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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: After the Houla "Massacre", Another 60 Deaths

Scott Lucas — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:38:12 +0000

A rally in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday night with a message about the Houla "masscare", "These are our martyrs, we will never forget them"

1837 GMT: Syria. The United Nations Security Council is in emergency session to discuss Friday's mass killing in Houla.

Diplomats said Russia is blocking a strong statement condemning the regime, insisting that the Council first hear from Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the UN's observers in Syria.

The draft statement, which has not been supported by Russia and China, said that the members of the Security Council "condemned in the strongest possible terms the Syrian armed forces’ heavy shelling of a civilian populated area", arguing, "This indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force against civilian population constitutes a flagrant violation of international law." It said, "Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held accountable."

A demonstration in the al-Asali section of Damascus today:

1628 GMT: Syria. Alex Thomson of Britain's Channel 4 has been in Houla today with Syrian regime forces. He writes, that despite Friday's mass killing of civilians, "Syrian army keep sending gun-mounted APCs [armoured personnel carriers] to fire", and continues:

Intermittent firefights all over town. Incoming M16 rounds from FSA sniper position.
— alex thomson (@alextomo) May 27, 2012

One Syrian soldier shot 10 metres away. They dragged him away.
— alex thomson (@alextomo) May 27, 2012

UN told me their work was hampered by a Syrian Army armed APC their vehicles, firing 2 rounds and starting another firefight.
— alex thomson (@alextomo) May 27, 2012

Thomson has also posted a blog entry on his day. Despite his position with Syrian forces, he is sceptical of the regime line that Friday's death were due to "terrorists", in part because of the accounts of UN observers:

In the town of Houla they questioned people repeatedly and the story was always the same, that at approximately 12.30pm on Friday after prayers there was a sustained barrage lasting in the region of two hours from the Syrian army.

This was followed by concerted attacks on foot led by the Shabiha, and this is when the masacre occured. The killings, these sources say, happened some time in the period from 3pm on Friday to approximately 1-2am on Saturday.

1620 GMT: Egypt. The campaign of Abdel Moneim Abdel Fotouh, the former senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it will file a request for the suspension of the Presidential vote based on a lis of 12 categories of violations, including vote-buying, registration of deceased voters, barring of observer, and mistakes in records.

Abdel Fotouh fared poorly compared to predictions, trailing far behind the top three vote-getters.

Hamadeen Sabahi, who finished third in the ballot, has already filed a request for suspension because of voting irregularities and the disputed qualification of Ahmed Shafiq, the former Vice President in the Mubarak regime, who finished second.

1610 GMT: Morocco. Despite recent Parliamentary elections and declared reforms by the monarchy, the mass protests of February 2011 continue in Morocco --- a march today of workers in Casablanca:

1400 GMT: Syria. Activists claim regime forces shot dead at least two men on Sunday in Damascus suburbs amid protests to condemn Friday's killings in Houla.

One of those killed, Riad Mahmoud, was among a crowd of 2000-3000 people who marched in the neighbourhood of Yalda on the southern edge of the capital and were confronted by armed members of a secret police division, according to activists.

A senior Arab League official says the Assad regime has denied permission for a deputy of United Nations/Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to travel to Damascus.

The official said Syria blocked the former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa because it does not want to deal with the Arab League.

Annan is due in Damascus on Monday.

Claimed footage with sounds of clashes between insurgents and regime forces in the Midan section of Damascus today:

1325 GMT: Egypt. A criminal court has found Zakaria Azmi, the Chief of Staff of former President Hosni Mubarak, guilty of corruption, sentencing him to seven years in prison and fining him 36.3 million Egyptian pounds ($6 million).

Elmy was also a legislator and a senior member of Mubarak's National Democratic Party.

Azmi is one of about three dozen key figures of the Mubarak regime in detention facing corruption charges. The group includes two former Prime Ministers, the ex-Speaker of Parliament, and several wealthy businessmen and Cabinet ministers.

Sunday’s verdict comes less than a week before a court is due to issue its ruling in the trial of Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa.

1125 GMT: Syria. A demonstration today in Ma'arat Harma in Idlib Province:

1030 GMT: Syria. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi has told journalists that Damascus retains the right to defend its citizens: "We will not forfeit that."

Makdissi said the United Nations Security Council should be looking into who is arming insurgents, inciting violence, and calling for NATO intervention.

Makdissi continued that the regime had shown the images of Friday's killings of more than 90 people in Houla "because we're not afraid. We know what happened."

0950 GMT: Syria. The Twitter account of British Foreign Secretary has been announcing a series of steps after Friday's mass killings:

Charge d'affaires at Syrian Embassy in London will be summoned to @foreignoffice tomorrow at my instruction over #houlamassacre
— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) May 27, 2012

Hague also said he will soon be speaking to United Nations envoy Kofi Annan and "will call on Russia to support rapid & unequivocal pressure on #Assad regime and accountability for crimes".

0945 GMT: Syria. Activists say a bomb has struck a security vehicle in Damascus, causing casualties.

Both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees of Syria claim the explosion occurred in the upscale neighborhood of Mazzeh. The LCCS say the incident was near a military airport.

0730 GMT: Syria. Helene Cooper and Mark Landler of The New York Times report:

In a new effort to halt more than a year of bloodshed in Syria, President Obama will push for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad under a proposal modeled on the transition in another strife-torn Arab country, Yemen.

The plan calls for a negotiated political settlement that would satisfy Syrian opposition groups but that could leave remnants of Mr. Assad’s government in place. Its goal is the kind of transition under way in Yemen, where after months of violent unrest, President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to step down and hand control to his vice president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in a deal arranged by Yemen’s Arab neighbors. Mr. Hadi, though later elected in an uncontested vote, is viewed as a transitional leader.

The success of the plan hinges on Russia, one of Mr. Assad’s staunchest allies, which has strongly opposed his removal.

0605 GMT: Syria. Saturday's news was dominated by the aftermath of the killings in Houla in Homs Province the day before. United Nations observers, including the head of the mission, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, visited the site and reported 92 bodies, including those of 32 children and teenagers.

Victims were later buried in a mass grave, as Mood condemned “in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy”. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the UN envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, went farther. Countering Syrian State media's claim that "Al Qa'eda-linked terrorists" were responsibile, they pointed at the regime:

This appalling and brutal crime, involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centres and violence in all its forms.

Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account.

Meanwhile, another 60 people reportedly died at the hands of security forces across Syria on Saturday, including 25 in Homs Province and 15 in Idlib Province.

North Korea Video Feature: The Wonderful World of the Regime's YouTube Channel (McFadden)

Scott Lucas — Sun, 27 May 2012 08:40:06 +0000

Disney, Take Note --- the North Korean regime's cartoon animals portray conflict and re-unification

Caleb McFadden, a history student at Middle Tennessee State University, writes for EA:

On 14 July 2010, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with the username “uriminzokkiri”, created its official YouTube channel.

Since that day, 3000 videos have been posted, and the channel has more than 3000 subscribers and more than 2 million views of its footage. In comparison, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has three times the population of North Korea, has less than 2000 subscribers and about 2.5 million visits.

Given the general lack of Internet access in North Korea, most of the views are probably from foreigners. So it is worth noting the few videos that promote themselves with English subtitles, mainly condemning the US and the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Most of these clips show footage of American and South Korean and military drills to illustrate accusations that the "West" is trying to kill the peace process and the reunification of Korea --- Lee Myung-bak is framed as a sell-out to the US, wanted for "anti-reunification crimes".

Aside from newsreels, there are videos of beautiful landscapes and paintings of regime leaders, accompanied by gentle music that sounds like a mixture of a Western orchestra and eastern instruments. Most of this propaganda attempts to portray North Korea as a safe and peaceful place to live --- perhaps that is why there are no videos of the recent failed missile test.

The site also has hundreds of animated cartoons. The majority of these depict two animals fighting over something, probably symbolizing the struggle between the two halves of Korea. These cartoons often end with a reference to unification of North and South, as the animals become friends.

One of the more striking cartoons features a young boy, who falls asleep while doing his math homework and dreams of blowing up American warships and landing craft with missiles. While the other boys in his dream are successful at hutting their targets, the main character does not know how to zero in on the proper coordinates because he did not learn from his homework. When he wakes from the nightmare, he immediately returns to his studies.

So whom are the North Korean regime trying to convince? South Koreans? Chinese? Young children and students in the West? Maybe a general effort to improve on their 13% approval rating in the US --- which,disturbingly, is the same as that for Congress?

It is doubtful that any of these audience will be swayed into sympathy for Pyongyang. Still, the videos make a contribution: they offer a window into the thinking of North Korean regime in the 21st century.

Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

Scott Lucas — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:30:29 +0000

UN military observers view dozens of victims of Friday's killings in Houla in Syria

2015 GMT: SyriaTonight's protest in the Kafarsouseh section of Damascus, in sympathy with the people of Houla:

1945 GMT: Algeria. Lawmakers of the "moderate" Islamic Green Algeria Alliance and two smaller Islamic factions have walked out of the inaugural session of the new Parliament to protest against an election they claim was rigged to give a majority to the ruling party.

The MPs held up placards reading "No to fraud!" and then left. They hold about 60 seats in the 462-seat parliament.

In the election on 10 May, the ruling National Liberation Front won 220 seats, and the allied RND party came second with 68 seats.

1929 GMT: Egypt. More political drama tonight....

Hamdeen Sabahi, who finished a strong third in the Presidential election, to the surprise of many observers, has given a rousing speech to enthusiastic supporters. Sabahi said that he will not tell his supporters for whom to vote in the Presidential run-off.

The audience responded, "Down down with military rule! The people say, we don't want felool (remnants of the regime)!"

Sabahi's campaign is also filing an appeal for suspension of the election because of voting irregularities and a pending case over the right of former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who finished second in the vote, to stand for President.

1925 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claim that 49 people have died across the country at the hands of security forces, including 25 people in Homs Province.

1700 GMT: Syria. Mass burial of victims of Friday's attack on Houla that killed at least 92 people:

1655 GMT: Yemen. Military officials and local sources say 33 people, including six soldiers, have been killed today in clashes between regime forces and insurgents in the south of the country.

1625 GMT: Syria. The head of the United Nations observers, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, has condemned “in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy” in Houla, where he said 92 bodies, including those of more than 32 children and teenagers, had been counted.

A team of UN observers visited the area. Mood later told reporters in Damascus, “Those using violence for their own agendas will create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead country to civil war."

Syrian State media has blamed the deaths on "Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups".

1623 GMT: Syria. Plainclothes supporters of the regime beat people with sticks in Baghdad Street in central Damascus:

1600 GMT: UAE. Al Jazeera English offers a lengthy overview of the detention of 15 political activists in the United Arab Emirates in the past year.

All but two of the detainees are members of the Reform and Social Guidance Association [al-Islah], which advocates reform and "adherence to Islamic principles". The chairman of al-Islah, Sultan bin Kayed al-Qasimi, the cousin of the ruler of the northern emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, is among those held.

1555 GMT: Syria. Claimed video of mourners at a funeral in Aleppo dispersing amid gunfire by security forces:

1315 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of security forces firing on a demonstration in the Qaddam section of Damascus today:

A large rally in Aleppo remembering the dead in the attack on Houla on Friday:

1235 GMT: Tunisia. Hundreds of Salafi Islamists have attacked bars and shops and clashed with security forces in Jendouba.

The crowd was protesting the arrest of four men in connection with previous attacks on alcohol vendors. A Ministry of Interior official and a witness said they were throwing rocks and petrol bombs.

