UPDATE 1520 GMT: Last night the UC Davis Chancellor, Linda Katehi, walked three blocks to her SUV amidst several hundred students, all of whom maintained a silent protest.
UPDATE 1500 GMT: An open letter calling for Chancellor Linda Katehi's resignation, written by a UC Davis faculty member, is making its way around the Internet.
An anti-regime demonstration in the Qosour section of Homs last night
As it descends into sectarian hatred, Homs has emerged as a chilling window on what civil war in Syria could look like, just as some of Syria’s closest allies say the country appears to be heading in that direction.
Sunday, November 20, 2011 at 12:21 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Middle East and Turkey, Global, Middle East and Iran Egyptian police beat protesters --- note the man knocked unconscious by a baton --- and drag them away, including one by the hair, just off Tahrir Square
See also Syria Feature: The Spectre of Civil War in Homs
Bahrain 1st-Hand Special: Security Forces Break Up a Teenager's Funeral
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The "Forgotten" Protests That Never Went Away
2125 GMT: A mass rally in Hama in Syria tonight:
2045 GMT: A protester throws back a tear gas canister in Tahrir Square in Cairo this afternoon:
1805 GMT: Tough Talk of the Day. The head of the Basij militia, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, has said, "We are ready to organise a 100 million Basij army in the Muslim world to liberate Quds [Jerusalem] as promised by Ayatollah Khomeini.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Hamedani has tried to follow up with the assurance that more than 2000 bloggers are organising for cyber-war.
Only problem --- last year the Guards said they were training a 15,000-strong cyber-army.
1800 GMT: Economy Watch. Some outlets in Iranian media are reporting that the Government owes 30 trillion Toman ($22.5 billion) to Iran's Social Security fund and cannot pay all State pensions.
In their debut episode, the Politichicks start off with gay marriage but very quickly explain the Muslim takeover of America (Warning: May Be Disturbing)
In our three years, we have been privileged to feature our favourites in American conservative commentary. As we launched EA, we paid to tribute to Conservapedia, the alternative to liberal-biased encyclopedias, from its entry on the "exploding koala" to its profiles of "dangerous professors".
We lapped up the conservative commentators who said Barack Obama was a Muslim. Or Hitler. Or Stalin.
And who can forget our joyous ride along with Glenn Beck (RIP)?
But now we set all this aside for the Politichicks, four conservative women taking on the liberal-dominated media to set the world straight.
The Politichicks --- not to be confused with The Dixie Chicks, who perverted country music by criticising George W. Bush --- are the one who says she wrote for Saturday Night Live, talks a lot, and plays the ukulele; the a blonde one who laughs nervously when the loud one plays the ukulele; the African-American one to prove this is not just a White Thing; and the one who generally looks shell-shocked.
Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 21:16 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran See also Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The "Forgotten" Protests That Never Went Away
EA correspondents in Bahrain have been closely following the case of 16-year-old Ali Alsatrawi, killed by a police jeep on Friday night in Juffair. They have tried to put together the story of his death and have attended his funeral today.
Just after midnight local time, one of the correspondents sent in this vivid report, moving from the funeral to a tale of cat-and-mouse with security forces who broke up a protest after the burial and pursued mourners with tear gas and rubber bullets:
I just got back home in Sitra. The police are still tear-gassing the villages roads. I had to sneak in --- thank God I almost know all the back entrances.
I have seen burning tyres on some of the roads, I think protesters burned them after the massive attack by the police on the funeral. The size of the force was huge --- I don't remember seeing this many mercenaries since the last attack on Martyrs Square in March!! I almost got captured by them twice today! This was a very long and stressful day....
Ali Alsatrawi, Bahrain Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 17:52 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 15:56 | Scott Lucas in China and East Asia, EA Global, US Foreign Policy 
I will be part of the panel on Al Jazeera English's Inside Story, considering whether recent American moves point towards US-China confrontation (spoiler: I am the optimist among the panellists that conflict is not necessarily the outcome).
The programme will air at 1730 GMT today and will repeated at 0030 GMT on Sunday.
Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 12:03 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran The opposition's montage of the Friday rally "For Democracy"
An EA correspondent reports from Bahrain on Friday's "For Democracy" rally organised by five opposition groups:
Tens of thousands of people participated in the rally organised yesterday by the opposition societies, demanding transformation to a democratic system in which the people are the source of authority.
Bahraini flags, along with flags from the "Arab Spring" countries were waving high during the march that began at A'ali roundabout and reaching Salmabad roundabout before returning to its starting point.
1810 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Turkish Front). More fencing between Ankara and Tehran, even as Iran tries to get Turkish support on issues such as its nuclear programme....
Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, has said "Iranian air forces are strong enough" when he was asked if Turkey could use Iranian air space for "war against [the Kurdish insurgenct group] PKK".
Boroujerdi was in Ankara on Friday for talks with Turkish officials.
