Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus

Smoke this morning above Army Staff Headquarters in Damascus after two explosions

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Insurgents' PR Quest for Ammunition in Aleppo
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "The Situation Has Gone from Bad to Worse"

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1820 GMT: Syria. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has upheld his initiative of a four-nation contact group --- Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran --- and declared, "The bloodshed in Syria and the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded, must be stopped."

A full English-language text of the speech has been posted.

1720 GMT: Syria. Back from a long break for a business meeting to find the official casualty figure for today's double bombing near Army Staff Headquarters is six dead –-- t four security guards and two suicide bombers --- and 14 wounded.

Security has been increased in the area of the explosions with roadblocks and checkpoints. A resident said, "Most of the people who work at governmental institutions could not go to work today."

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees report one of the bloodiest days in the 18-month conflict, with 290 people killed by security forces. The 162 dead in Damascus and its suburbs include a claim of 107 people slain in a mass killing in al-Thiabieh. There are also 37 killed in Deir Ez Zor Province, 26 in Homs Province, and 25 in Daraa Province.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Attack Around Aleppo

Live Coverage has been re-titled and moved to the top of the homepage, "Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus".

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Is Aleppo Out of Control?

People grieve over some of the dozens killed on Wednesday in Jdeidet Artouz near Damascus (see 0515, 0625, and 0705 GMT)

See also Bahrain Opinion: US Needs More Than Words About the Regime
Syria Revealed: Inside the Obama Administration's Discussions About the Insurgency
Syria and Turkey Analysis: Ankara Looks to Iraq's Barzani Amid the "Kurdish Spring"
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Aleppo --- This Does Not Look Like Regime "Victory"

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2042 GMT: Syria. Martin Chulov of The Guardian writes:

FSA colonel told me 1000s of refugees from Idlib & #Aleppo sleeping in fields near Jebel al-Zawiya. "We can't feed them. Help us."

— Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) August 2, 2012

2037 GMT: Bahrain. Footage of police gathering and arresting people in Bilad Qadeem tonight:

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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.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Arab League Speaks --- Does It Matter?

2141 GMT: Large protests have lasted well into the night in many cities across Syria. This video was one of the more impressive ones, reportedly showing a protest in the Bab Qebli neighborhood of Hama:

2115 GMT: It has been another extremely bloody day in Syria, as the LCCS is now reporting 33 people killed by security forces, "including 2 children and a defected recruit and 2 men who died under torture. 11 martyrs in Homs, 9 martyrs in Idlib, 6 martyrs in Daraa, 3 in Damascus Suburbs and a martyr in each of BoKamal, Raqqa, Damascus and Hasakeh."

The steepest escalation since the last report is in Homs, where reports of heavy attacks have been reported, perhaps in response to a new wave of defections in the city.

Also, the civilian who was killed in Damascus was reportedly, killed in a protest near the Mujtahed Hospital in Midan. This video was taken, reportedly showing the protest:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Finding the Dead in Idlib

Clashes on Saturday in AlEker in Bahrain, from police dispersing a funeral procession --- with detentions of youths and pushing of women --- to young people forcing the security forces to flee (see also 0814 GMT)

See also Syria Interview: Kurdish Leader Abdulhakim Bashar "We Demand the Right to Self-Determination"
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Exclusive in Zabadani, A Rally in the Kingdom

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2200 GMT: The Arab League has put forth a political roadmap for Syria, with President Assad delegating power to a deputy and setting up a unity government as a prelude to early Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The League called on Assad to open discussions with other groups, including the opposition, within two weeks on the intiative. The new government would be formed within two months, electing a council that will write a Constitution and prepare for the elections.

Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, that the League would ask for the enforcement of the UN Security Council.

One observer, journalist Blake Hounshell, has noted the plan is similar to the approach taken by the Gulf Co-operation Council to resolve the Yemen crisis. The GCC put forth its call to President Saleh to transfer power in spring 2011; Saleh finally agreed in November and said today that he is leaving for the US for medical treatment.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Newsflash --- "The Killings Continue"

2135 GMT: Zainab Alkhawaja provides details of this latest woman killed in Bahrain. According to her Twitter stream, the woman is named Fakhriya Jassim, 55 years old. She inhaled teargas in the town of Isa on New Year's Eve. According to Zainab:

Fakhriya's son says a day before she died his mother kept saying "this time the tear gas is different" she could barely talk. The night be4 being exposed to the teargas Fakhriya was fine, she went out shopping

She was the mother of 5 children, and had 10 grandchildren, according to alKhawaja.

We're still hearing rumors of more tear gas in Bahrain tonight.

2127 GMT: We've been tracking reports of teargas in Bahrain for the last hour or so, but not activists are reporting that a woman has died from teargas suffocation tonight. Said Yousif Almuhafda reports:

#Bahrain picture of fakhrya jassim alsakean who died today after sofecatung from tear gas .im with her family now

2050 GMT: This video was reportedly taken earlier today in Hama. Citizens talk to the Arab League observers, and one yells out, "They've massacred us."

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Actress's Message

A message from actress and activist Fadwa Suleiman about justice, freedom, and identity in Syria

See also Syria Feature: The Sanctions Close In
Saturday's Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Prosecution Creep?

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2045 GMT: Two of the videos of demonstrations across Syria tonight, in Hama and in Tadmour in Homs Province:

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