Yemen 1st-Hand: "Government Is Not Strong, But People Are Not Liberated" (Fielding-Smith)

At a protest in Aden, a young man holds the flag of the Southern Movement and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

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In the space of 30 years, Aden has been a British colony, the capital of a Soviet-backed independent republic, part of a new united Yemen, and the headquarters of a shortlived breakaway state, before being over-run and looted by the unity government’s forces. Residents say the wildly volatile state of limbo they have been in for the past year and a half is more alarming than anything they’ve experienced before.

“The government is not strong, but the people are not liberated,” said Mohamed Ali Ahmed, who recently returned after nearly three decades away and is a veteran of the south’s breakaway war. “It’s a kind of chaos --- no one is controlling anything.”

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US Election Video: Vote Romney for the Zombie Apocalypse

The EA staff are still considering our endorsement for Tuesday's US Presidential Election, but going through the many videos urging us to stick with Obama or change with Romney, this may be the most persuasive....

Joss Whedon, the man who introduced us to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, now introduces us to the reason for a Romney Presidency: "The vision and determination to cut through the business-as-usual politics and finally put this country back on the path to the Zombie Apocalypse".

The Latest from Iran (2 November): Ahmadinejad Remains Quiet About Supreme Leader's Warning

A Tehran rally marking the 33rd anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy

See also EA Video Analysis: The Secret US-Iran Nuclear Talks
The Latest from Iran (1 November): Supreme Leader Tells His Top Officials "Stop Fighting"

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2043 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. A revision of our opening item today....

President Ahmadinejad has now responded to the Supreme Leader's warning to the heads of the three branches of Government to stop bickering and "pay attention to responsibilities". While ostensibly pledging loyalty to Ayatollah Khamenei, he continued to throw punches at head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani:

I am convinced that you decisively guard the constitution, particularly the fundamental rights of the people, and safeguard the elevated position of the popularly elected president, the second highest official position in the country, and the institution executing the constitution. And you are opposed to any measure which weakens his sphere of competence and important responsibilities.

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Syria Feature: War Within a War? The Tension between the Free Syrian Army and Kurdish Militias (Solomon)

Claimed footage of Free Syrian Army attack on Kurdish rally in Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo, 26 October

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After a week of clashes between anti-government rebels and Kurdish militants in Syria's Aleppo province, the two sides are observing a tenuous truce.

It is a war within a war which neither side wants.

"We want to fight the regime and instead we are fighting a new front that we don't need or have time for," said a fighter of the rebel Free Syria Army, warming himself over a fire on a on a mountain overlooking olive groves and stone villages.

"We should be in Aleppo fighting, instead we are camping."

The situation exemplifies the tangle of alliances, loyalties and rivalries -- local and international --- complicating the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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EA Video Analysis: The Secret US-Iran Nuclear Talks

Over the last two weeks we have reported on a series of secret talks between the US and Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme. Contacts in Turkey between Washington's and Tehran's representatives were taken a step farther in early October when the Supreme Leader's top aide on foreign policy, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, met unnamed US envoys.

So how significant are these "back-channel" talks in a possible path to diplomatic settlement, rather than war? We explain in five minutes:

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Bickering Begins Over "New Opposition Council"

2011 GMT: Syria. As of an hour ago, the Local Coordination Committees were reporting that 133 people have been killed so far today:

42 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs; 32 in Deir Ezzor; 20 in Aleppo; 15 in Idlib; 8 in Lattakia;8 in Homs; 7 in Daraa; and 1 in Hama.

See our note on the casualty figures posted by the LCC.

That number will increase, possibly substantially, before the end of the day. Heavy shelling campaigns have been reported into the night, and the LCC now reports that even beyond this, the bodies of 25 people have been found in a basement in Aleppo.

The casualty figures have risen to the level that they were at before the ceasefire. Even during the ceasefire there was barely a letup in the number of deaths. For the civilians, it's only getting worse, and despite FSA victories across the country, there is no sign that the regime will fall any time soon.

1944 GMT: Syria. A Safe World for Women reports that a young female blogger, Fatima Khaled Saad, originally tortured while detained by the regime, has died of her wounds.

Fatima was a part of a network of civilian journalists, as many others did, she adopted a different name, and was known among her circle as Farah El Rayes.

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Israel-Palestine Live Coverage (2 November): Is Iran Still an "Existential Threat"?

1730 GMT: Following Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's remarks aired by Israelis Channel 2 on Thursday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called Abbas's words as "extremely dangerous". 

Abbas had stated that he would consider Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem as Palestine and the rest as Israel. When asked whether he would go to his birthplace - Safed, now a town in northern Israel - Abbas said he would go but wouldn't want to live there. This, automatically brings Abbas's standing on the issue of refugees into question. 

1540 GMT: After Bahrain signed an agreement with UN Relief and Works Agency to build three reconstruction projects worth of $5.4 million, a $25 million sports city project in Gaza City will be launched soon by Qatar, says Palestinian Minister of Sports, Youth, and Culture Mohammed Al-Madhoun.

1400 GMT: Defense official Amos Gilad criticized Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi: "Out of the desire for democracy, an appalling dictatorship has emerged inEgypt. There is no dialogue between Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and Israel's political echelon and there won't be. He won't talk to us." Gilad also warned that the peace treaty with Egypt must be preserved "at any cost".

1220 GMT: Israeli military censure lifted a ban on the publication of an interview made with Nahum Lev, the commander of the operation that ended up killing Abu Jihad, co-founder of Palestine Liberation Organisation, in Tunis in 1988.

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EA Audio: James Miller on Opposition Leadership & Failure of Ceasefires

On Monday, EA's James Miller spoke with Monocle 24 about the breakdown of the Eid ceasefire. The conclusion - ceasefires will not work, and the violence inside Syria's capital is becoming asymetric and increasingly dangerous as a result of air raids, battles, and car bombs. This is a direct link to the audio, which starts after the 1 hour 10 minute mark.

This morning, James spoke to Monocle 24 about Hillary Clinton's attempts to create a new transitional Syrian opposition leadership. We discuss Clinton's strong language, her disappointment at the direction of the Syrian National Council (SNC), and the possible direction of both the Syrian opposition leadership and the US involvement in the conflict. The conversation starts at the 6 minute mark.

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The Latest from Iran (6 November): The Battle Begins over Ahmadinejad in Parliament

2027 GMT: Trade Watch. Iranian Consul General Muhammad Hossain Bani Assadi, speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has said Tehran is ready to start barter trade with Pakistan to bypass problems with banking channels amid sanctions.

2017 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. A photograph from Monday of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani with his son Mehdi Hashemi, moved from prison to hospital for an angiography --- Mehdi Hashemi, arrested in September on his return from a three-year exile in Britain, faces charges of financial and electoral manipulation:

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EA Video Analysis: A Beginner's Guide to Drone Strikes, "Kill Lists", and Obama's War on Terror

Slate recently published an interactive map of US drone strikes in Pakistan, graphically revealing the scale of this emerging form of warfare. With reports that the CIA is seeking to expand its fletts of drones, coupled with the announcement that a UN team will investigate civilian deaths caused by such attacks, we ask what the effects are of this cheaper form of American warfare and risk consideration of the people who feel the effects of the strikes.

With the expanding use of drone strikes, the Obama Administration --- co-operating with the media to reveal its "secret" programmes --- is promising the American public a war without end should it enjoy a second term. Is this a renewed "War of Terror" with a goal that can be achieved, or does it risks exacerbating the "terrorism" it is supposedly eliminating?