Libya, Syria, Jordan (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Beat of Fighting, A Promise of Reform

1940 GMT: A witness has said six rockets hit an oil refinery near the port of the opposiiton-controlled Libyan city of Misurata.

The rockets appeared to have hit the refinery's power generators and did not strike storage facilities.

1935 GMT: Back after an extended academic break to note that 11 male doctors went on trial today in Bahrain, accused of taking control of a hospital during anti-regime protests, storing weapons, and detaining people.

One of the doctors tried to tell the judge that his confession had been extracted under torture, but the judge told him to stop and that he would be able to give evidence later in the trial.

Defense lawyers asked for civilian doctors to examine their clients, who have only been seen by military medical staff. The judge agreed and adjourned the until next week; he denied a request from some defense lawyers that the doctors be released while the trial is ongoing.

The 11 doctors are among 47 medical staff facing trials.

1549 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that heavy shelling of the Libyan rebel town on Zintan left 9 killed yesterday and more than 40 injured. 

Meanwhile, four rebels have been killed, 30 injured, near Brega. According to a rebel commander, ""We have four dead and 30 wounded. Khadafy's forces have many losses."

1529 GMT: James Miller is taking over for Scott Lucas.

Anita McNaught reports from the Turkey-Syria border that refugees are massing on the border, sodliers are defecting, and Iranian agents may have been deployed as snipers in Syria.

1215 GMT: Reports are coming through that Bahrain Polytechnic has expelled a number of students for alleged political activities.

0910 GMT: A member of the Bahraini monarchy, Sheikh Abdullah Mohammad bin Ahmad Al-Fatih Al-Khalifa has announced that he is suing a Kuwaiti man, Nasser Abul, for slander and defamation on Twitter.

Abul was detained on Thursday in Kuwait and will appear at the prosecutor's office on Sunday on charges of damaging the country’s interests and severing political relationship with brotherly countries.

Sheikh Abdullah said Abul's "postings hurt a whole family at a personal level". He thanked Kuwait’s State Security apparatus for their efforts.

0900 GMT: A flurry of news out of Yemen, with opposition sources saying they will meet the Acting President later this morning to discuss arrangements for the transfer of power, and the Ministry of Defense declaring that President Ali Abdullah Saleh, recovering in a Saudi Arabian hospital from injuries suffered 10 days ago in a bomb blast, will address the people “very soon”.

Perhaps most intriguing, however, is the report in Al-Masdar Online that prominent opposition figure Hamid al-Ahmar, whose brother Ali Mohsen is leading a dissident military faction, met the US Ambassador on Sunday to discuss the political situation.

0755 GMT: Claimed video of protest in the Syrian capital Damascus last night:

0715 GMT: Intelligence Online claims that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has quietly started an anti-corruption campaign within the regime.

The website reported that the campaign, started in March, was aimed primarily at the Ministries of Defence and Interior. It said at least a dozen civil servants have been arrested, including a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Interior.

0640 GMT: Egypt's economy has contracted in the last three months by 4.2%, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abul Naga said on Sunday.

Last year, the economy grew by 5.4% in the same period.

Abul Naga said the slump included a 33% drop in tourism by 33%, 12% in manufacturing, 9% in construction, 9.7% in transport and storage, and 7.9% in wholesale and retail trade.

“It is not yet catastrophic,” Abul Naga said. “But we must quickly address the reasons for that drop.”

0635 GMT: Claimed footage of an armoured vehicle patrolling in Homs:

And demonstration in Ghouta on Sunday:

0630 GMT: The United Arab Emirates has recognised the opposition National Transitional Council as the "sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people", according to the State news agency.

The decision to recognise the NTC was announced by Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, who said the UAE would soon open a provisional office in Benghazi.

The UAE is the 12th nation and the third in the Arab world to recognise the NTC.

0615 GMT: For the first day in weeks, the Libyan front took over the headlines from conflicts such as the protests and fighting in Syria and Yemen. While the pattern is far from consistent and far from steady, the impression is of a gradual advance by the opposition in the west of the country. Towns in the western mountains appear to have been secured by the insurgents, and there is the prospect of re-taking Zawiya, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli.

In Syria, there was little "fresh" news on Sunday, as journalists struggled to appreciate what was happening around the embattled town of Jisr al-Shughour in the northwest. More than 5000 Syrians are now in camps in Turkey, with many more near the border and ready to cross if the regime military continues its advance.

The promise of reform, meanwhile, came from Jordan. King Abdullah II, marking his 12th year as monarch, gave a nationally-televised speech in which he gave a general promise to meet demands for Cabinets chosen from an elected Parliamentary majority.

The King offered no timetable, however, and he warned that any sudden change could lead to "chaos and unrest''. He said that changes would be implemented based on the recommendations of a national dialogue committee, which would consider "possible amendments" to the Constitution for Jordan's "present and future".