Iran Live Coverage: Humiliation of Ahmadinejad Continues --- Advisor Mortazavi Arrested

See also Iran Analysis: Ahmadinejad's Latest Defeat --- Senior Advisor Mortazavi Arrested
Monday's Iran Live Coverage: Has Tehran Agreed to Resume Nuclear Talks?

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2112 GMT: Ahmadinjad Watch (Egyptian Front). President Ahmadinejad and Al-Azhar cleric Hassan al-Shafai clash at a press conference after a stormy meeting between Ahmadinejad and Sunni Muslim scholar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of the 1000-year-old mosque and University,today (see 1755 GMT):

2037 GMT: Ahmadinjad Watch (Egyptian Front). Lots of chatter on the Web tonight about this video of a man throwing a shoe at President Ahmadinejad during his visit to Cairo --- a Syrian man, who was heard chanting anti-Iranian slogans over Tehran's support of the Assad regime, has been arrested:

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Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Killed in Attack on Police Headquarters

Today's opposition rally in Bahrain "Change is Coming"

See also Syria Live Coverage: Diplomatic Breakthrough? Opposition Leader Meets Russia & Iran Foreign Ministers
Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Beatings, Molotovs, & a Death in Clashes

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2102 GMT: Mali. French warplanes have carried out airstrikes in the far north near the Algerian border.

Thirty jets targeted insurgent training and communication centres around Tessalit in a mountainous area.

The French forces are trying to remove insurgents from their last urban foothold in the north, the town of Kidal. Paris's troops captured the airport on Wednesday, but --- contrary to some reports last week --- have not taken the centre of the town from an insurgent group, the MNLA, which is part of the Tuareg people.

Malian Interim President Dioncounda Traore has offered to hold talks with the MNLA to help secure Kidal.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Beatings, Molotovs, & a Death in Clashes

See also Syria Live Coverage: Aid Reaches an Opposition-Held Town
Friday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Declares Jewish Settlements in West Bank "Illegal"

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1945 GMT: Mali. French President Francois Hollande has said his Government will help rebuild Mali, three weeks after France's military offensive that swept Islamists from urban areas in the north of the country.

Hollande declared French troops would stay in Mali "as long as necessary", handing over to African troops "once the sovereignty of Mali is restored".

"Terrorist groups have been weakened, but not disappeared," Hollande said.

Speaking alongside the French President, Mali's interim leader, Dioncounda Traore, thanked France for freeing the north to from "barbarity and obscurantism".

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Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Declares Jewish Settlements in West Bank "Illegal"

2220 GMT: Egypt. The protesters in front of the Presidential Palace appear to be settling in for a long and drawn out battle:

Protesters moving back towards prez palace,dragging sheets of metal,cylindrical police pods anything they can get their hands on #Egypt

— Bel Trew - بل ترو (@Beltrew) February 1, 2013

#csf appeared to have withdrawn back towards gates of prez palace. Protesters building barricade. Extraordinary #Egypt

— Bel Trew - بل ترو (@Beltrew) February 1, 2013

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will There Be a "National Dialogue"?

1651 GMT: Bahrain. Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the opposition society Al Wefaq, has said he is ready for discussions on a political settlement to end almost two years of conflict, "We welcome it, we are ready for it. We believe that dialogue and negotiations are necessary."

However, Salman called for Crown Prince Salman to attend to show the Government's had to show its willingness to offer "concrete solutions": "We want someone who can speak for the royal family."

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Head of Military "Conflict Could Lead to Collapse of State"

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1605 GMT: Palestine. Voters will be registered in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip from next month, paving the way for elections aimed at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

Hamas had barred the Palestinian Central Election Commission from Gaza, accusing the body of bias in favor of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority which rules the West Bank.

Following Egyptian-brokered talks, the two factions agreed to registration as the first step towards national Parliamentary and Presidential polls leading to a unity government.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Protests Continue Across Country

People defy the state of emergency's curfew in Suez Canal cities in Egypt (Photo: Ahram Online)

See also Palestine Feature: Getting Rich From Gaza's Tunnels
Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Near Damascus and Its Airport
Monday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Morsi Declares 30-Day State of Emergency

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1550 GMT: Israel. Israeli representatives have boycotted a regular review by the United Nations Human Rights Council, the first time a country has ever taken such action.

A decision last year to investigate Jewish settlements in the West Bank prompted Israel to announce it would no longer co-operate with the Council.

Tuesday's meeting was suspended and a course of action will be decided.

1350 GMT: Egypt. Dozens of gunmen raided and looted the InterContinental Semiramis hotel on Cairo's Nile Corniche early this morning, as staff called in vain for help from security forces.

Anti-government demonstrators secured the besieged hotel and helped guests flee in taxis to the airport. Protesters later helped security forces in arresting 12 people.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 30 Killed in Port Said Fighting

See also Mali Opinion: A Disaster 50 Years in the Making
Syria Live Coverage: Deaths from Shelling Near Aleppo
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Storm The Prison in Idlib

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1950 GMT: Egypt. Addressing the nation on television after this weekend's violence that has killed at least 50 people, President Morsi has said judicial verdicts --- such as Friday's sentencing of 21 people to executions over last year's 74 deaths in a Port Said football stadium --- have to be respected, as they are not aimed against any group of people. He said "acts of violence, blocking roads are...not something Egyptians are are esed to....They are the ugly face of counter-revolution."

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 7 Killed in Clashes on Anniversary of Uprising

Scenes in Port Said today, from announcement of death sentences to violence that has killed at least 30 people

See also Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Storm The Prison in Idlib
Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2-Year Anniversary of the Uprising

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2105 GMT: Mali. French military officials say that French and Malian Government forces have taken control of Gao, one of three cities held by insurgents in the north since last spring.

Swooping in by land and by air and under the cover of darkness, French and Malian forces came under fire on Saturday morning and continued to face sporadic "acts of harassment" through the day, Colonel Thierry Burkhard said. He had no immediate estimate on casualties.

The Ministry of Defense later issued a statement that Government control was already being established, including the return of the mayor.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2-Year Anniversary of the Uprising

Clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on the 2nd anniversary of the uprising against the Mubarak regime

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Refugee Emergency Grows
Thursday's Jordan (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Parliamentary Election --- But What Does It Mean?

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2150 GMT:Egypt. A high-ranking police officer in Suez has said two members of the Central Security Forces were killed in the city tonight.

Hundreds of people have raided the tax office building n the Delta city of Damanhour, stealing its furniture and electronic equipment.

2110 GMT:Egypt. At least six people have been killed in Suez today.

Three of the dead are 17-year-olds Mostafa Mahmoud Eissa and Mohamed Mohamed Gharib, and 26-year-old Mohsen Hussein.

Protesters and police clashes in Suez near the Governorate headquarters, with both sides throwing stones and some demonstrators hurling Molotov cocktails. The building was eventually set on fire.

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