Police responded with tear gas, breaking up the group, but fighting continued.

1225 GMT: Egypt. Ahmed Shafiq, who finished second in this week's Presidential ballot and will face the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi on 16-17 June in a run-off, has been holding a lengthy press conference. Al Jazeera English offers a selection of quotes.

1135 GMT: Syria. A claimed image of the some of the bodies of those slain in Houla on Friday:

1100 GMT: Syria. LiveStream is showing a demonstration of thousands of people in Aleppo, calling for the downfall of the regime after the deaths in Houla on Friday.

A demonstration in Kafroumeh in Idlib Province for the dead of Houla:

And Latamneh in Hama Province:

1050 GMT: Syria. As United Nations observers visit the scene of yesterday's killings, activists have raised the toll of those killed in the assault of Houla in central Syria to more than 90.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 90 people had been slain, while a local activist, Abu Yazan, said 12 people died in shelling and 106 were killed when pro-regime plainclothes enforcers, known as "shabiha", stormed the area.

Abu Yazan said shelling began after an anti-regime demonstration following Friday Prayers. Later the shabiha raided the village of Taldaw, just south of Houla, entering homes and shooting at civilians.

1045 GMT: Yemen. A Saudi diplomat kidnapped by insurgents in Yemen has urged Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to meet his captors' demand for the release of women prisoners, in a video message posted on the Internet on Saturday.

"I plead the custodian of the two mosques (Saudi King Abdullah) to bring me back to my family, to my children and wife," said Abdallah al-Khalidi, the Saudi deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden, who was abducted in March. "I plead King Abdullah...to save me and release me from al Qaeda in return for the release of the imprisoned sisters."

1020 GMT: We have moved our Bahrain update to a separate entry for Live Coverage.

0930 GMT: Syria. Back from a Saturday break to find the leaked report from Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the United Nation Security Council about the Syrian situation. Dated 25 May, the letter is gloomy: "Measured against the commitment of [UN envoy Kofi Annan's] six-point plan, the overall situation in Syria remains extremely serious and there has been only small progress on some issues."

While expressing concern about "an alarming number of explosion in population centres, including acts of terrorism", the gist of the report is criticism of the Assad regime on issues such as the failure to withdraw military forces or cease operations; continuing arrests and detentions; and "massive violations of human rights".

0440 GMT: Egypt. After a day of drama and uncertainty in the counting of ballots, confirmation finally came last night that the Presidential run-off will be between the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, and Ahmed Shafiq, the Vice President in the last weeks of the Mubarak regime.

The outcome was filled with surprises. The Nasserite socialist Hamdeen Sabahi outperformed expectations, and at one point was a possibility for the run-off before falling short of Shafiq's second-place total. Former Brotherhood candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, expected to be a strong contender, trailed badly from the early stages of the count. So did former Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, predicted by many to make the run-off and even lead the first-round tally.

0430 GMT: Syria. James Miller writes....

Friday's headline would have been the largek widespread protests held across the country, or the report that a Russian ship was destined for Tartus, stocked with weapons to bolster the Assad regime. But then the news emerged from Houla in Homs Province where several shells fell on a group of homes in a residential neighborhood, killing perhaps more than 50 people, among them 13 children.

The graphic video shows the bodies, the newest victims during the 15 months of the uprising. With another impressive show of protest strength, but after Assad's forces killed so many, not only in Houla but beyond --- activists claim 115 slain on Friday --- neither the crackdown nor the uprising show any sign of slowing.

Bahrain Special: Preaching Religious Tolerance, Practicing Religious Discrimination

John Horne — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:21:09 +0000

Bahrain Shia pray at the site of a demolished mosque, 24 December 2011

An event in Paris today, raising awareness and support for the universal right of religious freedom, has chosen an unexpected guest of honour: the King of Bahrain's wife.

La Palme De La Liberte, "The Palm of Freedom", is organised by a the French branch of a Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need. Attendees and passersby in Notre-Dame Square will see an oasis constructed from fifty palm trees, each three metres tall. Senior Catholic clerics from Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan and Hong Kong will be at the ceremony.

The choice of Princess Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa as guest of honour at an event calling for religious tolerance has concerned many human rights activists, given the Bahraini regime's record of discrimination against Shia citizens. Her presence at the event appears to be less a recognition of reality and more the outcome of an emerging public relations campaign, where the focus is placed on Bahrain's positive approach to religious minorities to distract from its treatment, claimed as oppression by many, of the religious majority.

It is unclear if the charity is fully aware of the accusations of religious discrimination against the Bahrain regime --- EA attempted to contact them yesterday, but there was no response --- from prominent institutions across a spectrum of issues. On Thursday, for example, the US State Department observed in its 2011 human rights report on Bahrain :

Discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, nationality, and sect persisted, especially against the Shia population. The government demolished multiple Shia religious sites and structures during the year.

In a separate report on religious freedom, the State Department highlighted structural discrimination against Shia citizens, particularly in employment and government roles.

These reports echo the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and those of Amnesty International in their summary of April 2012. Amnesty argues that the Bahrain "orchestrated a collective punishment policy against the Shi’a community", adding, "The government has not taken any steps to tackle discrimination or incitement to hatred, or work towards real reconciliation between the ruling family and the Shia population."

Observations by NGOs who have visited Bahrain point to the continuing discrimination against Shia citizens. Physicians for Human Rights argues that "over the past 14 months...the Government of Bahrain has denied a largely Shia segment of its population" the right to safe medical treatment, "resulting in widespread fear among many who seek [it]". Human Rights First's report cites testimony of Shia citizens who were subject to religious harassment by police during recent arbitrary arrests (where they were also subject to beatings). Such anti-Shia religious harassment was found by the BICI report to be one of "the most common techniques used on detainees," suggesting that there has been little by way of reform.

None of this, however, has stopped the Bahrain regime from claiming the exact opposite. And they have seized upon the public platform given them by the Catholic charity to push this propaganda to an overseas audience.

On Thursday, Sameera Rajab, Bahrain's new Minister of State for Information, spoke at a press conference in France supporting today's Palm of Freedom event. Rajab praised "religious freedoms" in Bahrain and claimed that " public and private jobs are accessible by all", according to Gulf News Daily, who copied almost word-for-word the report of the press conference by the regime's Bahrain News Agency.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post published an interview with Bahrain's Ambassador to the US, Houda Nonoo. Ambassador Nonoo took issue with accounts of 2011, including some of the findings of the BICI report, "All these problems are not reality", and asserted, "The Shiites are treated the same way as everyone else." The week before, Ambassador Nonoo was in Europe where, in her own words, she "[took the opportunity] to share Bahrain’s unique story of religious tolerance and religious freedom".

Certainly, Ambassador Nonoo is a far more appropriate person to claim that Bahrain is a beacon of religious tolerance than Sameera Rajab. In 2007, the US Ambassador to Bahrain, William Monroe, raised concerns about "Rajab's role in pushing a sectarian agenda" at a conference in Iraq which was strongly anti-Shia. And, as noted by Marc Owen Jones, Rajab publicly promoted anti-Shia conspiracy theories during the events of 2011.

Bahrain's alleged "religious tolerance" carries personal overtones for Ambassador Nonoo. As a member of Bahrain's tiny Jewish community --- numbering around 30 citizens --- Nonoo is doubly symbolic: she is not just from a religious minority, but is also a Jewish representative for a predominately Arab state. Accordingly, she is an ideal figure to spearhead a propaganda offensive, particularly given her closeness to PR firm Qorvis (indeed, she insisted that a representative from Qorvis was present during The Washington Post interview).

It is precisely this --- positive treatment of religious minorities in an Arab state --- Ambassador Nonoo, Sameera Rajab and Princess Sabika al-Khalifa (three women, no less) are currently selling to the West. This serves to project Bahrain as a novel place of tolerance and thus clearly not in need of significant change.

In late February, a Qorvis issued press release reported on a talk Nonoo gave to Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, where she is "highlighted the Kingdom's superlative record in preserving religious freedom". The press release cites the following passage from her speech:

Bahrain is a free and open society. Women are fully empowered members of society. Although Bahrain is a Muslim country, religious minorities – including Christians, Jews, Hindus and Baha'i – enjoy full freedom of worship.

Today, next to mosques, Bahrain is home to 19 registered Churches, a synagogue, Hindu temples and many other places of worship.

EA readers may remember a similar line being fed to a New York Times reporter by three Western expatriate women in Bahrain:

All three said one reason they had stayed in Bahrain was its openness — a Gulf state with Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, synagogues, Hindu and Baha’i temples.

At her press conference in Paris, Rajab emphasised, "Religious minorities enjoy their full status....The recent incidents in Bahrain have in no way affected exercising religious rituals by the minorities."

Positive treatment of religious minorities should be applauded, of course. The point here is that its current promotion has another motive: diversion from the regime's mistreatment of the Shia majority.

The historic and continued discrimination against Shia citizens in Bahrain is regarded by many as institutionalised sectarianism, an opinion buttressed by the Al-Bandar report. Serious accusations have been leveled at the regime by NGOs, foreign governments, and the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, but little to nothing has been done by the regime to address political, institutional, and structural causes, enabling the views which guided such policy and practice to remain intact.

There is often a notable disconnect between the Bahrain regime's rhetoric and the reality of its actions. Indeed, it is the role of the public relations firms paid millions to market a fantasy version of the island Kingdom to cover up this disconnect. However, this latest attempt for a vision of Bahrain as a modern, reforming state is remarkable in its audacity, and --- given the events at home, rather the presentation abroad --- more than a little chilling in what it perhaps purports to achieve.

Canada Analysis: Almost 700 People Arrested in Quebec as Right to Protest Curbed --- Will the Message Spread?

Lee Haddigan — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:22:04 +0000

Tens of thousands march in Montreal on Thursday

On Wednesday night in Montreal, police arrested more than 500 people, most of them for contravening new regulations brought in by the Conservative provincial government to quell protests over increases in tuition fees. A further 176 people were arrested in Quebec City for ignoring the law, Bill 78, which limits demonstrators' rights to assemble without informing police of their intention eight hours in advance.

Protests over higher charges for education have now been taking place in Quebec for more than 100 days. Sympathisers claim over 300,000 people marched through Montreal on Tuesday night in opposition to both Bill 78 and the proposed tuition fees. Student groups in Quebec have vowed to continue with their marches, despite the mass detentions, with participants wearing a red felt square, highlighting the plight of students who are "in the red" financially.

Until Wednesday, this challenge received little attention outside Quebec. This could be explained partly by the lack of English-language coverages of events in a French-speaking province. Partly it is because the tuition increases are modest, $325 ($316 US) a year for 5 years, with students paying $4,700 a year in total by 2017 --- the lowest charges in Canada.

However, in Quebec these increases are regarded by many as a fundamentally Anglo-Saxon, neo-liberal attack on a social democratic ethos shared with France, where annual tuition fees for a B.A. in 2011-12 were just 180 Euros ($225 US) and student residences are heavily subsidised. The protest is also fuelled by resentment that the government of Premier Jean Charest is citing the province's financial problems while it is embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Now there is the added impetus of Bill 78, under which a group of more than 50 people must now give police eight hours notice of where they intend to assemble and where they wish to march, ostensibly so law enforcement can ensure public safety.

The hisory of Quebec, where the the use of the War Measures Act in 1970 was seen as an unwarranted peacetime repression of civil liberties, goes a long way to explaining resentment against "emergency measures". Even if, by the standards of other democratic countries, this is a fairly mild restriction on the right to protest, there are other elements that are disturbing, such as the "crime" of expressing support for a demonstration that is illegal.

