Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 1 Killed in Continuing Protests in Mansoura

Protests and clashes in Mansoura in Egypt, where one person was killed early this morning

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo
Friday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Given 3-Month Sentence

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1831 GMT: Egypt. Visiting Cairo, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Egyptian Government's need to agree a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund is "paramount".

Kerry said he was certain that US cooperation with Egypt can only happen if Cairo "makes the right fundamental choices" regarding the talks with the IMF.

The Morsi Government said on Thursday that it will invite an IMF team to reopen talks.

"It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy get stronger, that it gets back on its feet," Kerry told Egyptian and American executives. "It's clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached, that we need to give the market that confidence."

The Morsi Government agreed the loan in principle last November but it was put on hold at Cairo's request amid political unrest and an inability of the President to implement tax rises necessary for the IMF assistance.

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Syria Analysis: Washington Supports Arming of Insurgents So the Regime Will Negotiate

Syrian military fires rockets from Mezzeh airport in Damascus on Wednesday.

See also Wednesday's Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Near Aleppo's Historic Mosque

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The US is sending a signal to the regime that the time to negotiate is now. That signal may be heard in Moscow louder than it will be heard in Damascus, but it could put Russia in a spot where they will either have to pressure President Assad or watch as Syria's insurgents are further strengthened.

This, however, is not a full American move to military backing of the opposition. Kerry is hardly a hawk for intervention, and Obama has never signaled that he supports arming the insurgency.

So the questions: what happens if the regime will not make the essential commitment --- the departure of President Assad --- for the negotiations?

Given that the new "non-lethal" military aid is not enough to secure an insurgent victory, what next?

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Syria Live Coverage: US "Non-Lethal" Assistance --- and More --- for the Insurgency

2027 GMT: Closer to a Diplomatic Solution? Long-time readers will know that we've never been confident that a political settlement to this crisis was possible. However, it does appear that such a solution has never stood a better chance than it does today. As one reader suggested to me on Twitter, the SANA response to John Kerry's saber-rattling was "not very strong, leaving a breathing space" in which negotiations could take place. In fact, the same reader reminds us that Moaz al Khatbib's first demand has been met today, an extension of foreign passports, potentially signifying that the regime is clearing the way to have some dialogue with the opposition:

State news agency SANA said the Ministry of Interior extended the validity of Syrian passports to 10 years from six and that all expired passports for Syrian nationals abroad would be renewed for two years.

Syrian expatriates are unable to travel on expired passports and many Syrians abroad complain they have faced problems in renewing or getting residency visas for out-of-date documents.

Moaz al-Khatib, head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said he would speak to Assad's representatives if expired passports were extended for two years. He also demanded 160,000 prisoners be released prior to talks.

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Syria Analysis: Washington Supports Arming of Insurgents So the Regime Will Negotiate

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Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Near Aleppo's Historic Mosque

2155 GMT: Massacre in Aleppo Suburbs. The LCC reports that a massacre has been committed near Aleppo, in a village near Al Safira. Here is their report:

Regime’s forces executed 72 martyrs from Malkieh village western of Sfeereh. 49 were identified while 23 martyrs remain unknown. Their bodies were burned.

Al Safira is the site of heavy fighting between the rebels and the regime. The rebel efforts there are being led by Jabhat al Nusra. The nearby chemical weapons depot is thought to be one of the largest of such facilities in the entire Middle East, and has been fiercely guarded by Assad's military.

As of now we have no pictures or videos of the incident, but we are looking. As such we have not independently confirmed the details of this story.

According to the LCC, 188 people have been killed nationwide today:

99 martyrs were reported in Aleppo, including 72 executed in Sfeereh ; 59 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs; 11 in Idlib; 8 in Hama; 4 in Homs; 3 in Daraa; 3 in Deir Ezzor and 1 in Raqqa.

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Syria Live Coverage: Insurgent Attacks in Damascus

2106 GMT: Hezbollah Convoy - continued. As many readers have pointed out, there is no strong evidence that the mine attack in the last video worked at all. We'll have to see if we get more videos or other news sources, but it's worth watching.

