1910 GMT:Syria. Away from Aleppo, the news was as ugly as ever in some places. Activists report that several shells fell on Douma, an important suburb of Damascus. According to the LCCS, at least one man was killed by sniper fire, and at least 5 people were killed when shells fell on several homes. A graphic and disturbing video claims to show an entire family dead or dying, being evacuated on a truck after a shell reportedly fell on their home.
1905 GMT:Syria. An amazing picture, from a day to remember, at Aleppo University:
2130 GMT: As reported earlier, many journalists have been denied entry into Bahrain to cover the F1. Earlier this evening, a team from Sky News, intending to cover the humanitarian and political situation in Bahrain, were likewise denied entry. EA understands that the team is now back in Dubai and remain intent on gaining entry into Bahrain to see for themselves the situation on the ground.
The Sky News team was headed by Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay who has been tweeting about the experience and his frustration with the Bahrain authorities:
Sky news denied access to report from f1 in bahrain #Bahrain
Associated Press said two of its Dubai-based journalists were prevented from covering the Grant Prix because they could not receive entry visas, despite being accredited by the FIA.
Meanwhile, cameramen already in Bahrain were required to keep fluorescent orange stickers on their cameras so that they would be easily recognisable to ensure they do not cover any off-track events, such as ongoing protests.
3 martyrs were documented in Hama as a result of sporadic gunfire at the protesters, 2 martyrs in each of Daraa and Aleppo as a result of sporadic gunfire at protesters. Also, 2 martyrs were documented in Idlib and one of corpses was un-identified. 2 martyrs in Homs in a random shelling at some neighborhoods. 1 martyr in Daraya, Damascus suburbs, in a sporadic gunfire by security forces at the protesters and 1 martyr in Hasaka, a defected recruit who was executed.
Homs, and several surrounding towns, were heavily shelled once again today. In this video, a building burns as heavy gunfire fills the background in Qosour:
Ahmed Al Omran provides this video, a wider view of the Khalidiya district of Homs:
A funeral in the Khalidiaya section of the Syrian city Homs --- the six victims are wrapped in shrouds because there are no coffins left amidst the deaths and regime siege
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.
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
1747 GMT: The Bahrain Justice and Development Movement have posted an English-language account of the death of 70-year-old Ali Hassan Aldaihi, allegedly beaten by riot police as he returned home last night.
Aldaihi, the father of the Deputy Secretary General of the leading opposition party Al Wefaq, was found by his son. He was taken to hospital with head injuries but died at 12.30 a.m. after a cardiac arrest.
Aldaihi's home was attacked in September with rubber bullets fired into it.
1637 GMT: So, yesterday the Syrian government enters into an agreement with the Arab League, pledging among other things to withdraw troops and tanks and stop the bloodshed. What happened? A bloody day, with tanks deployed everywhere. Tomorrow, opposition groups are planning to put Assad's pledge to the test, with massive demonstrations scheduled in many locations. Many of our sources are buzzing that we may see protests in Damascus tomorrow. The Guardian's Martin Chulov thinks so too:
Two activists in Damascus said protests were being organised under a premise that nothing had changed. "Tomorrow [Friday] we will see how serious they are," one said. "I think they cannot afford to take the tanks from the streets just yet."
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 10:33 | 