Now there is the prospect of outside support and impact. Occupy Wall Street have been holding solidarity demonstrations in New York, urging supporters to copy Quebec's "casseroles" protests where the locals bang on pots and pans every night at 8 p.m. to signify their opposition to Bill 78. Natasha Lennard, who reports on Occupy in the US, writes:

The powerful message from Quebec, for me, is not the importance of strong student leadership. Rather, it is that thousands of individuals have taken risks, broken with their daily routines and found each other in the streets (despite numerous social and political divisions) to engage in a radical political experiment with no clear endpoint.

One of the main Twitter hashtags relating the Quebec actions is #manifencours, an abbreviation of “manifestation en cours, meaning simply “demonstration in the streets". As the proliferation of the phrase suggests, the situation in Quebec is no longer just about negotiating tuition fees; it’s a manifestation with an open trajectory.
Lennard is on the right track. The Quebec protests will only inspire a sense of solidarity in other countries if sympathisers avoid the superficial portrayal of events in Montreal as a "student rebellion". As the Montreal Gazette reported on Thursday, local academics see the recent outrage as a “societal debate more than a decade old", long before Quebec raised tuition fees. Professor Antonia Maioni argues:

The argument has been going on for more than a decade, seen in Premier Jean Charest’s 10-year attempt to re-engineer the state, and in the debate between “lucides” (prominent Quebecers who espoused higher tuition and electricity rates among other solutions to solve the province’s woes) and “solidaires” who called for a sovereignist, socialist provincial model.

Maioni and other analysts note the generational aspect to the demonstrations. Not just students, but also young people in general are raisinng their voices in protests that are beyond the politics of right v. left --- this is more about rich v. poor, where the young see little opportunity of acquiring the material benefits enjoyed by their elders.

The criticism against the protesters that they are spoiled is being met head-on. A letter from Jean Puize, a 66 year-old baby boomer from Quebec City, argues:

Some students from more modest backgrounds, especially if they’re coming from outside of urban areas, will never be able to access an increasingly expensive university system. And that is unacceptable in Quebec’s social democracy, where the commodification of education has no place—whether or not it’s the norm in Anglo-Saxon North America.

Many people call the students who’ve been demonstrating for 100 days now spoiled brats [enfants-rois]. But is it really the students who are spoiled?

Who paid $600 a year to go to university? Baby-boomers.

Who could find a job on demand when they finished their education? Baby-boomers.

Who’s benefiting from retirement at 55 or 60? Baby-boomers.

Who’s enjoying or will enjoy Cadillac pensions? Baby-boomers.

Who gets to have pension income splitting? Baby-boomers.

I know: I am one, and I’ve had all of this. Young people don’t have all this and won’t have it because baby-boomers indebted society as they saw fit, and because, moreover, these young people will now have to continue paying their entire working adult lives to maintain these privileges for the baby-boomers.

Young people have had enough, and I completely get it. It’s up to the spoiled baby-boomers now [baby-boomers rois], and absolutely not up to the youth, to give more.

In Quebec, we are beginning to see the anger of younger people realising they will not have the same opportunities that were offered an older generation --- advantages which that older generation, or the elite of it, is protecting through its positions in power.

Perhaps that anger will stay confined to Quebec, as a peculiarity of the politics in that province. Then again, maybe not.

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Election in Cairo, Conflict Beyond Damascus

James Miller — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:53:55 +0000

Women queue to vote in today's Presidential election in Egypt

1924 GMT: Syria. Speaking of gasoline, scenes like the one below, reportedly taken today in Kanaker, Damascus, are increasingly common. The prices of refined gasoline and diesel have skyrocketed, and widespread shortages are reported. The government claims that the shortages are the result of sanctions, but as Robert Ford points out (in the previous update) refined oil was exempt from foreign sanctions in order to avoid this problem. These shortages are the result of the military using up all the fuel.

1835 GMT: Syria. The Syrian government claims that foreign economic sanctions have cost the country $4 billion, a number which is low, according to many other estimates:

Sufian Allaw said the punitive measures were to blame for the shortages that have left Syrians across the country standing in long lines to pay inflated prices for cooking gas, fuel, sugar and other staples.

The U.S. ambassador to Damascus denied that the international sanctions are to blame for the shortages facing Syrians.

"Our sanctions purposefully do not target oil and diesel imports, because we know that the Syrian people need both for their day-to-day lives," Ambassador Robert Ford wrote on the embassy's Facebook page.

Ford said the government is using fuel imports for its tanks.

1827 GMT: Egypt. Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik was attacked today as he got inside his car outside of the election commission. It does not appear that he has any serious injuries, but an angry crowd gathered around his car as he was entering the vehicle. The picture below shows Shafik entering the car, and the video below that reportedly shows the event:

Why the anger? Shafik is a former air force commander, and was Mubarak's last Prime Minister. Rumors are circulating that he is polling very highly in poor neighborhoods in Cairo, despite being considered an anti-revolutionary by many. Part of the reason for the shift appears to be some backlash against the Muslim Brotherhood.

If Shafik polls fares well, there will likely be a many who are angry. This, perhaps, was just a small sample.

1423 GMT: Syria. The NATO conference concluded this weekend in Chicago. Do you understand NATO's plan to end the crisis in Syria?

If you're thinking, "wait, there is no plan," then you've come to the same conclusion I did. In my latest analysis, I argue that not only is intervention not on the table, even the threat of intervention appears to be off the table, leaving Washington and its allies with absolutely no strategy in ending, or even limiting, the extent of the crisis in Syria.

And you'll love the highly provocative picture, a poster with a message, in English, to the Obama administration from some of Syria's most outspoken members of the opposition, the citizens of Kafranbel.

See also Syria Opinion: Empty Talk --- The US and Its Allies Have No Strategy to End This Crisis

1402 GMT: Syria. An activist gives a tour of the damage in the Qusour neighborhood in Homs as the not-so-distant shells and gunfire echo through the city.

James Miller takes over from Scott Lucas.

1250 GMT: Syria. Protest today in Maasaran in Idlib Province:

1025 GMT: Yemen. Saudi Arabia has pledged $3.25 billion of the $10 billion in aid requested by Yemen of a meeting of Western and Gulf nations over the looming humanitarian crisis (see 0858 GMT).

0858 GMT: Yemen. Western and Arab Gulf nations meet today in Saudi Arabia to discuss poverty in Yemen, as aid groups warned that the country is on the brink of a “catastrophic food crisis".

The Yemeni Government is expected to request $10 billion in assistance.

Wednesday’s meeting is the first since President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in February after 33 years in power. Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa and Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed al-Saadi are expected to attend.

In April, the International Monetary Fund resumed lending to Yemen, approving the payment of a $93.7 million loan to help the country address a balance of payments deficit. This, however, is only a fraction of the $3 billion of aid pledged by the “Friends of Yemen” in 2006 and, according to al-Saadi, still not delivered.

Seven aid groups warned today, “Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis.” The agencies called on ministers from Gulf countries and Western nations to “scale up efforts to tackle” the problem, claiming at least 10 million people, about 44% of the population, do not get enough food to eat and one in three children was “severely malnourished".

0842 GMT: Egypt. Reports indicate voting is proceeding smoothly, with long queues and few disruptions, in the Presidential election.

0835 GMT: Tunisia. Index on Censorship summarises the case of Jabeur Mejri and Ghazi Beji, sentenced in March to 7 1/2 years in prison for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

An appeals court ruling expected in Mejri's case on Monday. Baji has fled the country.

0830 GMT: Syria. The Free Syrian Army has denied abducting 13 Shia Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aleppo Province.

"The FSA is not at all responsible for the operation," Mustafa al-Sheikh, a high-ranking FSA officer, said by telephone from Istanbul. "This is an attempt to distort the image of the FSA. The FSA does not believe in this methodology."

Syrian State media blamed the FSA for the abductions, but al-Sheikh claimed, "[This] is no doubt the work of the regime, which wants to sow chaos in the region."

The opposition Syrian National Council issued a statement calling for the prompt release of the Lebanese group, while saying it did "not think it is impossible that the regime is involved in this operation".

0719 GMT: Syria. Michael Weiss writes for The Telegraph of London:

The weekend before last I was in Hatay province, in southern Turkey, interviewing Syrian rebels and activists, who all complained of the lack of foreign assistance in toppling the Assad regime. Even the "non-lethal" aid that the Obama administration had promised hadn't seemed to make it through to these fighters, many of whom had spent as much as $6,000 of their own money to buy black-market Kalashnikovs.

A lot's changed in a week.

Rebel sources in Hatay told me last night that not only is Turkey supplying light arms to select battalion commanders, it is also training Syrians in Istanbul. Men from the unit I was embedded with were vetted and called up by Turkish intelligence in the last few days and large consignments of AK-47s are being delivered by the Turkish military to the Syrian-Turkish border. No one knows where the guns came from originally, but no one much cares.

0649 GMT: Lebanon. Amidst recent fighting in Tripoli, the Daily Star profiles a local centre for the Syrian opposition:

The office is an informal headquarters that supporters of the Syrian uprising use to manage their battle with President Bashar Assad’s regime on multiple fronts. From here, some report on clashes inside Syria, others wage media campaigns, and still others work with Syrian refugees --- who, according to the opposition have reached 170,000, a number far in excess of any official counts.

The center also hosts those who coordinate with the rebel Free Syrian Army, and liaise with political and security officials regarding their movements....

The opposition’s operations are above board,[Khaled] Mustafa says, but he adds that “we don’t reveal the details of our work, so long as the regime is lurking through Lebanese authorities who are loyal to the regime and Assad’s family. We take caution.”

0639 GMT: Saudi Arabia. The Independent of London interviews Manal al-Sharif, who raised the profile of the "Women2Drive" campaign with a YouTube video of herself behind the wheel.

Al-Sharif was briefly detained after her film. She has received death threats, and she recently lost her job after she insisted on appearing at the Oslo Freedom Forum:

After I was invited to speak...in Oslo, I asked for four days off and my company refused. My boss called me and said, "If you are going to talk at another conference, you will lose your job. You are not allowed to go. We don't want our name to be associated with you."

Al-Sharif is defiant: "I measure the impact I make by how harsh the attacks are," she says. "The harsher the attacks, the better I am doing."

0630 GMT: Syria. Discreetly-taken video of a long queue in Aleppo Province for gas --- shortages have been reported throughout the country:

0600 GMT: Egypt. Polls are opening in Egypt for today's Presidential election. Fifty million people are eligible to vote in the ballot, 15 months after the fall of the Mubarak regime.

There are 11 candidates in the contest, with a runoff between the top two in June. Leading contenders include former Foreign Minister and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa; Ahmed Shafiq, former head of intelligence and Hosni Mubarak's last Prime Minister; the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi; and former Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.

The Guardian profiles the likely front-runners.

Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Suicide Bombing in Sana'a

Scott Lucas — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:17:04 +0000

Al Jazeera's report on Monday on the suicide bombing in Yemen

1735 GMT: Libya. Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said Tuesday that Tunis will soon extradite former Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, after detaining him for eight months.

Al-Mahmoudi was arrested in September for illegally crossing the frontier into Tunisia as he tried to flee to Algeria.

"Tunisia will never be a refuge for those who represent a threat to Libya's security," said Jebali on Tuesday, following a visit by his Libyan counterpart, Abdurrahim el-Keib.

Lawyers and human rights groups had opposed the extradition, saying Al-Mahmoudi might be harmed by Libya's new ruling authorities.