2049 GMT: Hezbollah Convoy Destroyed? Since this morning there have been rumors that a convoy of Hezbollah fighters was destroyed on a highway near Damascus. French media, citing Voice of Lebanon radio and an official in the Free Syrian Army, said that "senior Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah and Syrian officers" were targeted. An opposition Facebook page suggested that the officials were on a way to a security meeting and were destroyed by landmines placed on the road.

Now, Al Jazeera's Arabic channel has picked up the report, and has played video that they say shows the attack:

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Iran Analysis: The US Makes a Non-Offer on the Nuclear Talks

Appearing alongside the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the lead negotiator for the 5+1 Powers in the nuclear talks with Iran, new US Secretary of State John Kerry met in Washington said he looked forward to Ashton's "critical effort" in high-level discussions with the Iranians on 26 February in Kazakhstan.

"We hope that the talks in Almaty in a few days can show some further progress, perhaps open some additional opportunities," Kerry said.

However, the Secretary of State's rhetoric was put in context by the revelation from "Western officials" of the offer to be made to Iran. In exchange for Tehran's steps to close its enrichment plant at Fordoo, which produces 20% uranium, the US and its allies will lift sanctions.

Well, not all sanctions. Not the sanctions levied in 2010, following the American rejection of the Iran-Brazil-Turkey offer in the Tehran Declaration. Not the sanctions levied in 2011 or 2012, including last July's European cut-off of oil imports from Iran and insurance for Iranian oil tankers anywhere in the world. Not the restrictions on Iran's financial and banking sectors, including international transactions via the SWIFT system and payments in Euros or dollars.

No, the only sanctions that may be removed --- in exchange for the "stop, ship, and shut" demand of the US and Europe over 20% uranium, --- are those imposed by Washington ten days ago.

Specifically, the US will lift the ban on transfer of gold and precious metals to Iran. The significance of that measure is that it chokes off alternative forms of payment for Iran's oil and gas, such as Turkey's transfer of gold to Tehran --- which increased 11,000% in 2012 --- for natural gas.

This is only a modified version of Washington's position since last June's stalemate in Moscow at the last high-level talks. First, Iran makes the major concessions on its nuclear programme, giving up 20% uranium enrichment, then there will be negotiations.

This is not the "reciprocity" proclaimed by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last autumn. It certainly is not the reciprocity that will be demanded by the Iran.

At best, then, the talks in Kazahstan in ten days are "holding" discussions to stave off military action while Iran endures another six months of economic pressure.

Then the discussions will resume in September, after Iran's Presidential elections. And Washington can then say it is making a genuine offer of "reciprocity": if Tehran will shut the Fordoo plant, the US will lift the sanctions imposed on 6 February 2013.

US Audio Feature: John Kerry as Secretary of State --- Scott Lucas with Voice of Russia

I spoke with Voice of Russia last night about the nomination of Senator John Kerry as Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton. 

The line was that Kerry is a doubly "safe pair of hands". Internationally, his pragmatic approach has worked well in encounters with foreign leaders. Domestically, he will not encounter the resistance from Congress which doomed the nomination of Susan Rice this month and embarrassed the Obama Administration.

And Clinton's legacy for US foreign policy? Well, I responded, that depends if you think the Obama years have had a clear and coherent policy.

The four-minute interview is posted on Voice of Russia's website.

US Politics Snap Analysis: Why Mitt Romney "Won" The 1st Debate with President Obama

See also US Elections Video: The 1st Obama-Romney Debate

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Photo: ReutersMitt Romney appeared more committed and convincing when explaining his solutions to America's economic woes. Those ideas may appear to be nothing more than wishful thinking when the answers are dissected, but the perception Romney gave was that he has a coherent plan to restore US fortunes. The bottom line to take from the debates was that Mitt Romney appeared Presidential; the actual president less so.

Will that be enough to shift the polls in Romney's favour?

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US Analysis: Why The Tax Returns May Sink the Romney Campaign

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Sadly for Mitt Romney, any valid reasons for not releasing his tax records have now been overwhelmed by the perception of his campaign's inept response. In the business world where he made his fortune, his insistence on the privacy of confidential documents might be a virtue, but in an election for the President of the United States, it has become the vice that may sink him. Even if he does release the records, and even if there is nothing shocking in them, the perception will remain that he has a different idea of the American Dream that he wishes to protect than most of the people he hopes to represent.

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