Iran Today: Tehran Discusses Syria With Egyptian Delegation

See also Iran Claim of the Day: "Ahmadinejad to Release Tape on Rigging of 2009 Election" if His Successor is Rejected
Saturday's Iran Today: Tehran on Nuclear Talks "No Time-Wasting"

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Automobile Watch

The official website of Iran's automobile manufacturers that the production of the three largest companies --- Khodro, Saipa, and Pars Khodro --- fell by 47% in the year up to March 2013.

Political Prisoner Watch

Abdolhamid Moafian, who heads the Coordinating Council of Reformists in Fars Province, was arrested on Wednesday.

It is still not clear where Moafian, reportedly a supporter of former president Mohammad Khatami, is being held.

Jamileh Karimi, a former advisor to the governor of Fars Province during the Khatami Presidencyi, was also arrested recently.

Yaghoub Khezri --- Kurdish journalist, teacher, and blogger --- has been summoned to serve a one-year sentence stemming from his arrest in June 2012.

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Middle East Today: Killing Off an "Independent" Egyptian News Site

See also Syria Today: The Debate Over Chemical Weapons
Saturday's Syria Today: A Chemical Weapons "Game-Changer"?

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Egypt: Mubarak Appeal for Release Rejected

The Criminal court has rejected former President Hosni Mubarak's second appeal for his release from prison, during the investigation of charges of illicit gain from his position.

The court ordered Mubarak to remain in detention for 15 days while the charges are investigated.

Libya: Gunmen Surround Foreign Ministry

A military official says about 200 armed men are surounding the Foreign Ministry building in Tripoli, demanding the ministry reform and hire former fighters who helped overthrow the Qaddafi regime.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live: The Protests, the Opposition, and the Grand Prix

See also Yemen 1st-Hand: When the US Drones Attacked My Village
Syria Live: International Support for the Insurgency?
Saturday's Iraq (and Beyond) Live: Provincial Elections Amid Spike in Violence

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1540 GMT: Egypt

Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki has offered his resignation, a day after President Morsi had stated there would be a government reshuffle and two days after thousands of Islamist demonstrators calling for the "purging of the judiciary"

According to judicial sources, Mekki complained about the demonstrations in his resignation statement. He also condemned attempts, led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party to amend the judicial authority law to decrease the retirement age of judges without taking their view on the issue.

The amendment would mean the forced retirement of more than 3,000 judges.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live: President Condemns Sectarian Violence

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1215 GMT: Turkey. Police have fired water cannon, tear gas, and pepper spray in clashes with thousands of activists protesting in support of 275 people accused of plotting to topple the Government.

Defendants in the trial of the "Ergenekon" group, an alleged underground network of secular arch-nationalists, were expected to begin their final defences on Monday. Prosecutors last month demanded life sentences for 64 of them.

Retired armed forces commander Ilker Basbug is among the defendants, accused of attempting to stage a coup against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's administration.

Demonstrators outside the court at the high-security Silivri jail near Istanbul waved Turkish flags and banners of left-wing and nationalist groups as they fought to break through police barriers.

0805 GMT: Egypt. President Morsi has condemned  clashes at the Cairo headquarters of the Coptic Christian pope as "an attack against myself", ordering an enquiry.

At least one person was reportedly killed and 17 wounded in fighting, as riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

On Friday, four Christians and one Muslim were killed in El Khusus, near Cairo, after anger rose over graffiti daubed on the wall of a mosque. 

Clashes erupt yesterday after  hundreds of Copts who had attended a funeral service at St Mark's Cathedral spilled out into the streets of Cairo, chanting, "With our blood and soul, we will sacrifice ourselves for the cross."

A withness said protesters hurled rocks at police officers and smashed six private cars, setting two on fire, prompting an angry reaction from Muslims living in the neighbourhood.

The Coptic Church issued a statement on Sunday night calling for calm and expressing sorrow for the clashes.

Mali (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Suicide Bombing in Timbuktu

See also Syria Live Coverage: Getting the Story Wrong on US Intervention

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1516 GMT: Egypt. Prosecutors have released political satirist and TV host Bassem Youssef on LE15,000 ($2,142) bail after hours of questioning.

Youssef is accused of insulting President Morsi and denigrating Islam on his TV show.

1509 GMT: Mali. At least three Malian soldiers have been injured in fighting today in Timbuktu, a day after insurgents killed two troops and injured another in attacks including a suicide bombing (see 0853 GMT).