1730 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria says 13 people have died today: three each in Hama, Deir Ez Zor, and Daraa Provinces, two in Homs Province, and one each in Aleppo and Idlib Provinces.

1725 GMT: Lebanon/Syria. Sayyad Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has appealed for calm after 12 Lebanese were reportedly kidnapped in Syria.

Nasrallah condemned the abductions but continued, "In the name of (political party) Amal and Hezbollah, I ask that no one blocks streets (by burning tires). That could have unexpected consequences....Blocking roads would lead to what? Who would that put pressure on? It would just complicate people's lives."

Nasrallah also warned people against revenge kidnappings: "It is not allowed to abduct any Syrian in Lebanon. This is haram and Syrians are our family."

The 12 kidnapped Lebanese Shia were seized on their way home from holy shrines in Iraq on Tuesday.

1555 GMT: Syria. The Guardian reports that Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for Kofi Annan, has confirmed that the UN negotiated a deal between a Free Syrian Army unit in Khan Shaykhoun and the local Syrian military commanders to trade two detainees for a damaged tank. Earlier, Guardian posted video and an explanation of the deal.

What's particularly interesting - this deal occurred yesterday, and Khan Shaykhoun appears to have been heavily attacked today.

1538 GMT: Syria. It appears that the regime assault on the towns surrounding Ma'arrat al Nouman is very widespread and intense. There are reports of shells, rockets, and tanks attacking multiple areas. Beyond what we've already posted, here are two videos we've found that are consistent with other reports.

This video was reportedly taken in Hich:

A shell lands in Khan Shaykhoun and activists rush an injured person (perhaps a child) to from the scene:

1522 GMT: Syria. The Guardian has found this interesting video of a Free Syrian Army commander giving a detailed explanation to the UN monitors of the shelling campaigns against Al Rastan:

One of the thick-set officers in the clip says "rockets are coming from the southern and northern side". Asked by the monitor to say who was firing the rockets he replied "The brigade of bridge engineers."

He said they were part of field brigade number one which includes battalion 15 and battalion 18, according to our colleague Mona Mahmood. It is equipped with mortars and tanks the officer told the monitors.

1504 GMT: Syria. We've received even more reports that the military is shelling the central districts of Homs today. This video reportedly shows a burning mosque in the Bayada district, as shells appear to explode in the background:

Another video claiming to show fresh damage in Bayada:

Assad seems to have grown bold, indeed - UN observers are only 20 kilometers to the north of this shelling today.

1458 GMT: Syria. Meanwhile, so far today Al Rastan, north of Homs, appears to have earned a respite from the violence as UN monitors arrived in the city today. Several videos show former detainees and those who have lost loved ones speaking to the observers, but this video was particularly interesting. It shows the monitors in Al Rastan, speaking with a resident and looking across an open field. On the other side of the field - tanks, dug in and covered with tarps, presumably to escape the gaze of the observers and any drone or satellite surveillance:

1450 GMT: Syria. Another video from Al Atareb, west of Aleppo - this claims to show that the local Free Syrian Army brigade has captured this tank. Fighters can be seen removing the heavy machine gun from the top, and looting the vehicle. We don't know whether they will keep the tank.

Earlier we posted video of a destroyed armored vehicle in Al Atareb (update 1403). This does not appear to be the same vehicle, suggesting that one tank was captured and the other destroyed.

1433 GMT: Syria. After a slow start, the Assad regime appears to have launched an offensive against Homs, several areas in Idlib, and parts of Daraa province. According to LCCS, central Homs is being shelled, and the regime has launched an intense tank offensive against Dael, a key opposition town near Daraa.

1424 GMT: Syria. We're looking for evidence that the Free Syrian Army has attacked Assad positions in several Idlib towns (Khan Shaykhoun is one rumor). On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence of a major Assad military assault against several Idlib towns, most notably Kafer Roumeh, Hass, Kafr Nabl, and the towns south-west of Ma'arrat al Nouman (Map). This video shows tanks deployed in the streets, as soldiers and tanks reportedly open fire nearby:

This video reportedly shows the city being shelled by tanks and artillery (and possibly aircraft, as the LCCS reports heavy bombardment from the sky, and there have been several videos showing aircraft in the area):

1403 GMT: Syria. There are rumors of a series of attacks by the Free Syrian Army against Assad targets in a few towns in Idlib province. We'll try to sort those claims. The video below, posted by the Shaam News Network, which we have found to be highly reliable, reportedly shows a heavily armored Assad vehicle destroyed by the Free Syrian Army in Al Atarbeb, in Aleppo province between Aleppo and Idlib:

1344 GMT: Syria. The AP expresses some confusion about the bomb blast in the Qaboun area of Damascus (see updates 1045 and 0753):

It was not clear what the exact target of the blast was, although authorities in Damascus said it appeared to be a police station. But photos of the scene released by the state news agency, Sana, showed what looked like a restaurant.

The area was considered too dangerous for journalists to access.

Interestingly, however, this video was uploaded yesterday and reportedly shows some sort of gunfight in the Qaboun district last night. We cannot verify the video, nor can we really interpret what a gun battle in the same neighborhood at the bombing could mean:

1323 GMT: Lebanon. The Lebanese military prosecutor has ordered the release of political prisoner Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken member of Lebanon's opposition to Bashar al Assad. The move was likely an effort to ease tension, as gun battles have been raging in Lebanon for weeks, a kind of proxy war of the pro and anti Assad movements in Syria.

On Sunday, a prominent anti-Assad leader, Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid, was gunned down, sparking even more violence, and more maneuvering by Lebanese politicians who oppose their Syrian neighbor:

"The Syrian regime is seeking to sow chaos in Lebanon!" Khaled Daher, a Sunni member of parliament, said during a fiery speech Monday at the funeral for Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid, the slain anti-Syrian cleric. "But we will not be scared."

Daher stood surrounded by Sunni clerics and armed gunmen in the northern village of Bireh, Abdul-Wahid's hometown. Syria is visible across the border, on the other side of a green valley dotted with homes and farms.

1307 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees, 9 people have been killed so far nationwide:

Among them are 2 in Deir Ezzor, 3 in Hama, 2 in Homs, 1 in Aleppo and 1 in Daraa.

James Miller takes over today's live coverage. Thanks to Scott Lucas for getting us through the morning.

1045 GMT: Syria. State media has blamed this morning's five deaths in the Damascus suburb of Qaboun (see 0753 GMT) on "an explosive device, planted by an armed terrorist group".

1025 GMT: Syria. The head of the United Nations observer mission, General Robert Mood, meets activists in Homs on Monday:

1000 GMT: Yemen. Earlier today, we had a report that the military parade for National Day had been cancelled after Monday's suicide bomb. However, this footage indicates that there was a military display during the National Anthem:

The venue was changed at the last minute, with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi viewing from behind a glass shield.

0947 GMT: Syria. CNN reports, from an "intelligence assessment" shared by "sources":

[The Assad regime] likely had about $30 billion in cash reserves to spend when unrest and bloodshed began in March 2011. He's about down to $6 billion to $9 billion.

And with the war against his own people costing him about $1 billion a month, he should have been out of business by the end of the year, according to officials in the region.

But sources are also telling CNN that al-Assad is getting a cash infusion from Iran, funneled in through banks in Lebanon, and Iran's support combined with Russia's political and economic support could keep al-Assad going for months to come.

Without further information about the assessment and who fed it to CNN, I cannot venture an opinion on how much of this is accurate evaluation and how much is spin or disinformation. However, I do have support that the following passage presents a genuine concern and priority for American and British circles:

U.S. Army Green Berets are training Jordanian special forces in a number of so called "worst-case scenarios" including Syria's chemical and biological weapons falling out of the control of government forces, U.S. sources tell CNN.

The U.S., Jordan and other allies are worried that opposition forces or groups like al Qaeda could seize some partial control of 20 key chemical and biological sites inside Syria.

0801 GMT: Tunisia. Minister of Justice Noureddine Bhiri has threatened to punish Salafist Muslims who press their views too aggressively, after a group of Salafists forced a series of bars to close.

"I'm telling those people --- the Salafists --- that if they think the state is afraid of them, the game is up and those who cross red lines are going to be punished," Bhiri said.

Dozens of alafists told the owners of bars and liquor stores in the central city of Sidi Bouzid to shut down or face violent consequences. On Saturday, theyr set fire to a local alcohol warehouse, angering some residents who in turn set alight a pile of tyres and fired shots with a hunting rifle in front of a downtown mosque.

0753 GMT: Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that a bomb in the Damascus neighbourhood of Qaboun has killed five people.

The Observatory also claimed overnight explosions in central Hama, northern Aleppom and the coastal cities of Banyas and Latakia. It said regime forces carried out raids and arrests in Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Harasta, and Barzeh.

0750 GMT: Syria. Prominent Palestinian writer Salameh Kaileh, held for three weeks in Syria, described the prisons as "human slaughterhouses", saying security agents beat detainees with batons, crammed them into stinking cells, and tied them to beds at night.

Kaileh was arrested on 24 April on suspicion of printing leaflets calling for the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Released a week ago, Kaileh said, "It was hell on earth. I felt I was going to die under the brutal, savage and continuous beating of the interrogators, who tied me to ropes hung from the ceiling.

Kaileh was imprisoned by the Syrian regime in 1992 for eight years because of his alleged links to underground communist and leftist opposition groups.

0745 GMT: Yemen. An update to our opening story from Zeina Khodr of Al Jazeera English:

#Yemen military cancels parade to mark the reunification of country after nearly 100 soldiers killed in suicide attack claimed by Al-Qaeda
— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) May 22, 2012

0741 GMT: Syria. The prosecutor's office in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, on the border with Syria, said two Turkish citizens and one Syrian were arrested on 16 May for plotting to kidnap the commander of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Asaad from a refugee camp in Apaydin.

Ankara allowed Col Asaad and other troops to create the Free Syrian Army on Turkish territory last year.

In February, Turkish authorities said five people, including a former member of Turkey's intelligence service, had been detained for abducting another FSA officer from a refugee camp and sending him back to Syria, where he was reportedly executed.

0737 GMT: Morocco. An Algerian prisoner has died in a Moroccan jail after a two-month hunger strike protesting torture and his living conditions.

Ahmed Ben Miloud was one of almost 160 detainees fasting for better conditions in prisons. He was serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in December of using a firearm in the Algerian consulate in the Moroccan border town of Oujda.

0733 GMT: Kuwait. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Dar, resuming publication on Sunday after a three-month ban for inciting sectarian strife, indicated that it will limit coverage of protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

"We will be careful, especially on topics about Saudi Arabians and Bahrainis," Al-Dar editor Hussein al-Sultan said. "We will publish any articles about human rights in Bahrain if Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch publishes something. But we are not going further than this."

0616 GMT: Egypt. Minister of Planning Fayza Abul-Naga has declared that the Egyptian economy grew 5.2% in the first quarter of 2012 .

Abul-Naga also announced that Egypt has agreed to sell $500 million treasury bonds to Saudi Arabia.

0530 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claims 33 people died at the hands of security forces on Monday, including 11 in Hama Provice and six in Homs Province.

0515 GMT: Yemen. We open with Monday's suicide bombing in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, which killed 96 soldiers, according to a defence official.

The attack is the deadliest in the country since President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled for 33 years, stepped down in February and was replaced by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It was claimed by insurgents who have been fighting government forces in the south of the country, particularly in Abyan Province. They promised more attacks: "We will take revenge, God willing, and the flames of war will reach you everywhere, and what happened is but the start of a jihad project in defence of honour and sanctities."

