Here's a summary of the main developments today:

Syria

• Up to 70 people have been killed in a residential area in Hama, the BBC reports. Activists accused the the government of a rocket attack but state media said 16 people died when a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups" blew up.

• The Arab League is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Syria. The opposition Syrian National Council has called for the UN security council to hold an urgent meeting following the deaths in Hama.

Egypt

• Egypt's election commission has reinstated former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential race, a day after he was disqualified. The presidential elections committee today issued what it says is the final list of 13 candidates for next month's poll.

Bahrain

• A lawyer representing jailed activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja says he will seek a court order granting him visiting rights to his client. The Bahraini authorities say Khawaja is in "good health" in hospital but his family and others have been prevented from making contact with him since Monday.

• Thousands attended a "mourning rally" today for Salah Abbas Habib, the protester who was found dead on Saturday. Activists say police again used teargas against the crowds.

Jordan

• Jordan's prime minister, Awn al-Khaswaneh, has resigned after only six months in office – allegedly because of a disagreement with the king about reforms.

Syria: More doubts about the video (9.55am and 9.07am) purporting to show a man being buried alive in al-Qusair. Malachy Browne of Storyful has been assessing the evidence and concludes: "We cannot definitively say this video is a fake but do believe there are serious grounds for doubt about its authenticity."

Bahrain: Thousands attended a "mourning rally" today for Salah Abbas Habib, the protester who was found dead on Saturday. Reuters says protesters later attacked a police station with petrol bombs and riot police responded with teargas and stun grenades.

Yousif Almuhafda of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has been tweeting about the rally:

Massive participation of women in the mourning rally of Martyr Salah now#Bahrain"twitpic.com/9e08ld — S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 26, 2012

As collective punishment, Riot Policeare shooting cars next to the graveyard directly with toxic gas#Bahrain" twitpic.com/9e102p — S.YousifAlmuhafda (@SAIDYOUSIF) April 26, 2012

This appears to be the interior ministry's version of the same event:

After the end of condolences in Bilad Al Qadeem, rioters blocked roads & committed acts of vandalism. Police restored order #Bahrain — Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) April 26, 2012

Syria: Assad supporters calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army appear to have attacked the LinkedIn Blog on the grounds that it was spreading "lies about Syria". The Silicon Republic website reports:

Users clicking on LinkedIn's blog at the bottom of their LinkedIn page will find themselves redirected to a web page supportive of President Bashar al-Assad and critical of the Syrian National Council. LinkedIn's blog appears to have been the victim of some kind of redirect attack by a hacker group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army. "We are a group of Syrian youth who wanted to show the truth and therefore we used this website which was used to spread lies about Syria," they wrote. "We are the Syrian Electronic Army and we come in peakoe (sic) for those who want peace for Syria," the message read.

Jordan: More on the sudden resignation of Jordan's prime minister, Awn al-Khaswaneh, after only six months in office. A blog post on Foreign Policy's website, apparently written by Marc Lynch, says:

His surprising move reportedly came in protest over the refusal of the Royal Court to allow meaningful political reforms. The last straw, it appears, was the disappointing new election law which failed to respond to long-standing complaints by political activists, parties, and outside analysts. Less than a week ago, I told the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad that I was deeply worried about the kingdom's stability because of its failure to enact any serious political or economic reform or to engage seriously with a growing wave of protest and unrest. The sudden resignation of the respected jurist should draw renewed attention to Jordan's political stability – and raise important questions about its willingness and ability to reform.

A report last month from the International Crisis Group, Dallying with Reform in a Divided Jordan, provides some useful background on the political situation. In a discussion of growing discontent in the kingdom, it says:

The regime has responded in time-honoured fashion. The king has shuffled cabinets and then shuffled them again, using prime ministers as buffers to absorb popular discontent. He has charged committees to explore possible reforms, but these remain largely unimplemented. Too, the authorities appear to have sought to exacerbate communal antagonisms ... So far, this mix of tactics arguably has worked. Protesters have failed to reach critical mass, and images from Syria almost certainly dampen the appeal of a protest movement, lest it trigger chaos. But these are poor substitutes for tackling the causes of anger ... There is always the temptation for the regime to wait and to postpone. But the gradual disaffection of the monarchy's core constituency coupled with efforts to unify opposition ranks by transcending debilitating divisions could portend a new chapter in the Arab uprisings' unfolding drama. And by then, it would be too late.

