Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Deadly Clash Between Insurgents in Aleppo

Claimed video of the Free Syrian Army firing on a Kurdish rally in the Ashrafieh section of Aleppo

See also Iraq Feature: How Kurdistan and Exxon Mobil Out-Manoeuvred Baghdad Over Oil
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A "Ceasefire" With Fighting, Car Bombs, and 103 Dead

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2116 GMT: Syria. Insurgents capture an armoured BMP vehicle and ---eventually --- drive it away:

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Iraq Feature: How Kurdistan and Exxon Mobil Out-Manoeuvred Baghdad Over Oil (Van Heuvelen)

Several people familiar with the company's internal decision-making said there were a few simple reasons that Exxon was willing to risk its relationship with Baghdad. First, Kurdistan's geology looked very promising. Second, the Kurdish government's contract terms offered much greater profit potential. And third, Exxon could probably get away with it. A year later, Baghdad still has not backed up its threats to kick the company out of Basra.

Even so, Exxon is preparing to break ties with Baghdad altogether.

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US Feature: A Map of President Obama's 284 Drone Strikes in Pakistan

See also US Feature: Obama's Man Writing the "Playbook" for the "War on Terror"

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Slate presents a map, based on information to June from the New American Foundation and updated with media reports since then, of US drone strikes in Pakistan in the Bush and Obama Administrations.

While striking, the map may be conservative in its presentation. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism found earlier this month that "the Long War Journal and the New America Foundation have been under-recording credible reports of drone civilian casualties in Pakistan by a huge margin".

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A "Ceasefire" With Fighting, Car Bombs, and 103 Dead

Homs, Syria at daybreak this morning

See also Syria Audio Feature: Why Insurgent Advance Is More Important Than The Ceasefire --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurgent Advance in Aleppo Overtakes "Ceasefire"

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2253 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage of the Free Syrian Army firing on a Kurdish demonstration in Aleppo today:

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Iran Video Feature: A Beginner's Guide to the Battles Within the Media (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English's Listening Post introduces the factions behind different media outlets in Iran, from President Ahmadinejad to the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guards. Context includes last month's imprisonment of Ahmadinejad media advisor and editor of Iran newspaper Ali Akbar Javanfekr and the political tensions over sanctions and the country's economic problems.

The programme also looks at Iranian channels broadcasting from outside the country, including the new London-based opposition Raha TV.

The Latest from Iran (27 October): Supreme Leader Says, "Obey Me"

See also Iran Video Feature: A Beginner's Guide to the Battles Within the Media
The Latest from Iran (26 October): Judiciary to Ahmadinejad "Your Irrational and Illegal Attacks"

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1556 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (European Front). Now it's Press TV being coy about the cancelled visit by the five members of the European Parliament, "The EP officials requested on Friday to meet two Iranian nationals, who have been sentenced to prison on charges of breaching Iran's national security."

1526 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (European Front). The English-language edition of Fars offers a very different account of why a visit to Tehran by five members of the European Parliament was cancelled (see 1218 GMT). It quotes MP Kazem Jalali, the head of the Iran-EU Parliamentary Friendship Group:

The trip was organized upon a demand by the European parliament and we agreed with their demand, but the European parliament gave up the visit with its unwise action which is not at all justifiable and the responsibility for the consequences of this move lies on that parliament....

The European parliament is under the influence of the Zionist regime when making some important decisions, and...since the very first day, the Zionist lobby voiced opposition to the EU delegation's visit to Iran and made the EU parliament call off the trip, and this shows the EU's lack of independence.

Fars continues with a statement by Parliamentary advisor, Hossein Sheikholeslam, "The European parliamentary delegation has set a precondition for visiting Iran and will not accept this prerequisite as it runs counter to our policies."

However, Fars coyly never mentions the "precondition": the five European MPs asked to see detained lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who is under threat of a six-year sentence --- the two received the EU's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought earlier this week. When Iranian officials refused, the European delegation cancelled its visit.

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US Feature: Obama's Man Writing the "Playbook" for the "War on Terror" (DeYoung)

John Brennan & Barack Obama (Pete Souza/White House)In his windowless White House office, presidential counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan is compiling the rules for a war the Obama administration believes will far outlast its own time in office, whether that is just a few more months or four more years.

The “playbook,” as Brennan calls it, will lay out the administration’s evolving procedures for the targeted killings that have come to define its fight against al-Qaeda and its affiliates. It will cover the selection and approval of targets from the "disposition matrix", the designation of who should pull the trigger when a killing is warranted, and the legal authorities the administration thinks sanction its actions in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond.

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US Elections Video: The Debate of the "Third Party" Presidential Candidates

On Tuesday, four Presidential candidates --- none of them named Obama or Romney --- gathered in Chicago to discuss the issues they see as pressing for America and how they would address them.

The candidates are the Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson, the Green Party's Jill Stein, the Constitution Party's Virgil Goode, and the Justice Party's candidate Rocky Anderson.

Syria Audio Feature: Why Insurgent Advance Is More Important Than The Ceasefire --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

Insurgent Sniper in AleppoI spoke early this morning with Monocle 24's The Globalist about the four-day ceasefire for Eid al-Adha and the latest events on the ground in Syria.

My take-away is that the insurgent advances in Aleppo and elsewhere present the Assad regime with a dilemma: either concede the political and military ground and look towards a longer-term ceasefire and a settlement for a transitional government, or regroup and renew the assault in the hope of pushing the opposition back.

My prediction was that the latter will occur, and developments today reinforce that view.

To get to the discussion, open The Globalist's homepage, click on the programme for 26/10, and go to the 12:13 mark.

The Latest from Iran (26 October): Judiciary to Ahmadinejad "Your Irrational and Illegal Attacks"

See also Iran Feature: "Britain Rebuffs US Pleas to Use Its Military Bases for Attack"
The Latest from Iran (25 October): Ahmadinejad v. the Judiciary, Continued

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1745 GMT: Loyalty Watch. The Supreme Leader's office has put out the reminder:

No one can disobey the decree of the Leader using the pretext that the decree is or may be a mistake....All the people, including the elites and experts, must obey the orders of the Leader.... Everyone is allowed to criticize the law or decrees of the Leader, but criticism is one thing and disobedience another, just as there is a difference between being critical and actively looking for excuses.

But why issue this statement now? And who should be taking notice?

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