The troops slain on Monday were rehearsing for a mililtary parade to mark National Day. Officials have said the ceremony will proceed today, with President Hadi attending.

Algeria Video Feature: The Uprising That Wasn't (Al Jazeera English)

Scott Lucas — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:48:43 +0000

There was much expectation in early 2011, amid events in North Africa and the Middle East, that protests would bring significant change in Algeria. However, the demonstrations were contained by security forces, and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika maintained his position.

Earlier this month, the regime held Parliamentary elections in which the ruling National Liberation Front won an overwhelming majority of the seats. Opposition groups denounced the poll, but European and American governments called the ballot a step toward democracy.

Al Jazeera English's journalists, operating discreetly inside Algeria because the channel has been denied official access since 2004, investigated the current situation for an episode of People & Power (see video at top of entry).

Producer Caroline Pare writes:

In the capital Algiers at least, life seemed freer and more lively than we expected. The shops and cafes were full and, superficially at least, this did not seem to be a place on the cusp of revolution. It felt like a country coming out of something very bad and now quite determinedly making the best of a difficult situation.

But when we began meeting human rights activists, we got a much better sense of what ordinary Algerians are up against and what they really think. To start with, the military and intelligence people, the DRS, are omnipresent, so meetings had to be arranged surreptitiously. On one occasion, for example, a contact identified himself at a street corner by using pre-arranged code words. Then he asked us to follow him very discreetly and at a distance to the Metro, past the police and the surveillance cameras, onto a train and out to his tiny apartment in the suburbs. Only when safely behind closed doors did he feel able to speak freely about the repression and the many economic problems the country faces - a housing crisis, rocketing unemployment and spiralling food prices. He told us things were so bad that desperate young people were burning themselves alive.

There were around 130 self-immolations in Algeria last year. Indeed just before the election in the seaside town of Jijel, a 25-year-old man, Hamza Rechak, set himself on fire, in despair at having been prevented by police from selling cosmetics from his small stall and then at being taunted by them. His death caused outrage in the town and sparked a riot as young men attacked the police station in fury.

Other Algerians told us that theirs was actually the first country to have an 'Arab Spring'. In 1988, the people took to the streets and forced the government to hold a free and fair election. After the first round of voting it became apparent that the opposition Islamic FIS party was set to win. But it was not to be because the military intervened. The country turned in on itself and entered a 'dark decade' of bloody violence that saw an estimated 200,000 people killed. To this day it casts a fearful shadow. The chaos enabled the DRS to get a stranglehold on the country and the body politic that democracy activists say persists to this day.

So the elections that were held this month do not seem to have much credibility among voters. Indeed we heard from various political analysts before the election that they could predict the turnout - based on what the government required to make the process acceptable in international eyes - and sure enough they were pretty close to the 43 per cent officially announced. The governing party won overwhelmingly. In Algeria, we are told, everything is preordained by the powerful shadow state, the DRS. And it does not brook criticism.

Read full article....

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Shelling in the Morning, Protests in the Afternoon

Scott Lucas — Sat, 19 May 2012 09:43:05 +0000

Video of this morning's explosion in Deir Ez Zor in Syria

1535 GMT: Yemen. Officials have said at least 22 insurgents and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight in a regime offensive in the south of the country.

Fighting erupted late on Friday and continued Saturday on the outskirts of Jaar, held by the insrugents. A Government official said its forces were about one kilometre (0.6 mile) from the city.

Twelve Yemeni soldiers and 17 militants were killed in the fighting and an air strike killed three militants on the outskirts of the city, the official said.

1255 GMT: Syria. Syrian State news agency SANA claims nine people died and "scores" were injured in this morning's car bomb in Deir Ez Zor.

SANA said the bomb, at the site of the Military Constructions Institution, had 1000 kilogrammes (about 2200 pounds) of explosive, damaging buildings and leaving a crater 5 metres (about 16 feet) round and 2 1/2 metres (about 8 feet) deep.

Claimed footage of the moment of the explosion:

1250 GMT: Libya. Residents in the second city of Benghazi, central to the uprising against the Qaddafi regime, are electing a local council today.

The day is a public holiday, with security forces were deployed to all city entrances.

The last poll in Benghazi during the reign of King Idris I, overthrown by Muammar Qaddafi in 1969.

There are 414 candidates contesting 41 seats in the city council. More than 200,000 residents registered to vote.

1100 GMT: Iraq. An Iraqi anti-terror officer, his wife and three children have been shot dead by gunmen in north Baghdad.

Fifteen people have been slain in the Iraqi capital in the past two days.

1015 GMT: Syria. State media says seven people have died and 100 were injured in the Deir Ez Zor car bomb this morning.

Omar Abu Laila, spokesperson of the Free Syrian Army in Deir Ez Zor on Saturday has denied responsibility for the explosion, saying the group “is incapable of reaching the area, due to the firm security measures".

Aby Laila accused the regime of fabricating the incident “to send a message to the UN monitors who are visiting the province".

0955 GMT: Syria. The message of a Syrian boy at a Friday protest in Binnish:

0935 GMT: Syria. State media claims "a booby-trapped car" exploded in Deir Ez Zor in eastern Syria this morning, "claiming the lives of many victims".

Reports indicate the blast struck the parking lot of a military intelligence complex. State TV showed footage of damaged buildings, smoldering cars, and trucks turned upside down.

A team of United Nations observers inspected the area of the explosion.

0915 GMT: Syria. In a letter to United Nations General Assembly, Syria's ambassador Bashar Ja'afari has set out the effect of the political crisis on tourism, declaring that hotel occupancy had dropped from an average of 90% in March 2011 to less than 15% now.

"In the cities and areas where there is tension, the impact of the crisis on the tourism sector has been totally disastrous: tourism activity has come to a complete halt and hotels have ceased to operate," Ja'afari wrote in the letter, dated 7 May and made public on Thursday. "All restaurants, roadside rest-stops, fairgrounds and other leisure facilities have also had to close."

Ja'afari blamed travel websites for warning tourists to stay away, countries for halting flights to Syria, and "certain armed terrorist groups which target transport and communication routes and transport companies, in addition to terrorising, killing and abducting civilians".

He continued, "Some 40 per cent of all those employed in the tourism sector in Syria are estimated to have lost their jobs completely or to have had their hours reduced."

0605 GMT: Syria. Friday's title for protests across the country was "The Champions of Aleppo University", and the rallies duly celebrated the students who have been gathering, including in a mass protest on Thursday, to call for change.

However, yesterday's demonstrations were much more. Among the hundreds of rallies --- the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claimed 648 protests in 558 locations --- residents in Al Rastan turned out in a loud, large gathering despite heavy shelling of the town in the morning. In places such as the Damascus suburb of Douma, the demonstrators defied the influx of security forces and the threat of arrest and gunfire. And in Daraa Province, the local people used the presence of United Nations observers as a limited shield to carry out their call for regime change.

Twenty-seven people still died during the day, but this Friday was a marker that the claim of "cease-fire" is now a diversion and so is an exclusive emphasis on bombs and insurgency. This peaceful defiance continues to have a central place in the narrative of Syria's political conflict.

China Snapshot: Manila and Beijing Clash Over Territorial Waters (Wang/Gao)

Scott Lucas — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:49:51 +0000

A Filipino protester burns a Chinese flag

Christina Wang and Iris Gao write for EA:

On 11 May, Filipinos gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, protesting "the overbearing actions and stance of the government in Beijing, which behaves like an arrogant overlord, even in the home of its neighbours". The incident provoking the demonstration was a clash in waters claimed by both countries.

On 8 April, a Philippines warship and two Chinese patrol boats confronted each other off the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island for China; Kulumpol ng Panatag for the Philippines) after the Philippine navy tried to arrest two Chinese fishermen. The Philippine side claimed these Chinese fishing boats were in their waters; the Chinese disputed this.

Filipino activists, carrying placards and banners and waving small Philippines flags, held the noisy but peaceful protest. Organisers claimed there were more than 1000; Chinese media said 500. The protesters prayed, sang patriotic hymns and chanted anti-China slogans, leaving quietly after one hour under close watch of dozens of police. The only sign of trouble was the protesters' arrival when anti-riot police stopped a man who got out of his car in front of the Embassy and attempted to burn a Chinese flag with the message, "Scarborough is ours".

Chinese officials were unmoved by the protest. Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying criticised the continuous provocation by the Philippines. Saying Beijing is not optimistic about the situation, he declared that China is fully prepared to respond to any Philippine escalation.

Chinese media also gave other signals of a response, for example, naming the leader of the protest as Philippline-born businesswoman Loida Nicolas-Lewis. China News said she had business interests in China, a claim denied by Nicolas-Lewis.

Meanwhile, Beijing warned Chinese tourists to avoid the Philippines and called on those already there to leave within three days, offering to refund their expenses.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Assad Says, "No Chaos, Please"

James Miller — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:33:17 +0000

Claimed footage of insurgents blowing up a regime tank in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib Province, where dozens of people have died this week

1910 GMT: Syria. Away from Aleppo, the news was as ugly as ever in some places. Activists report that several shells fell on Douma, an important suburb of Damascus. According to the LCCS, at least one man was killed by sniper fire, and at least 5 people were killed when shells fell on several homes. A graphic and disturbing video claims to show an entire family dead or dying, being evacuated on a truck after a shell reportedly fell on their home.

1905 GMT: Syria. An amazing picture, from a day to remember, at Aleppo University:

Aleppo University today #Syria twitter.com/KareemLailah/s…
— Ḱ@яℯℯм ℒαḯł@н (@KareemLailah) May 17, 2012

1854 GMT: Syria. It's going to be another long night in Al Rastan. Sources suggest that the town, north of Homs, is being shelled again today, days after Syrian army forward bases in the area fell to fighters from the Free Syrian Army:

1813 GMT: Syria. A somewhat chaotic video shows the moment that security disrupted the protest in front of the gates of Aleppo University. The incident is hard to make out, but you can clearly hear the shift in the tone as police arrive, and then the crowd begins to run:

Eyewitnesses say that police used teargas and batons to disrupt the crowds. An unknown amount of arrests were made. Injuries are also reported, and a video posted by the LCCS claims to show two of the injured protesters.

Another interesting video shows protesters flinging paint onto a mural of Bashar al Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez:

1756 GMT: Syria. More images today from Aleppo University, where an iconic mural, often used in regime propaganda, has been destroyed during the truly massive protests there:

Picture of the protest in Aleppo University today, with the destroyed portrait of Hafez Al-Assad. #Aleppo #Syria twitter.com/HamaEcho/statu…
— Free Syrian (@HamaEcho) May 17, 2012

The people are standing on the cars of the UN observers.

1548 GMT: Syria. The UN observers arrived at Aleppo University, and the campus (and large parts of the city's populous) poured into the streets. This was the scene earlier at Aleppo University, as protests began as sit-ins inside the buildings, and then protesters flocked to the main squares:

1439 GMT: Syria. The Damascus suburb of Daraya has been attacked by security forces nearly every night this week. By day, large presence of soldiers are reported on the streets, and arrest campaigns are also reported. Many in the city of more than 75,000 have had enough.

Today, a general strike is reported, and the LCCS posts this video, showing abandoned streets and blocked-off roads.

Sanctions have inflicted a heavy economic toll, and Assad's crackdown can;t be cheap. What is the economic cost of a general strike in one of the largest suburbs of Syria's capital?