On Twitter, Amman-based Yousef Nassar notes that King Abdullah's turnover of prime ministers is becoming more rapid:

The average tenancy of the last 3 PM's in #jo was 288 days. The 10 before them 545 #reformjo — Yousef Nassar (@yousefn962) April 26, 2012

Syria: Activists have responded to government claims that the explosion in the Mashaa at-Tayyar area of Hama was the result of an accident in a bomb making factory.

A statement from the opposition Hama news agency claimed witnesses from the nearby village of Barraq reported hearing rocket launchers before the blast.

It also pointed to video footage of the aftermath of the blast showing a crater as residents picked through the rubble. "The hole in the picture cannot happen because of a bomb explosion, but a rocket or a missile can," it said.

It added: "A bomb no matter how big cannot make the destruction that a rocket can make."

But the BBC's Jim Muir said level of devastation would have been difficult to achieve by conventional shelling.

He pointed out that there has been no word on the blasts from the two UN monitors who are now based in Hama.

Syria: The Russia foreign ministry has chosen an odd time to describe the situation as "gradually improving".

RIA Novosti quotes spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying:

As I've already said, the violence level has already dropped significantly …The situation in Syria is tending toward improvement, though it is a rather fragile trend.

He was speaking after the explosion in Hama.

The foreign ministry said Lukashevich blamed rebels for most of the breaches in the ceasefire.

Lukashevich: Agreements on the ceasefire in #Syria are mostly violated because of the armed opposition's provocations — MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) April 26, 2012

Syria: Tanks have been filmed firing in the Damascus suburb of Douma a day after UN monitors visited the area, according to unverified footage from activists.

The footage purported to show tanks firing both machine guns and shells in the area. A cemetery in the same location was also filmed being shelled today.

Yesterday, the arrival in Douma of monitors in UN vehicles was also captured on video by activists.

Jordan: Prime minister Awn al-Khasawneh has resigned, according to AP citing an official. It is said that he disagreed with a decree from the king extending the current session of parliament until 25 June.

Khasawneh, 62, was appointed last October. King Abdullah has had 10 prime ministers since coming to the throne in 1999.

An official told AP that the king has accepted the resignation but has not yet named a replacement.

Egypt: After much confusion over the last few weeks, the presidential elections committee has today issued what is claimed to be the final, definitive, unchangeable list of candidates for next month's poll, Ahram Online reports.

There are 13 contenders. Ahram describes the first five of them as "frontrunners":

Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, independent Islamist

Amr Moussa, former foreign minister and ex-head of the Arab League

Mohamed Mursi, Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party

Hamdeen Sabahi, Nasserist

Ahmed Shafiq, former minister and (for 33 days) prime minister

Abul-Ezz El-Hariri, socialist

Khaled Ali, Revolutionary Socialist

Mohamed Selim El-Awa, Islamist thinker

Hisham El-Bastawisi, reformist judge

Hossam Khairallah, former intelligence officer

Mohamed Fawzy, former police officer

Mahmoud Hossam, Egypt Kanana party

Abdullah El-Ashaal, former foreign ministry official

As we mentioned on Tuesday, the latest Arabist podcast has a useful discussion of the key candidates left in the race.

Syria: Today's verdict against former Liberian president Charles Taylor has prompted Lebanon's former prime minister Saad Hariri to call for Bashar al-Assad to face international justice.

On his Twitter feed he wrote:

As we tweet the ICC is giving its verdict against former Liberian president Charles Taylor on charges of crimes against Humanity — Saad Hariri (@HaririSaad) April 26, 2012

It is also a day of hope for Syrian people that one day Bachar Assad will be held accountable for his crimes against his own people — Saad Hariri (@HaririSaad) April 26, 2012

Bahrain: A lawyer representing jailed activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja says he will seek a court order granting him visiting rights to his client, the Associated Press reports.

