2240 GMT: Video surfaces from Bahrain of what appears to show riot police walking down a street and throwing a molotov cocktail, or similar device, towards a building, possibly in a residential area. A fire ensues.
2150 GMT: This picture from Abusaiba village and the following video from Jid Hafs reveal the scale of tear being used against domestic populations at night:
2130 GMT: Josh Sharyar has spoken to people in Bahrain who can barely breathe inside their own homes. One contact's father won't stop coughing, and his son reports that he believes he might die tonight.
2345 GMT: It has been another important, memorable, historic, messy Friday. By the end of the day, tear gas clouds were still settling in Bahrain, fires still burning around the Egyptian cabinet building, and, in the most under-covered story of the day, 23 people died today in Syria, "among them are 4 children and 4 women, 9 martyrs in Homs, 5 martyrs in Hama, 4 martyrs in Daraa, 2 martyrs [in the] Damascus Suburbs and one martyr each in both Deir Ezzor and Idlib."
In Egypt, we have reached yet another turning point, with the news that many members of the advisory council to the ruling Supreme Command of Armed Forces. will resign over today's violence. This is yet another sign that the old ways have yet to be erased, and the revolution, taken for granted for many months now, is far from over.
In Bahrain, protests have not "returned," as some completely out-of-touch headline writers have suggested, but it is fair to say that recent violence, and the arrest of some prominent activists, will further fuel a protest movement that has been exponentially growing for several months.
But what happened in Syria? Missing in the "more deaths" headline that the mainstream media keeps running, is a serious analysis of the conflict. Even in Homs, besieged for months now, the brutality of attacks in Baba Amr marks yet another escalation, or perhaps even a sign of a desperate regime that has run out of tools besides shells and bullets. In Hama, we see yet more signs that the city may be facing Homs's fate. In the Damascus suburbs, the strength the security forces in the streets suggests that the Assad regime is also desperate to keep the protests from growing any further close to the capital. The reports from Deir Ez Zor, a serious crackdown against protesters and an escalation that we have not seen in several months, suggests that the regime is worried that if it does not continue to rotate its targets then it will lose control.
However, today's media coverage had far more problems than bad headlines. The media struggled to keep up on stories in Egypt, a location with a large media presence. Furthermore, coverage of stories like Syria and Bahrain have been nearly non-existent. In fact, a major Syrian activist voiced his displeasure at the media's coverage, then turned to EA to keep the story rolling.
This lack of coverage can have significant consequences. Bahrain, Syria, and Egypt (just to name the three that were busy today) all play key roles in the world, and in US and European economic and geopolitical strategy. Beyond that, the activists in those countries, and the citizens in those countries, deserve to have these stories covered. The media, once again, has failed in that respect.
We thank EA's readers for helping to change that, and we'd ask that, as things continue to develop here, you keep in mind how important independent media organizations like EA are in changing and influencing how the media covers the Middle East, and beyond. EA's writers depend on you, but the people in the places that we cover depend on you too.
We're closing the LiveBlog for the day, though we'll be reporting again in the morning. Again, thanks for reading and contributing.
2329 GMT: Two important visual pieces of evidence from Bahrain. The first, too graphic to post here, is a picture of the body of young Ali Al Qassab, who was reportedly killed earlier when he was run over. Activists claim he was run over by a police jeep, the government tells a different story.
The second piece of evidence is a video, reportedly taken today, that claims to show a police jeep accelerating towards a group of protesters who are near the side of the road. We've seen many videos like these in the past, and have already posted another video that shows a near-miss between a police vehicle and a pedestrian (see video at 1918):
Footage of security forces suddenly firing --- those posting the clip claim it was a rocket-propelled grenade --- at a rally in Homs Province in Syria last night
2100 GMT: Bikyamasr has more details on the food poisoning suffered by protesters at #OccupyCabinet --- the group that is gathered outside the cabinet building to protest against the Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. According to their reporters, two of whom were victims as well, the perpetrator is being singled out a woman who showed up before the cases broke out and offered protesters hawawshi, a popular Egyptian meat dish.
Hundreds started vomitting and dozens have been hospitalized. However, Bakyamasr denies that anyone has died so far. Full report here.