1412 GMT: Syria. We're watching the live-steam of the protests today at Aleppo University (update 1338 GMT). The crowds are massive, and extremely jubilant. The protests, we believe, have spread from the campus and have encompassed many streets around the university. Easily thousands, likely tens of thousands, have joined the crowd. It's perhaps the most impressive crowd we've seen in Syria since last June, and it doesn't look like the UN observers will be able to leave even when they want to.

The reactions of activists, however, is ranging from celebratory to nervous, and there is good reason for both feelings:

RT @HalaGorani Today's apparently huge protest at Aleppo University happening bc of presence of UN monitors. What'll happen when they leave?
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) May 17, 2012

So proud of the students at #Alep_Univ right now :) They're not going to leave this #UN monitor alone anytime soon. They want answers!
— Sumayya Saleh (@Sumayya92) May 17, 2012

1403 GMT: Syria. As we promised earlier, we've posted an analysis of the news that the head of the Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, has resigned. First, we look at today's statement against the SNC made by the Local Coordinating Committees. Then, we look to whether or not Ghalioun is really resigning or not (it's somewhat unclear). Lastly, and perhaps most controversially, we ask whether the idea of establishing a strong transitional leadership is possible, or even necessary.

1356 GMT: Syria. Thousands, maybe more, are pouring out into the streets in Aleppo to greet the UN observers. Their vehicles are literally buried in ecstatic students. The live stream we posted several entries below is still going, and one activist transcribes an interaction between a somewhat-apologetic student and the UN:

#Aleppo University: (cameraman to UN monitor) "This is the first time we taste freedom in this country, please understand." #Syria
— Shakeeb Al-Jabri (@LeShaque) May 17, 2012

1347 GMT: Syria. This video, which we have not been able to verify, reportedly shows more successful Free Syrian Army attacks yesterday, this one in Ariha, a town with a key strategic position in Idlib province (map):

Syria - Ariha - Free Syrian army destroyed a BMP 16.05.2012"Deutsch Un...: youtu.be/mcJyCsrA9qA via @youtube new urban battle footage
— riad al assad (@fsa_hq_syria) May 17, 2012

1338 GMT: Syria. After weeks of intense protests and arrest campaigns, UN observers have arrived at the campus of Aleppo University. This live stream, posted by The Guardian, shows the a huge crowd greeting the observers:

1246 GMT: Syria. Major news in the leadership of the Syrian opposition - Burhan Ghalioun, President of the Syrian National Council, has resigned:

"I declare my resignation as soon as a replacement is found through elections or consensus," Ghalioun told Reuters.

"I have not chosen this post for personal gain, but I have been accepting it to preserve cohesion. I am not ready to be a cause for division. The revolution is above personalities," he added.

The splintered Syrian National Council re-elected the secular liberal Ghalioun as president on Tuesday, but several senior members said his continued re-election would not help the council promote a democratic alternative to President Bashar al-Assad.

Snap analysis forthcoming - but it's safe to say that it's not likely a coincidence that on the day that the Local Coordinating Committees have threatened to leave the SNC, the SNC President, embattled and somewhat unpopular anyway, has resigned.

James Miller takes over today's live coverage. Thanks to Scott Lucas for getting us started today.

1135 GMT: Libya. At least seven people have been killed in clashes between armed men and residents of the Libyan town of Ghadames, on the border with Algeria. More than 20 were wounded in the fighting in the southern oasis town, 600 kilometres (about 370 miles) from the capital Tripoli.

A local medical official said six raiders were killed along with a resident of Ghadames.

Tension has been building for days between locals and Tuareg tribesmen, nomads who roam the desert across the borders of Libya and neighbouring countries.

The Libyan military reportedly entered the town to restore peace.

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader, has refused to appoint a lawyer to defend him against accusations of murder and torture, the country's Deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi has told the Security Council.

Libya's National Transitional Council has insisted on trying Qaddafi inside the country rather than handing him to the International Criminal Court.

Libya said earlier this month that it would complete within weeks its investigation into Saif al-Islam and asked the International Criminal Court to once again to hold off ordering his surrender.

0949 GMT: Syria. The activists of the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria have issued a statement which "deplores the situation of the (opposition) Syrian National Council", with its "furthering from the spirit and demands of the Syrian Revolution" and "distance from directions towards a civil state, democracy, transparency and the transfer of power desired in a New Syria".

Complaining that "the Council continues to marginalize a majority of the representatives of the revolutionary movement", the LCCS explains that it has "refrained from engaging in Council work in the past two months" and says it is considering a freeze in all activity and, as a final step, "withdrawal from the Council".

The LCCS conludes, "We emphasize that the Revolution will go on...despite the Syrian opposition’s incompetency for the blood and sacrifices of our people."

0936 GMT: Lebanon. A 13-year-old boy has been killed and and at least four people wounded by sniper fire today in Tripoli in northern Lebanon.

Clashes were sparked on Saturday by the arrest of a backer of the Syrian opposition, Shadi Mawlawi, accused of belonging to a "terrorist organization", as supporters and opponents of the Assad regime fought. Several people were killed, and the Lebanese Army was forced to intervene.

Three rocket-propelled grenades were reportedly fired this morning.

0935 GMT: Syria. A morning demonstration in Latamneh in Hama Province:

0755 GMT: Yemen. US and Yemeni officials have said that a contingent of US troops is providing targeting data for Yemeni airstrikes as government forces battle insurgents in the south of the country.

Operating from a Yemeni base, at least 20 U.S. special operations troops have used satellite imagery, drone video, eavesdropping systems and other technical means to help pinpoint targets for an offensive that intensified this week, the officials said.

The U.S. forces also advised Yemeni military commanders on where and when to deploy their troops, according to two senior Obama Administration officials said.

A senior military official added that the U.S. contingent is expected to grow.

0525 GMT: Yemen. Today the military will begin supervising the removal of the tents pitched last year in the capital Sana'a by the supporters of former President Saleh in reaction to the popular uprising against the regime.

0510 GMT: Syria. We begin by noting President Assad's televised interview on Wednesday, denouncing foreign backing of opposition "criminals", including members of Al Qa'eda.

"For the leaders of these countries, it's becoming clear that this is not 'Spring' but chaos, and as I have said, if you sow chaos in Syria you may be infected by it yourself, and they understand this perfectly well," Assad said.

The President said of the insurgent Free Syrian Army (FSA), "It is not an army and it is not free. They get money and weapons from abroad from various countries. It is a group of criminals who have for years broken the law and received convictions."

Assad also asserted that his forces had captured "foreign mercenaries" and added, "We are preparing to show them to the world."

On the political front, Assad insisted that the opposition Syrian National Council, does not have "any kind of weight or significance within Syria" and that a majority of the people support the government. May 7's Parliamentary elections had shown public support of reform: "The polling stations show the opinion of the people. It is a serious message for everyone both inside the country and also beyond its borders."

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Pause in the Conflict?

Scott Lucas — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:05:21 +0000

A Saturday evening demonstration in the Khamidiya section of Homs, including the children of those who have died in the 14-month conflict

One of a series of photos of fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime --- at least four people died (see 0905, 0955, and 1603 GMT)

1733 GMT: Lebanon. A sit-in demonstration at Aleppo University today:

1603 GMT: Lebanon. Witnesses and officials say at least four people, including a Lebanese soldier, were killed and another 24 injured in the overnight fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between residents for and against the Assad regime (see 0905 and 0955 GMT).

1547 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of youths, with stones and chants, facing gunfire in Aleppo:

Syrian troops moving through the Damascus suburb of Douma this morning:

1535 GMT: Syria. Zayed Hammad, head of the local charity Ketab and Sunna Society, has said, "Around 20,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Jordan in April and March. The society is now taking care of 40,000 Syrian refugees, most of them in Amman."

According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 15,999 Syrian refugees are registered in Jordan. However, the Jordanian regime says more than 100,000 Syrians have sought refuge in the kingdom since the March 2011 start of the uprising.

1520 GMT: Syria. Regime forces have released the bodies of seven young men killed in a military raid on the Damascus suburb of Barzeh in exchange for an army officer abducted by insurgents, opposition sources have said.

The army had refused to release the bodies of the seven, killed on 5 May in a sweep of Barzeh, prompting the insurgents to abduct the officer, Youssef Zaghbour, days later.

Live video footage broadcast by activists on Sunday purportedly showed the coffins, covered in red and white roses, of three of the seven slain men. Thousands shouting slogans demanding freedom and waving green and white flags from the era before the Baath Party took power in 1963.

Authorities have often kept the bodies of those killed by regime forces to try and ensure that funerals will be small and quiet when the corpses are released.

1450 GMT: Iraq. The New York Times reports on a flagship US "security" programme which appears to have gone awry:

In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the first place, the State Department has slashed — and may jettison entirely by the end of the year — a multibillion-dollar police training program that was to have been the centerpiece of a hugely expanded civilian mission here.

What was originally envisioned as a training cadre of about 350 American law enforcement officers was quickly scaled back to 190 and then to 100. The latest restructuring calls for 50 advisers, but most experts and even some State Department officials say even they may be withdrawn by the end of this year.

The training effort, which began in October and has already cost $500 million, was conceived of as the largest component of a mission billed as the most ambitious American aid effort since the Marshall Plan. Instead, it has emerged as the latest high-profile example of the waning American influence here following the military withdrawal, and it reflects a costly miscalculation on the part of American officials, who did not count on the Iraqi government to assert its sovereignty so aggressively.

1320 GMT: Tunisia. Speaking to Al Jazeera English, President Moncef Marzouki has pointed to continuing challenges, 16 months after the removal of the Ben Ali regime:

We have had this revolution because of the poverty in some regions. But it's extremely difficult to find jobs for more than 800,000 people, so we have to look for investments. The problem is that our youths are extremely impatient and I can understand....Sometimes I have a kind of nightmare, thinking that we can have another revolution within the revolution, coming from the same areas and that we could have dead or wounded in demonstrations.

Marzouki expressed hope about political developments, however:

I feared that we might have some problems with the constitution because the very conservative part of the society they wanted that Sharia should be the main source of legislation. Fortunately we reached a kind of consensus between the most important political parties in Tunisia that we are not going to write that Sharia is (the main source)....

So we are going to have a secular constitution, a very good constitution. Because everybody is interested in having and protecting human rights, women's rights, there is a very large consensus about the constitution.

1300 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria report that 21 people have died today, including eight civilians slain amid fighting in Tamaana Al-Ghab in Hama Province (see 1015 GMT).

1215 GMT: Algeria. Brian Whitaker provides a summary of Thursday's Parliamentary elections and critiques the endorsement of them by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary William Hague:

These reactions followed the usual approach of western governments in such circumstances: to accept declarations of reformist intent until proved otherwise, and to signal their approval of steps "in the right direction" while emphasising the need for more.

1015 GMT: Syria. Regime troops backed by armoured vehicles have killed seven civilians as they overran Tamanaa Al-Ghab, a village west of Hama, burning houses and arresting dozens of people, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

Four women were among those killed. "The village was subjected to collective punishment. Over half of its houses were burnt. Several people were executed when they were arrested. The rest were killed from bombardment," a statement from the Syrian Network.

Activists said demonstrations in Tamanaa angered the inhabitants of a nearby Alawite village called al-Aziziyeh, a recruiting ground for militia loyal to President Assad. The militia participated in an attack on Tamanaa on Friday, killing two youths.

0955 GMT: Lebanon. The reported death toll from overnight clashes in Tripoli between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Assad (see 0905 GMT) is now at least three, including a Lebanese soldier shot by a sniper.