The attorney, Mohamed al-Jishi, says he last saw Khawaja on 4 April. Khawaja began a hunger strike more than 70 days ago and his condition has become a source of growing speculation.

Here's a recap of the main developments so far today:

Syria

• Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a residential area in Hama. Video footage showed spontaneous protests at the scene as bodies were pulled from the rubble. State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups".

• The Arab League is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Syria. The opposition Syrian National Council called for the UN's security council to hold an urgent meeting following the alleged massacre in Hama.

• France has threatened to demand international intervention if Bashar al-Assad's forces fail to halt the violence by early May, the Independent reports. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said he would push for a Chapter 7 resolution – which allows for military action to "restore international peace and security" – if Damascus does not comply with the ceasefire. He described 5 May, when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to present a report to the security council on Syria's compliance with his plan, as the "moment of truth".

• The UN estimates that Annan will have a budget of almost $8m for his role as international envoy to Syria, according to UN Report. Annan will have a staff of 18 people and travel alone will cost more than $1.5m over the next 10 months, a UN documents reveals.

Egypt

• Egypt's election commission has reinstated former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential race, a day after he was disqualified. The Islamist-dominated parliament passed a law barring former senior officials of Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for office, but the commission referred the law to the constitutional court on Wednesday and then reinstated Shafiq.

Bahrain

• Hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in "good health" and receiving medical care, Bahraini officials insisted after claims by his family that he had disappeared from a military hospital, al-Jazeera reports. The statement by Bahrain's interior ministry came after social media postings raised the alarm about the fate of Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since 8 February.

• Police have raided more homes and made several more arrests in the continuing crackdown against protesters, opposition activists claimed. The opposition party, al-Wefaq, posted a photograph purporting to show one of the homes raided.

Syria: The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council following yesterday's alleged massacre of scores of people in Hama.

In a statement [in Arabic] it condemned the attack on the Mashaa at-Tayyar district. It said the world cannot wait for the Syrian government to commit more massacres.

The state news agency, Sana, said "terrorists" were to be blame for 16 deaths. It suggested explosives accidentally went off in a makeshift bomb making factory [warning: graphic images].

Bahrain: Speculation continues today over the fate of imprisoned hunger-striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and there's now a Twitter hashtag, #WhereIsKhawaja.

His family have been allowed no contact with him since Monday, though they were previously in touch by telephone. His lawyer is also said to have been denied visits.

There are fears that Khawaja might be dead, though it's also possible he's alive and being held incommunicado – perhaps while being forcibly fed.

In response to rumours yesterday, the Bahraini interior ministry posted this tweet:

Abdulhadi Al Khawaja is in good health despite rumors. He is in hospital receiving full medical care #Bahrain — Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) April 25, 2012

This failed to provide much reassurance: how could Khawaja be in "good health" while requiring "full medical care" in hospital? Meanwhile, Khawaja's wife has reportedly been told that his doctor has forbidden all calls and visits – but without explaining why:

Prison's head told Khawaja's wife: "Doctor banned all visits & calls for AbdulHadi. I asked him why? he says he dosnt know!" #WhereIsKhawaja — Bahrain Human Rights (@BahrainRights) April 26, 2012

Activist Ala'a Shehabi also recalls an earlier conversation with Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone who had apparently been told by the crown prince that Khawaja would be released and deported once the controversial grand prix race was over:

Ecclestone told me Crown Prince said Alkhawaja was going to be released and deported on April 23. Which one lies, or both?#WhereIsKhawaja — Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) April 25, 2012

Syria: The Arab League is to hold an emergency meeting on Syria in Cairo today, CNN reports.

Syria: Reports from Syria often give the impression that the country's Kurds have remained on the sidelines of the uprising against the Assad regime – but this is misleading, Thomas McGee argues in an article for Comment is free. He writes:

In March 2011 as the revolution was still unfolding, the Kurdish Youth Movement made a clear statement in support of peaceful protest against the regime across Syria. This group has considerable support and influence on the ground and is active in calling for and organising protests. It works with other youth groups, coordinating committees and activists throughout Syria and has considerable political reach within revolutionary circles in Syria. Such widespread popular participation is not necessarily accompanied by strong and unified commitment from the Kurdish parties. Yet, it is inaccurate when writers extrapolate from the weakness of institutionalised (party-based) Kurdish representation to assume that Kurdish participation in general is very limited or non-existent. This is not only insulting to those who have risked (sometimes sacrificed) their lives to participate, but it will also be a disservice towards to Kurds during political negotiations, now or in a post-revolutionary future.