A military spokesman said, "The fighting is heavy and it is ongoing. We are in the process of encircling them."

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Parliamentary Elections in October?

See also Turkey Analysis: Will the Kurdish Peace Offer Survive the Next Steps?
Syria Live Coverage: The Arab League Recognises the Opposition
Tuesday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Only President Morsi Can Save the Economy"

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President Mohamed Morsi1625 GMT: Egypt. An appeals court has ordered the reinstatement of Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, dismissed by President Morsi last November.

The court also cancelled Morsi's decision to appoint a replacement, Talat Ibrahim.

Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party has expressed its surprise at the decision, which may go to a higher court for review.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Only President Morsi Can Save the Economy"

See also Egypt 1st-Hand: The Immersion in Political Violence
Syria Live Coverage: Will the Arab League Recognise the Opposition?
Monday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Writes from Prison

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1910 GMT: Egypt. Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah handed himself to the authorities for hours of questioning, a day after being accused along with four others of inciting violence.

Abdel-Fattah was cheered by a crowd as he entered the Cairo office of Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah, who ordered the arrests for encouraging "aggression" against members of the Muslim Brotherhood last week.

The blogger's supporters chanted: "Down, down with [President] Morsi's rule."

1750 GMT: Egypt. Lawyer Hamdy Al-Fakharany has been arrested for allegedly inciting violence against the Freedom and Justice Party's headquarters in Al-Gharbeya.

Al-Fakharany’s daughter Abeer said her father was on his way back from a meeting with the provincial Governor, Mokhtar Al-Hamalawy, when Central Security Forces stopped him.

Abeer said she could not contact her father and did not know where he was taken.

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Iran Live Coverage: Nuclear Talks in Istanbul

See also Iran Feature: Why Withdrawal of Google Reader is a Blow for Iranians

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1659 GMT: On the Seas. Iran launched a domestically-built destroyer in the Caspian Sea on Sunday, its first deployment of a major warship in the area.

President Ahmadinejad inaugurated the guided missile destroyer Jamaran-2 in the port city of Anzali, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Tehran.

He said the deployment aimed to bolster peace and friendship in the region: "The destroyer is there to meet those who want to jeopardize the security of surrounding nations,"

The 1,400-ton destroyer is equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles as well as anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and communications terminals.

Iran launched a version of the Jamaran destroyer in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: President Morsi Appeals to Security Forces

1304 GMT: Egypt. The European Union's Parliament has passed a resolution threatening to withhold budget support to Egypt if it does not take significant steps to abide by human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

The EU allocated 5 billion Euros in aid to Cairo for 2012-2013, conditional on respect of human rights, democracy and economic governance.

Parliament called for promotion of civil society, women's rights, and minority rights. It expressed alarm at the rise in violence directed towards women in Egypt, particularly female protesters and women's rights activists, and demanded the abolition of all laws granting police and security forces the right to use unmitigated violence against civilians.

Members also called for Egypt's judiciary to commute 21 death sentences handed down on 26 January over the deaths of 74 football fans in Port Said's stadium in February 201.

The EU body supported the Egyptian electoral commission's decision to postpone Parliamentary elections, following a court decision suspending the process, and called on the Government to use the opportunity to work on building political consensus ahead of the elections.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Policemen on Strike

A woman runs for cover during clashes in Port Said in Egypt on Thursday (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP)

See also US Audio Feature: Drones and Senator Paul's "False Drama" Filibuster --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Leaders Cancel Trip to Washington --- Why?
Thursday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Court Suspends Parliamentary Elections

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2011 GMT:Iraq. Minister of Agriculture Ezz al-Din al-Dawla quit today over the killing of a protester in the northern city of Mosul.

Police said they fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd of stone-throwing demonstrators.

Ezz al-Din al-Dawla is the second Iraqi minister to announce his resignation over the handling of mainly-Sunni protests, staged daily against the al-Maliki Government since December.

"I announce my resignation before the Iraqi people and my people in Mosul because there is no way to continue any longer with a government that does not respond to my people's demands," said Dawla, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiyya Bloc, in a televised news conference.

Minister of Finance Rafa al-Issawi, whose home and offices were raided by security forces in December, quit earlier this month.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets again in the cities of Mosul, Samarra, and Kirkuk and in Anbar Province on Friday. They again demanded the release of detainees and the scrapping of anti-terrorism laws they say are unfairly used against them.

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