0915 GMT: Syria. Demonstration this morning in Inkhel in Daraa Province.

Soura in Daraa Province:

0905 GMT: Lebanon. Two people have been killed in overnight fighting in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between members of the Alawite community supporting Syrian President Assad and members of the Sunni majority.

Rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles were used in the fighting in an Alawite enclave and surrounding Sunni neighborhoods in the port city, 70 kilometres (44 miles) north of Beirut.

"The clashes peaked at dawn. The sound of gunfire is still echoing in the city," a Lebanese security official said.

0550 GMT: Syria. After Thursday's bombs in Damascus and Friday's displays of mass protest, Saturday was a relatively quiet day in Syria. There were few reports of fighting and fewer videos of rallies challenging the regime.

Still, the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claimed that 20 people died at the hands of security forces, including six in Hama Province and four each in Idlib and Homs Provinces and in the Damascus suburbs. And reports of shelling of those suburbs continues this morning, with Douma said to be under fire this morning.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Uneasy Frontline

Scott Lucas — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:22:50 +0000

A video from the Syrian frontline: a regime soldier defects in Armanaz in Idlib Province --- his surprised colleagues cannot attack him because of the presence of observers

1722 GMT: Syria. Human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni has said that a military court has released eight activists, including blogger Razan Ghazzawi, until their 29 May trial on charges of "possession of banned publications".

However, eight members of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, including the director, Mazen Darwish, are still in detention. They were seized in mid-February.

1720 GMT: Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah has dismissed a senior cleric, Sheikh Abdulmohsen al-Obeikan, who criticised a measure that allowed women to mix with unmarried men.

The firing of the royal advisor fits a pattern of recent years in which senior clerics who oppose limited reforms have been dismissed.

Earlier this year, the head of the religious police was replaced by a cleric who was seen to be more liberal, and in 2010 King Abdullah fired the judiciary head, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, for attacking a new university that was the centrepiece of government education reforms.

1650 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria reports that 14 people have died across the country at the hands of security forces, including four in Idlib Province and three each in Hama and Homs Provinces.

1450 GMT: Morocco. Human Rights Watch has criticised Thursday's sentencing of rapper Mouad Belghouat, "al-Haqed", to one year in prison for “insulting the police”.

Belghouat was detained 29 March because of his rsong “Kilab ed-Dowla” (Dogs of the State), which denounces police corruption, and a YouTube video with a photo-montage of a policeman whose head had been replaced by a donkey’s.

A criminal court in Casablaca found Belghouat guilty of “showing contempt” toward “public servants in the exercise of their duty", with the intention of “undermining their honor" and “showing contempt” toward state institutions. He was also fined 1000 dirhams (US$115).

1430 GMT: Algeria. European Union observers have given cautious support to Thursday's Parliamentary elections, despite the claims of opposition groups of manipulation.

Jose Ignacio Salafranca, the head of the EU observers, said there were shortcomings in some technical aspects of the election but there were "as many positive points as there were weak points": "This election constitutes a first step on the path to reform which should lead ... to a deepening of democracy and human rights."

The National Liberation Front (FLN), the party of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, won 220 seats in the 462-seat parliament. The RND party, led by Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, was in second place, and the Islamist "Green Alliance", with links to the ruling establishment, was third.

Asked about allegations of vote-rigging, Salafranca said Algeria had a mechanism in place to expose any abuse and, if it did happen, it would be up to the judiciary to decide what action to take. However, he said he was concerned that the Interior Ministry had refused to give his observers free access to the national electoral role.

Opposition groups continued their objections. The official vote tallies "perpetuate a tradition of falsifying the results of elections which has been carrying on since independence," the secularist RCD party said in a statement.

1427 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of four regime soldiers mistreating detained men in a Damascus suburb --- according to the "Activists News Association", "the video was taken from the dropped cell phone of a thug of Assad forces and a demonstrator managed to take it":

1420 GMT: Syria. A lively protest in Daraa Province today:

1010 GMT: Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced that two Turkish journalists, seized in March as they tried to cover events in the city of Idlib, have left a Damascus prison and are en route to Tehran.

"I have just spoken with Iranian Foreign Minister [Ali Akbar] Salehi. Our two journalists, Adem Ozkose and Hamit Coskun, about whom we had no news since they left for Syria, are on their way to Tehran now," Davutoglu said. "We expect them to arrive in Tehran shortly. At the request of our prime minister we are sending a plane to Iran to pick up our journalists,"

Iranian authorities reportedly brokered the release of the journalists, who were handed over by a pro-regime group to Syrian intelligence officials.

0740 GMT: Libya. Picking up a story from Thursday....

Several prisoners likely were tortured to death at a detention center in Libya under government control, the United Nations said on Thursday as it urged the country to make stamping out such practices a top priority.

Libya's Justice Ministry has control of 31 detention centers with some 3,000 detainees, but about 4,000 prisoners are still in the custody of Libyan revolutionary brigades, U.N. special envoy for Libya Ian Martin told the U.N. Security Council.Of the detention centers under government authority, Martin said "control over these facilities is often shared with other parties, including the brigades that had been running them."....

"Mistreatment and torture of detainees continue," Martin said. "UNSMIL (the U.N. Mission in Libya) expressed deep concern regarding the deaths of three individuals at a detention center in Misrata ... under the authority of the Ministry of Interior."

0510 GMT: Syria. After the shock of the Damascus bombs on Thursday, a different mood on Friday as videos of protests took over the Live Coverage.

And then there was this note, drawn from the reports of Al Jazeera's James Bays, who defied the authority to get into the country this week....

The impression which could be drawn from stories such as the bombardment of Homs earlier this year might be of a regime taking over areas which have been held by the opposition, regaining control while trying to fend off the attacks of insurgents.

Bays' audio reports point to something far different. The insurgents also have the areas where they are the prevalent force, despite being under-armed. So in the northwest and in parts of Homs Province, where Bays has been observing, there is an uneasy "front-line". The Assad forces are present but --- whether because of the putative "cease-fire" or because of the difficulty of attacking and then holding territory --- they watch the insurgents who are nearby. The Free Syrian Army watches as well and, as Bays notes, uses any pause in conflict to try and regroup and build up arms.

Britain, US & Beyond Feature: Occupy Seeks A Creative "Global Spring"

Lee Haddigan — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:15:25 +0000

Occupy London protesters in Liverpool Street underground station (Photo: HeardInLondon/Demotix/Corbis)

Today in London, New York, and cities throughout the world, the Occupy movement will attempt to launch a "Global Spring" of protests against economic inequality. Making the one-year anniversary of the 15-M Movement, when indignados took to the streets in 58 Spanish cities, these demonstrations, and other planned events through May, may determine whether Occupy will help or hinder the growing opposition in Europe and elsewhere to the politics of austerity.

London's contribution to today's International Day of Action is a "Meet the 1%" tour of some of the financial institutions “who gambled with our pensions and savings, created financial nonsense to make money out of thin air, paid hundreds of thousands to wine and dine with our ‘elected’ representatives, were bailed out, evaded billions in taxes and secured 40% of the world’s wealth for themselves".

Participants have been invited to bring a tent, so it is an easy guess that they are planning to stage a physical occupation as part of their commitment to direct action --- though it is unlikely to be the beginning of a permanent encampment. The experience of St Paul's Cathedral, where the message of the protesters got lost among concerns over health and safety and the social responsibilities of the Church, might deter the estabishment of a the central focus of their campaign. Instead, the language around the tour is creativity: “Come dressed as your least favorite banker, tax evader, corporate tycoon, politician, vampire squid, and company CEO. Bring stickers, monopoly money, caution tape, placards, faux awards, pots, pans, bullhorns, conches, tents, stereos, war horns or any other 'random acts of kindness' you like.”

Quite what impact this carnival parade style of direct action will have is debatable; most of the buildings the demonstrators aim on visiting will be almost empty on a Saturday. But Occupy London see today's event as just the start of similar protests designed to build support for their objectives of a fairer economy. On Tuesday, the target will be the British Bankers Association, the group that lobbies Parliament on behalf of their members. Attendees are again urged to:

Be creative! Form your own guerilla theatre group, come in fancy dress, and turn the BBA into something beautiful. Bring glitter, stickers, banners, posters, balloons, and noise makers of all kinds! Guerilla garden – bring seeds and garden in any space available! Foreclose on the BBA! Be ridiculous! Dress as a radical clown and put on a show! Deny them any peace and quiet! Bring drums, instruments, pots, pans, sound systems of all sorts – make your presence known!

For the moment, Occupy's call in Britain for a fairer economy and a more democratic politics is not gaining much traction. The reasons for that are many, but foremost is the problem that, even for those who support their message, there is no political means of expressing that desire for change.

Still, their theatrical use of direct action tactics, whilst not novel, is different. If Occupy can 'make their presence known' this summer, and keep the issue of an elitist-controlled political and economic system in the spotlight, there is a chance that they can begin to influence the political landscape. It might not be Occupy's vision, but the reality is that reform in Britain happens through the ballot box --- and slowly.

Occupy's main strength is in its constant questioning of the right of the 1% to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else. There is a growing sense in Britain that an elite, aided by a political class of public school boys and girls who all went to Oxford and live in a Westminster 'bubble' of privilege and entitlement, have lost touch with the rest of the country. See, for instance, George Monbiot's attack in The Guardian on a “government that supports the privilege of a plutocratic class", with his call for the closure of all private schools for perpetuating this elitist system of rule.

This is not a criticism reserved for the coalition government, but for the Labour opposition as well. And it is supplemented by the impression that Britain's current crop of politicians are just plain incompetent.

The incompetency argument is not hard to prove. In British politics, one hard and fast rule is to back the police force as an institution. This government,however has decided to decimate the service. So Police Federation of England and Wales Chairman Paul McKeever has condemned the announcement by the Home Secretary Theresa May in March:

[This] demonstrates the contempt this government displays towards police officers. Previously Mrs May promised to always back us and to support us. These were clearly just hollow words; meaningless soundbites in her early months in office. Theresa May has forced the hand of police officers across England and Wales to call for a ballot on whether they want industrial rights. They no longer have any trust or faith in the Home Secretary or this government.

Alan Johnson, a former Home Secretary in the previous Labour administration, appeared on the BBC on Thursday after 40,000 off-duty police officers marched through London protesting the government's reforms of the service. He was incredulous that senior positions in the police were opened up to direct entry for university graduates, instead of retaining the working-class roots of the force through the principle working your way up from the front line. Johnson predicted that this blunder by the Government would be the biggest issue of the next election.

A serving police officer remarked about the effects of encouraging direct entry:

Divide and conquer!! That’s what this one is all about, setting up a two tier system such as the Army with a ‘Them and Us’ culture, the officer class or ‘Ruperts’ as they are affectionately known in the military, supervising serious incidents, which could affect you and your family. A snobby, fresh out of University, green behind the ears Inspector, making decisions that will affect you and yours when you call the police, because you have been the victim of a sexual assault perhaps, something which you may want kept confidential, and dealt with efficiently.

It is this divorce from reality displayed by the elites --- for the US example, see Alex Pareene's America's Idiot Rich --- that makes Occupy London's strategy of creative ridicule of the 1% so intriguing. There is ample material to mock, and, while the "tactics of frivolity" have not always been successful in the past, this use of satirical humour by Occupy could encourage more people to listen to their underlying message.