Syria: With less than a fortnight to go before Syria's twice-postponed parliamentary elections (they were originally due to be held last May), the Ba'ath party has been announcing its candidates.

Syria-watcher Joshua Landis has been looking at the list of Ba'athist contenders in Latakia (Arabic) and comments:

They reveal that Bashar al-Assad's supposed reforms are the ruse that most thought they would be. The candidates from Latakia are sprinkled liberally with the names of well known crooks and Ba'athists of the region as well as their sons. There does not seem to be any potential reform going on in Latakia. The Ba'ath may have been disestablished, but its members insist that they will win the upcoming elections to parliament.

The elections, scheduled for 7 May, are theoretically a multi-party contest and the Ba'ath party is no longer officially "leader of the state and society".

Nine new parties have been licensed under a restrictive law promulgated as part of the regime's "reforms" but, as the speaker of parliament

noted recently, "it is mathematically impossible for any other party to win".

Syria: That video purporting to show a man being buried alive in al-Qusair for circulating video footage (see 9.07am) is being treated with widespread scepticism online.

Twitter users claim it is a deliberate fake aimed at intimidating activists.

Just to be aware, video of a guy from Alqsair being buried alive in #Syria is a 99% fake done by the regime yet again, like the Baba Amr one — ♡ Freedom ✌ Syria ♡(@tweets4peace) April 26, 2012

Rime Allaf, associate fellow at Chatham House, wants more information:

Many of us are debating whether #Syria live burial clip is real. If anyone has info or pov, please share! Sent to media to get their pov too — Rime Allaf (@rallaf) April 26, 2012

Shakeeb al-Jabri, who is based in Lebanon, claims the clip is authentic.

@rallaf @Mou2amara Two sources in Qusair say they've identified him and preparing data. Still I won't publish it until it's irrefutable. — Shakeeb Al-Jabri (@LeShaque) April 26, 2012

Syria: Talk of a "ceasefire" is deluded, argues Rime Allaf, associate fellow at the thinktank Chatham House. In an article for Bitter Lemons she writes:

Syrians are watching the latest half-hearted attempt to end the violence and engage the regime diplomatically. Indeed, the six-point plan devised by United Nations Special Envoy Kofi Annan begins with a ceasefire that the regime has completely ignored, shelling and killing with impunity while a handful of blue helmets parade around the country. What should have been an urgent action to protect civilians has become an ugly, violent version of the Emperor's New Clothes, with everyone pretending to be concerned about the "fragile ceasefire" that never was in the first place.

Syria: More details from the International Committee of the Red Cross about the volunteer who was killed on Tuesday. In a statement issued last night it said:

On the evening of Tuesday (24 April), two incidents led to the killing of a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer, Mohammed al-Khadraa, and the wounding of three others in the city of Douma, 13km northwest of Damascus. In both cases, the SARC ambulances were shot at while heading to the SARC's local branch office in Douma. Throughout the night, the lives of some 30 volunteers were at risk. There were no wounded in the ambulances at the time of the attack, only volunteers. We can't say if the SARC vehicles were deliberately targeted. However, the volunteers and the vehicles that came under fire were clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem. We don't know who is responsible for these attacks. The ICRC and the SARC will further look into the matter and address those responsible in a bilateral and confidential manner. This morning [Wednesday], the ICRC urgently contacted the ministry of foreign affairs and requested a temporary local truce to be able to evacuate all wounded persons, including the three injured SARC volunteers, to safer areas where they can be treated. The ICRC also wanted to be able to evacuate the other volunteers who had taken shelter at the Douma office last night and to deliver medical assistance sufficient to treat some 100 injured. The ministry responded to this request, and the ICRC made sure that all concerned parties agreed on a ceasefire, applicable today and tomorrow [Wednesday and Thursday]. This afternoon, the SARC volunteers left Douma and are now all safe in Damascus. Tomorrow, the ICRC plans to deliver medical assistance to the Douma area.

