Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Turkish Plane is Shot Down --- What Next?

See also Bahrain Snap Analysis: When Police Attack Marchers Who Carry Flowers...
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Nothing Certain but Death & Protests

---

2135 GMT: Egypt. Supporters of Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces have gathered today at the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier in Nasr City, raising Egyptian flags and banners such as "Egypt Above All" while chanting "Long live Egypt," "The people and the military are one hand", and "The people want Ahmed Shafiq."

Egypt Independent reports hundreds of demonstrators but images indicate a far larger crowd.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Nothing Certain but Death & Protests

2210 GMT: Syria. By the end of the day, more than 75 people have been killed today in Syria. Large protests, and reports of violence, continue well into the night.

One look at out interactive map (created with help from EA intern Josh Moss), and we can see that the reports of both large protests and violence were not isolated to a few locations, but were very widespread. This provides more evidence that the violence, as well as the opposition to Assad, are intensifying and spreading in every corner of the country:

View Syria - 2012 June 22 - EA Worldview in a larger map

2200 GMT: Bahrain. Was the head of AlWefaq specically targeted by police? Activists claim that this is the case, and they provide this photo as evidence:

Click to read more ...

Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Trapped in Homs...and Hama...and Douma...and...

Shelling of Hama in Syria, amid calls to prayer, on Wednesday

See also Sudan Feature: The Protests Revive
Syria Revealed: CIA Helping with Arms Shipments to Insurgents
Turkey Live Coverage (21 June): A Questionable Military Declaration
Wednesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak Not Quite "Clinically Dead"; 50+ Very Dead in Syria

---

2042 GMT: Sudan. To comply with austerity measures ordered by the national government, Khartoum State Governor Abdel Rahman Khedr has dissolved his Cabinet.

On Monday, President Umar al-Bashir ordered cuts to cope with the loss of about 75% of the country’s oil output when South Sudan seceded last year.

The measures have sparked student protests (see separate feature). About 200 gathered at the University of Khartoum early today to prepare for another anti-government rally, defying police who fired tear gas and warnings shots on Wednesday to disperse protesters.

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak Not Quite "Clinically Dead"; 50+ Very Dead in Syria

1610 GMT: Syria. There are a series of reports of heavy shelling, air strikes, and gunfire in a series of towns in Daraa province, including: Daael, Nawa, Tel Shehab, and Mezayrib. Putting them all our map of the day's events, and a clear pattern is formed, that the cluster of towns just north of Daraa city are seeing a large-scale military campaign today. In Daael alone more than 50 injuries, and at least 3 deaths, are reported. This video reportedly shows an assault helicopter attacking ground targets in the city:

The LCCS provides a possible clue - there is a report of heavy fighting between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces in Nawa. The question is - did the FSA attack the regime, sparking the military campaign, or are they simply responding to an Assad attack?

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 90 Die as Obama and Putin Talk About Conflict

See also Monday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Claims Presidential Win, But Military Tightens Grip on Power

---

2145 GMT: Egypt. Rumours have circulated for hours that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suffered a stroke today. Now a Ministry of Interior spokesman has confirmed the report, while State news agency MENA says Mubarak is "clinically dead" after he was moved from prison to a military hospital.

MENA said Mubarak's heart stopped and a defibrillator was used to restart it.

1925 GMT: Egypt. The massive crowd in Cairo's Tahrir Square tonight, protesting military rule:

Click to read more ...

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Claims Presidential Win, But Military Tightens Grip on Power

See also Turkey Analysis: An Opposition MP Gives Prime Minister Erdogan An Edge on the Kurdish Issue
Bahrain Opinion: Why Younis Ashoori's Imprisonment Points to Repression Rather than Reform
Sunday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote of Uncertainty

---

1948 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria claim 51 people have died at the hands of security forces today, including 15 in the Damascus suburbs and 12 in Homs Province.

1639 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of Syrian forces dragging away two unarmed women:

Click to read more ...

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote of Uncertainty

See also Syria 1st-Hand: A Day's Existence in Homs
Saturday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote in Cairo, Violence beyond Damascus

---

2055 GMT: Yemen. Government official says insurgents have abandoned one of the last cities that they have held in the south for more than a year.

The Ansar al-Sharia fighters pulled out of Azzan in Shabwa Province in the face of bombardments and airstrikes in a US-backed Government offensive.

2030 GMT: Syria. Ahmed Bahaddou, a video journalist working for The Associated Press, has been wounded while filming clashes between insurgents and regime forces in northern Syria.

Bahaddou, a Belgian citizen, was struck in the shoulder and evacuated to London. He is in stable condition.

Click to read more ...

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote in Cairo, Violence beyond Damascus

A cameraman on a motorbike shoots 10 minutes of dramatic footage from the battleground of Jouret al-Shayeh in Homs in Syria

See also Bahrain Audio Feature: Scott Lucas with Monocle 24 "A Guide to the Current Situation"
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: How Will Protests Respond Today to More Deaths?

---

1655 GMT: Egypt. Mixed reports of turnout in the first of the two days of the Presidential run-off, amid stories of security forces closely monitoring foreign journalists --- Ahram Online has rolling coverage of developments.

A couple boycotting the vote handcuff themselves on Qasr El Nil Bridge in Cairo:

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Parliament is Dissolved

Egypt's Presidential Candidate Ahmed Shafiq1328 GMT: Egypt. Amnesty International has condemned a new decree that would allow the military to arrest civilians, seemingly without cause. While the decree, passed Wednesday, was subject to Parliamentary vote, after Thursday's Supreme Court decisions, there is no Parliament, which would seem to leave the decree unchallengeable. Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui released this statement:

The end of Egypt's long-standing state of emergency was an opportunity for the authorities to end decades of abuses that have corroded the country's justice system.

Yet we fear this latest decision signals that instead of ushering in proper reform, the authorities are intent on holding on tight to the emergency powers they enjoyed for so long.

1312 GMT: Egypt. Some are expecting the former Mubarak Prime Minister and ally, Ahmed Shafiq, to win the Presidential elections. For starters, there is a backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood from the secular and liberal corners, as well as from the Christians who fear the rise of an Islamic party. Combine these corners with support from supporters of Mubarak, and also look at the disappointment in the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership as of late, and Shafiq begins to look like the favorite.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Regime on Its Last Legs?

2016 GMT: Syria. The discussion continues (see last 2 updates) - Hama Echo offers another blog post that has analyzed videos coming from this artillery site. However, according to the analysis, the second video we've posted is older than the 1st one that claims to have been taken today.

The blog post also analyses what weapons appear to be used, and where those weapons appear to be located. The post focuses on comparing the videos of this camp to the ordinance that has reportedly been used against the city of Homs in the past. It's complicated, but a good read.

Our conclusion? The two videos taken together serve as fairly convincing evidence that shabiha are conducting military operations inside the artillery camp, and are being directly trained by the Syrian military. The evidence is compelling, but not indisputable. The blogger Bjørn H Jespersen offers compelling evidence that the videos show an artillery base in El Waer, Homs, with mortars firing in the direction of the populated city.

Click to read more ...