Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil and Confusion

Activist montage of the march today in Sitra in Bahrain for 16-year-old Ali Alsatrawi, killed last week by a police jeep, and the attack on it by security forces

See also Bahrain Video Diary, Part 3: The Freedom Torch Marches To Its Final Destination"
Monday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "The Government Wants the People To Become More Violent"
Monday's Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Newest Battle of Tahrir Square

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2145 GMT: Numerous reports from Tahrir Square in Cairo are indicating "the most potent tear gas yet".

Discussion is pointing to the use by Egyptian security forces of CR gas, whose "effects are approximately 6 to 10 times more powerful than those of CS gas".

The gathering in Alexandria tonight:

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The Latest from Iran (22 November): The Security Forces v. Ahmadinejad's Senior Advisor

See also Iran Special Analysis: The Security Forces Cross Ahmadinejad's "Red Line"
Iran Feature: So What Happened When Security Forces Tried to Arrest the President's Senior Advisor?
The Latest from Iran (21 November): Let's Talk Nukes...And Nothing But Nukes

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Iran Newspaper after Monday's Raid1835 GMT: A Change in the Revolutionary Guards. Looks like we have our answer to the question (see 1045 GMT) of why Yadollah Javani, the head of the Political Bureau of the Revolutionary Guards, has been replaced --- he has been appointed as advisor to the Supreme Leader's representative to the Guards.

1828 GMT: Arresting the President's Men. Ten of the staff of Iran newspaper, detained during the raid to seize Ahmadinejad advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, have been released.

1825 GMT: Elections Watch. The head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has appointed Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr and Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei to prevent "elections crimes".

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US Politics Opinion: Whose Gaffe is It Anyway?

Amidst all of these pitfalls and pratfalls, President Obama, who has been languishing in the polls, has caught up and moved ahead of possible contenders. Maybe the voters are starting to see that their President is trying to come to grips with the worst economic times since the Great Depression and that the bromides offered by his opponents won’t work. Possibly, the same voters are realising that the Republican nominees are both limited and woeful.

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Bahrain Video Diary, Part 3: The Freedom Torch Marches To Its Final Destination

Announcing the final destination of the Freedom Torch, Sanabis, 22 November

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For the last month, EA's correspondent Mr Ahmed has been keeping a video diary of the progress of the Freedom Torch through Bahrain. He follows the first and second parts with this account of the Torch and the opposition's challenge, as they moves toward a final ceremony in Sanabis, near Pearl Roundabout/Martyrs Square:

9 November: Karanah

The "Freedom Torch" reached Karanah, known for its protesting spirit --- demonstrations take place every day in this small, poor village surrounded by farms. The narrow roads make it hard for police to attack, but they are stationed at the village entrances 24/7 to prevent any marches reaching the main roads.

The festival was at night, with a revolutionary running into the village and handing the Torch to Karanah's revolutionaries. A speech and revolutionary songs and anthems followed.

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Iran Feature: So What Happened When Security Forces Tried to Arrest the President's Senior Advisor?

Now see Iran Special Analysis: The Security Forces Cross Ahmadinejad's "Red Line"

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Ali Akbar Javenfekr (left) with President AhmadinejadRecreating the extraordinary story of the attempt by security forces to detain President Ahmadinejad's media advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr, as they raided the offices of Iran, the newspaper he manages....

News broke this morning via Tabnak, linked to 2009 Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, that security forces used tear gas and wielded electric batons after Javanfekr's colleagues tried to stop his detention to serve a one-year prison sentence, imposed yesterday over an issue of the newspaper on hijab.

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Bahrain Video Diary, Part 2: The Freedom Torch Marches Across the Country

The Freedom Torch ceremony in Shahrakan, 3 November

See also Bahrain Video Diary, Part 1: The Freedom Torch Marches Across the Country

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The Freedom Torch continues to make its way across Bahrain, with a climactic rally on Tuesday in Sanabis, near the site of Pearl Roundabout/Martyrs Square, the symbolic centre of protests since 14 February. An EA correspondent, "Mr Ahmed", tracked the start of the month-long procession in an initial post last week. Now he presents Part 2 of his video diary, tracking the march of the flame at the start of November. Part 3, taking the Torch to Sanabis, follows tomorrow:

3 November: Shahrakan

The success of the Freedom Torch, with the daily videos, of its progress has made more villages keen to host it --- some have even started preparing to welcome it without actually knowing if it will visit.

This has added the new challenge to the 14 February Coalition of how to pass the flame to all the villages before its last destination on 22 November. With time was running short, some villages are sharing the Freedom Torch with nearby ones, and more than one festival may be organised on the same day.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "The Government Wants the People To Become More Violent"

2127 GMT: Though our sources suggest that the protesters are still in the streets, and the gunfire is still being reported in many places across Syria, and the total may rise, the LCCS reports that 20 more civilians have been killed today in Syria:

Syria: The number of martyrs today, thus far, is 20. Among them were two women and a child. 15 of the martyrs were in Homs, 3 in the Hama suburbs, and 1 martyr each from both Deir Ezzor and Raqqa

2124 GMT: A loud, enthusiastic, and defiant crowd protests tonight in Qalamoun, Damascus:

2112 GMT: Yemen's President may sign a Gulf-State plan to transfer power to his deputy tomorrow, according to the opposition:

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US-China Video: Will There Be Confrontation? --- Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera English

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On Saturday, I appeared on Al Jazeera English's Inside Story with Jonathan Holslag of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies and Simon Shen of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

There was an interesting range of opinion over the motivations behind recent US military, economic, and political moves, the response within China, and the outcome. In the end, I think I was the most optimistic of the panellists that there would not be a long-term escalation in tensions, although I held out the possibility that there might be consequences if Washington continued to poke at Beijing with its latest manoeuvres.

The Latest from Iran (21 November): Let's Talk Nukes...And Nothing But Nukes

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The initial aftermath of the raid by security forces on the offices of Iran newspaper, as they tried to detain Presidential advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr --- full video now in our special analysis

See also Iran Feature: So What Happened When Security Forces Tried to Arrest the President's Senior Advisor?

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1900 GMT: Things That Make You Go Ummm.... The President's office says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled his tour to Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province in western Iran this weekend because of expected bad weather.

The official forecast for Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province on Friday is sunshine with a high temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit).

1850 GMT: More Tough Talk of the Day. Mojtaba Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's former liaison to the Revolutionary Guards, has said that if Syria is attacked, the Islamic Republic will support it as it does Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Zolnour added the assurance that the explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base on 12 November, which killed between 17 and 37 people, was not due to sabotage.

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Newest Battle of Tahrir Square

2134 GMT: The voice of the opposition that is not going away in Tahrir Square:

The President has stepped down, key advisors have stepped down, and the cabinet has offered its resignation, but the people of Egypt have yet to feel the reform that the process has promised. With elections only a week away, the people in the streets are giving a clear mandate: they want the resignation of SCAF, free and fair elections, and the freedom of expression and representation that the military is fighting against until the last minutes of this transitional government.

We close our liveblog with this video:

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