahraini activist Ali Mushaimaa protests Thursday's visit by King Hamad to British Prime Minister David Cameron in London (Photo:Instagram)

See also Syria Snap Analysis: New Patterns in a Bloodier Conflict
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Nationwide Battle

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1913 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordination Committees, an Al Jazeera reporter was wounded in the Saif al Dawla district of Aleppo:

1900 GMT: Syria. The fighting in Syria has crossed over the border into Iraq. This week, the Free Syrian Army made significant advances near al Bukamal, in the Deir Ez Zor region. In response to the FSA capturing several border crossing points, Syrian jet fighters reportedly attacked the border crossings, moving over Iraqi air space in the process.

Now, the LCC reports that Iraqi soldiers have also fired at Syrians near Al Bukamal.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Nationwide Battle

1944 GMT: Syria. Some of our readers and Twitter followers have been asking us about Austin Tice, an American journalist who was covering the conflict in Syria. Tice's Twitter account went dark last week, and while initially the lack of Tweets was unnoticed, in recent days it has caused concern.

EA has contacted Tice's editor, and she has just shared with us an article explaining that Tice is missing.

His subsequent silence didn’t raise immediate alarm because he’d planned to leave that week, on a journey to the Lebanese border that often takes days because of the fighting en route. The Damascus suburb where he was last known to have been has faced heavy bombardment in recent days that has made communications difficult. Tice’s family and colleagues are concerned for his safety and are asking anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to come forward.

"We understand Austin’s passion to report on the struggle in Syria, and are proud of the work he is doing there. We trust that he is safe, appreciate every effort being made to locate him, and look forward to hearing from him very soon,” Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra, said in a statement from Houston, his hometown.

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