1930 GMT: Reuters has raised the number of people killed in today's violence across Syria to 30. Their report on Syria also covers the army's assault on the city of Hama to break a 3-day long strike called "The Strike of Dignity". Soldiers fired machineguns and burnts shops that had been closed down in solidarity with the strike. At least 10 people were killed as a result of the assault.
The Washington Post's Mary Beth Sheridan offers a slightly more pessimistic analysis than that of Barry Malone (see separate entry), focusing on the National Transitional Council's challenge to build an army out of the militias that toppled Muammar Qaddafi.
Sheridan does stress that the optimism and confidence of the recently victorious fighters is a positive and that many within Libya are committed to avoiding the mistakes of the past. However, this is a major challenge for the new Prime Minister, Abdurrahim El Keib, as both pro-Qaddafi fighters and anti-Qaddafi fighters struggle to find a place in the new Libya.
http://bit.ly/tC4bKtWith Muammar Qaddafi gone, the unifying focus for National Transitional Council fighters to do the near-impossible has been removed. In the face of massive obstacles, despite politics, infighting, and even the death of the commander of the NTC forces, Abdul Fatah Younis, the fighters did not let sectarian tensions distract them from their cause.
Now that Qaddafi is dead and the country is united under a single, transitional, national government, there are obvious problems in maintaining that unity and avoiding the sectarian strife.
Barry Malone, writing for Reuters, examines the problems facing the NTC as they attempt to "remain the good guys." But Malone is not all doom and gloom, predicting that in all probability, Libya will evolve into a scene of "peaceful politicking with some low-level skirmishes possible as Libya moves down a bumpy path of change"....
2020 GMT: The lawyer for five political activists accused of insulting the leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said that his clients spent years serving their nation and that their alleged "crimes" are rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
The five men, arrested in April for urging public protests and disrupting public order, have been on trial since June, with a verdict expected on 17 November.
"The defendants are among the experts who served this country," said attorney Mohammed al-Roken. "There is no legislation that forbids peaceful gatherings. On the contrary, there's an article in the constitution that guarantees the right of citizens to hold public gatherings."
The defendants include economist Nasser bin Ghaith, a lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of France's Sorbonne University. He published an article criticising attempts to avoid political reform by buying off citizens with generous government spending programmes.
Another defendant, Ahmed Mansoor, is a communications engineer and poet whose works were published by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. He is accused of running a website that provided a platform for the rest of the defendants to express anti-regime views.
1950 GMT: Braving gunfire that injured several people, protesters in Hodeidah in Yemen continue a march:
2135 GMT: Earlier tonight, James Miller --- from a first-hand source in Bahrain --- reported on the death of Sayed Jawad from inhalation of tear gas fired by security forces (see 2011 and 2052 GMT).
This is the full statement just released by the regime's Bahrain News Agency:
A thirty-five year old Bahraini sickle cell patient has today passed away at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
2135 GMT: Earlier tonight, James Miller --- from a first-hand source in Bahrain --- reported on the death of Sayed Jawad from inhalation of tear gas fired by security forces (see 2011 and 2052 GMT).
Well, not according to the regime --- this is the full statement just released by the Bahrain News Agency:
A thirty-five year old Bahraini sickle cell patient has today passed away at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
“Sayyed Jawad Ahmed, from Sitra, died at 6.45 pm after suffering Acute Respiratory Syndrome Distress”, Health Ministry Public Relations director said.
2130 GMT: The pointed message from protesters in Homs tonight: "Where is Nabil Al-Arabi [Arab League Secretary-General]?", "Where is the Russian President?", "Where are the Arabs?"
In Anadan in Aleppo Province, the crowd chants,"Syria wants freedom":
1950 GMT: State TV newsreader Hala al Misrati, who achieved a bit of extra notoriety on Saturday night when she brandished a gun on-air and said she would defend the station from anyone who dared attack it (see EA special entry), has been detained. Insurgents told a CNN reporter who tried to interview her, that "she is unharmed".
sarasidnerCNN
1935 GMT:Al Jazeera is reporting that a NATO warplane intercepted a Scud missile fired from Sirte, presumably by regime forces, in Libya.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 6:40 | 
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