These two days of global action are followed next week by protests in the US, at a NATO meeting in Chicago and a G-8 summit at Camp David, that promise to be less light-hearted. The G-8 conference was moved to Maryland because of the greater security available at the Presidential retreat, and in Chicago, the police have spent $1 million on updated riot gear. There are even uncorroborated reports that some of the police in Chicago see this NATO demonstration as the chance, as their earlier colleagues did in 1968, to beat a few protesters with billy clubs.

Last week electors in Europe signalled their dissatisfaction with the politics of austerity, and the elites who are trying to implement them. Barring a miracle of an economic recovery, politics for the near future will revolve around that austerity --- or thrift as the British government are now trying to call it.

This week the success or failure of Occupy, and their affiliated groups, to draw attention to growing income inequality will help determine their relevance to these coming political struggles over the world's economic future. Can they deliver on their promise of a Global Spring?

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Uncertainties After the Damascus Bombs

James Miller — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:27:32 +0000

Aerial footage of the scene of Thursday's explosions in Syrian capital Damascus

2013 GMT: Syria. Protests have lasted well into the night. This impressive video was reportedly taken in Douma, a key Damascus suburb:

However, a quick check of the LCCS suggests that the evening protest may have been disrupted by violence:

Reports of the fall of tank shells on Misraba and Hijarieh neighborhoods along with powerful explosions shake the Great Mosque's yard. In addition to heavy gunfire reported in Shuhada (Martyrs) Square and Shefonieh roundabout and the deployment of snipers in multiple places.

2007 GMT: Syria. Activist Rami Al Jarrah shares this video reportedly showing violence in Saqba, Damascus, earlier today:

IMPORTANT FOOTAGE: a protester is shot in the leg while chanting "the syrian army are traitors" youtube.com/watch?v=m18sVy… #Saqba #Damascus #Syria
— Alexander Page (@AlexanderPageSY) May 11, 2012

2000 GMT: Syria. An activist posts a spreadsheet of today;s protests, many of which have associated videos. While we cannot confirm the count, we've heard similar numbers posted by other activists:

724 protests counted so far in #Syria today in 563 protest points. 50 in Damascus city, 104 in Aleppo governate. docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pu…
— Free Syrian (@HamaEcho) May 11, 2012

1920 GMT: Syria. The LCC has posted an interactive map of Syria showing today's protest videos, reports of casualties, and other pertinent information:

View Syria - Friday 11/05/2012 in a larger map

Our observations - protests today were very large in many areas, and protests over the last two Fridays have been much larger, and much more widespread, than in previous weeks. There does appear to be a re-invigoration of the peaceful protest movement since the arrival of UN observers.

Also interesting - the size and reach of protests today in Lattakia. There region has a larger support base for the regime, and while protests are not rare there, today's protests were a significant show of power for the peaceful opposition there.

There is an ebb and flow to protests in Syria. Not everyone protests every week, and so it is wrong to look for a linear progression in the size of crowds as a sign of opposition support. However, what we are seeing is a trend - the protests continue to get larger, and more and more towns are reporting protests. It appears that the opposition is continuing to grow, but it is also re-energized.

And one always needs to remember that protesting is a dangerous activity in Syria. Perhaps the worse things get the more Syrians who support the opposition believe they have less to lose.

1529 GMT: Syria. Who's behind yesterday's car bombings? What do they mean for the conflict moving forward? We've posted a separate snap analysis that you can read here:

1514 GMT: Syria. The international attention is on the car bombs. However, our attention is also caught by the extremely large protests nationwide.

This video was reportedly taken in Mia'rbah, Daraa Province:

Protesters wear shirts with "FREEDOM" spelled on them at, "A Massive Demonstration in Bani Ezz Church in Sahl Al Rouj, Idlib."

Al Bab, Aleppo governorate:

Qarah, rural Damascus:

Haffah, in Lattakia:

The Salah al Dine district in Aleppo, an area that has been a hotbed of dissent, and crackdown, in recent months, especially since it is close to the University of Aleppo, the campus of which has been closed to quell dissent:

1448 GMT: Syria. According to the LCCS, a network of activists in Syria working to verify information, 13 people have been killed today:

4 martyrs were reported in Hama, 2 martyrs in Hasakeh, 2 martyrs in Daraa, 2 martyrs in Idlib, 1 martyr in Homs, and 1 martyr in Aleppo.

1436 GMT: Syria. There has been another attempted terrorist attack, this time in Aleppo, but it has been foiled by Syrian security forces:

On Friday, Syria's state TV said the attempted attack had been thwarted in Aleppo's al-Shaar area.

It said the bomber was killed before he could detonate the powerful device.

According to State TV, the car had 1,200kg (2,640lb) of explosives loaded into it. According to Syrian State Media, SANA, yesterday's bombings were conducted by two cars with over 1,000 kg of explosives loaded into each.

James Miller takes over today's live coverage. Thanks to Scott Lucas for taking us through to the afternoon.

1300 GMT: Algeria. An alliance of Islamist parties has accused authorities of widespread fraud in Thursday's Parliamentary elections.

Preliminary figures suggested the former ruling party, the National Liberation Front will win 100 seats and the Islamist "Green Alliance" almost as many in the 462-seat assembly. However, numbers on private Algerian television showed the Islamists coming in a distant third, behind two pro-Government parties.

Abderrazak Mukri, a spokesman for the Alliance said the results the parties are seeing from the Interior Ministry differ dramatically from those seen by the alliance's observers: "There is a process of fraud on a centralized level to change the results that is putting the country in danger."

Mukri blamed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and added, "we are not responsible for what could happen" as a result of the alleged fraud.

Turnout has been estimated at 30%, but the Government announced that the final rate of participation for inside and outside the county was 42.9% of the 21.6 million registered voters.

1230 GMT: Syria. Demonstrators in Houla in Homs Province scatter when a shell hits nearby, but they never stop chanting and quickly regroup:

Security forces moving through the Damascus suburb of Qudsaya to disperse protesters:

1120 GMT: Syria. Powerful footage of mass protests has been pouring in --- Talbiseh in Homs Province:

Kafarsita in Hama Province:

A large demonstration in the Shaer section of Aleppo:

A vocal rally in Abu Kamal in the northeast:

A demonstration in the al-Asali section of Damascus this morning:

1040 GMT: Syria. Encounter between activists in Homs Province and Red Cross officials, with translation of passages by Mona Mahmood of The Guardian --- first, a scene in the Baba Amr section of the city of Homs:

First man: All the families in Baba Amr are now shabiha (regime thugs) families. None of the indigenous population live their now. We want the aid to reach these people. We want your help in bringing back the indigenous families to Baba Amr.

Second man: The problem is out of 90,000 people, you have only 1,500 in Baba Amr. They need to help them to get back.

First man: This is a humanitarian request, it does not have any relation with terror whatsoever, just bring back these families....

All of them want to get back but there are so many barriers around Baba Amr, in a way they can not get back. They are not allowing the indigenous people to come back. The army is not allowing people to get back under the pretext that if the indigenous people got back, a resistance will break out again. Baba Amr will turn to a military barrack. This is a humanitarian request from us.

The Red Cross official: We have met the real families, we know where they are ... we cannot force them.

We understand your frustration, that it has been a long time that you have had to wait for this assistance to come ... but we do not carry weapons we are not political, we are not affiliated with any side. Therefore we need certain guarantees of security from both sides in order to enter a place safely so that we can first guarantee the safety of our own staff and also the safety of the people we assist.

In Qusayr, a member of the Red Cross team says at the end of the clip: "We understand your frustration, that it has been a long time that you have had to wait for this assistance to come ... but we do not carry weapons we are not political, we are not affiliated with any side. Therefore we need certain guarantees of security from both sides in order to enter a place safely so that we can first guarantee the safety of our own staff and also the safety of the people we assist."

1027 GMT: Syria. Al-Monitor reports on expanding repression:

Harpist Safana Baqleh, activist Asim Hamsho, author Mary Issa and her husband Joseph Nakhleh, blogger Yara Michel Chammas, activist Jalal Nofal, author Salama Kaila... the list goes on....

The regime's recent security campaign has led to the arrest of dozens of liberals supporting the revolution. These individuals believe in a peaceful, non-religious struggle against the regime, and hail from a plethora of the different communities which make up the fabric of Syrian society.

1020 GMT: Algeria. According to Minister of Interior Daho Ould Kablia, turnout in Thursday's Parliamentary elections was 42.9%, an increase on the 35% turnout reported in the 2007 ballot.

However, the Associated Press portrays widespread cynicism about the election, with many void or defaced ballots. One typical quote, from a 32-year-old man in Algiers:

These elections are nothing. We here in Algeria, we live in a huge coffin. We are the living dead. At my age I should be married, I should have a house. It's a basic right.

0825 GMT: Syria. Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, has claimed today that the Assad regime wants to destroy the United Nations' peace initiative, "The regime is now trying to kill this Annan plan, and by a new technique which is terrorism."

Ghalioun insisted the regime was behind Thursday's bombs in Damascus that killed at least 55 people and wounded at least 379: "The regime has operated with very closely with al-Qaeda and Iraq. We have to notice the timing of these bombings, the bombings started almost as soon as the regime removed heavy forces from the cities, we think there is a connection."

0735 GMT: Palestine. Al Jazeera English reports on the mass hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners --- estimates range from 1600 to more than 2000 --- in Israeli jails over administrative detention. Six of the hunger strikers, including Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh on Day 73 of their fasts, are reportedly "in danger".

0720 GMT: Egypt. James Bays of Al Jazeera English, continuing his reports from inside Syria on Thursday, is with a "well-trained" but under-armed Free Syrian Army brigade, made up of defectors from regime forces:

listen to ‘Audio Diary from Syria - Part 5’ on Audioboo

0600 GMT: Egypt. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has replaced four Cabinet ministers on Thursday in an attempt to stem Parliamentary criticism of the Government.

The Ministries of Labor, Higher Education, Culture, and Parliamentary Affairs were changed after groups including the Muslim Brotherhood had called on the SCAF to sack Prime Minister Kamal El Ganzouri and appoint a new Government reflecting the results of the legislative elections.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), linked to the Brotherhood and the biggest group in Parliament, accepted the move. "Given the limited time, there is an acceptance of this Government continuing until the presidential election," said deputy head Essam El Erian.

Meanwhile, there was lots of buzz last night around the first debate between Presidential candidates in Egyptian history. Amr Moussa, Foreign Minister in the Mubarak regime and later Secretary-General of the Arab League, traded opinions and barbs with former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh over the latter's connections to conservative religious groups, suggesting in the end that if his opponent became president it risked a return to insecurity and terrorism.

The two men are among 13 candidates competing in the election, held on 23-24 May. Polls put them among the front-runners.

Al Jazeera English offers a snapshot.

0525 GMT: Syria. The numbers and the images are stark --- at least 55 dead, at least 372 wounded in the two explosions in Damascus on Thursday near a military intelligence building.

Just as stark is what is unknown. The competing claims of "We Didn't Do It; The Other Side Did" accompany the reality that, as with the previous bombs in Damascus and Aleppo, the responsibility will not be established for a long time, after other events and manoeuvres have overtaken yesterday's explosions.

And it is those manoeuvres that are the biggest unknowns. We can say with certainty that the cease-fire, which never existed, will now be declared dead by all but the most die-hard supporters of United Nations envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan. The shape of the conflict, entering the 15th month of the uprising, is beyond prediction, however. Has violent insurgency and/or the regime's portrayal of "terrorist groups" overtaken the peaceful displays of protest, even as we see them today? Will yesterday's explosions become a pattern rather than a distinctive occurrence and, if so, will it be an outside force, beyond the opposition and regime, behind them?