Syria: The UN has published a copy of an agreement between the Syrian government and the UN over the ground rules for the mission to monitor the incomplete ceasefire.

It starts by affirming Syria's "sovereignty and territorial integrity", but it goes on to spell out the freedom of movement the observers should be allowed.

Here's a section:

(a) Freedom of movement/action to conduct their tasks in support of the mandate (b) Freedom to conduct any type of mandated operation at any time, by foot or by car (c) Freedom to transport and conduct the medical evacuation of United Nations personnel (d) Freedom to take pictures of military units and military equipment for the purpose of investigating violations (e) Freedom to park and/or stay in the vicinity of military positions of the Syrian Government and places of the armed opposition in accordance with the mandate (f) Freedom to use technical equipment to monitor the compliance with the ceasefire, the six-point plan, the preliminary understanding and any subsequent agreements (Global Positioning System (GPS), communications, photography) (g) Freedom to install temporary observation posts inside population centres (h) Freedom to monitor convoys of military vehicles approaching population centres (i) Freedom to access detention centres and medical centres in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the context of the implementation of mandated tasks (j) Freedom to investigate any potential violation

Syria: Very disturbing video has emerged purporting to show Syrian troops burying alive a man for sending videos to the international media.

The footage [warning: distressing content] cannot be independently verified.

(all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Two weeks after the start of an incomplete ceasefire in Syria scores of people have been killed in a rocket attack in Hama, according to activists.

Here's a roundup of the latest developments.

Syria

• Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, the BBC reports citing activists. Video footage showed spontaneous protests at the scene as bodies were pulled from the rubble. Warning: the following clip contains disturbing images.

Activists said several houses in the Mashaa at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big explosion. State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups".

• France has threatened to demand international intervention if Bashar al-Assad's forces fail to halt the violence by early May, the Independent reports. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said he would push for a Chapter 7 resolution – which allows for military action to "restore international peace and security" – if Damascus does not comply with the ceasefire. He described 5 May, when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to present a report to the security council on Syria's compliance with his plan, as the "moment of truth".

Like Juppé the US state department also called for a more rapid deployment of all 300 UN monitors. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that the US was considering "increased pressure" in case Annan's plan failed.

• The UN estimates that Annan will have a budget of almost $8m for his role as international envoy to Syria, according to UN Report.. Annan will have a staff of 18 people and travel alone will cost more than $1.5m over the next 10 months, a UN document reveals.

• Salameh Kaileh, a Palestinian-Syrian intellectual and activist who has criticised both the government and the external and internal opposition, has been arrested and taken from his home "without explanation," according to Jadaliyya. Launching a campaign to get him freed, the magazine said:

It is because Salameh is an independent voice and is an active presence for the future of Syria that the Assad regime decided to muzzle him in custody. That is the only explanation.

• Potential Republican vice presidential candidate Marco Rubio said the US should create a "safe haven" for the Syrian opposition but stopped short of urging Washington to arm the rebels, suggesting they were not yet organised enough.

Speaking at the Brookings Institution thinktank, Rubio urged a more muscular US response on Syria, saying others see it as a test of US leadership and will conclude Washington "is no longer a reliable security partner" if it does not step up

Egypt

• Egypt's election commission has reinstated former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential race, a day after he was disqualified. The Islamist-dominated parliament passed a law barring former senior officials of Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for office, but the commission referred the law to the constitutional court on Wednesday and then reinstated Shafiq.

Bahrain

• Hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in "good health" and receiving medical care, Bahraini officials insisted after claims by his family that he had disappeared from a military hospital, al-Jazeera reports. The statement by Bahrain's interior ministry came after social media postings raised alarms about the fate of Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since 8 February.

• Police have raided more homes and made several more arrests in the continuing crackdown against protesters, opposition activists claimed. The opposition party, al-Wefaq, posted a photograph purporting to show one of the homes raided: