Saturday's Expediency Council Meeting2110 GMT: Poll Watch. Days after State TV's website was embarrassed by surveys indicating most Iranians would give up enrichment of 20% uranium for sanctions relief and would not support the closure of the Strait of Hormuz --- to the point where the polls were withdrawn and the BBC was accused of hacking the site --- Khabar Online produces a result of 80% opposing the blocking of the Strait.
Reports of the Sheikh's arrest brought demonstrations in the mostly Shi’a Qatif region of the Eastern Province, which has been the focal point of protests alleging discrimination.
The Ministry claimed, “When the aforementioned person [al-Nimr] and those with him tried to resist the security men and initiated shooting and crashed into one of the security patrols while trying to escape, he was dealt with in accordance with the situation and responded to in kind and arrested after he was wounded in his thigh."
Al-Nimr was taken to hospital and accused of sedition. He was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006
“They (police) took him from his car and blood can be seen near his car,” said his brother Mohammed al-Nimr. “He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views. In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shi’ite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights."
The Assad family in Vogue, March 2011 (Photo: James Nachtwey)
Brown Lloyd James's contract with the Assad regime, signed by BLJ partner Mike Holtzman and Syrian government official Fares Kallas, expired in March of last year, according to documents posted on the Foreign Agents Registration Act website. The firm had claimed its work on behalf of the Assads ended in Dec. 2010.
But in May 2011, BLJ sent another memo to Kallas and the Syrian government, giving them advice on how to improve their image and institute a more effective public relations strategy amid the exploding violence in Syria.
Moscow Nuclear Talks, 18-19 JuneThe file consists of three major sections:
1. Iran's Package of Proposals to the world Powers
2. Evidence and documents proving that uranium enrichment is Iran's inalienable right despite the western allegations
3. And Iran's response to the proposals offered by the world powers
1730 GMT: Oil Watch. The National Iranian Oil Company has suspended a contract worth $107 million for the development of the Dayyer oilfield by the Italian company Edison.
NIOC said Edison, which signed the deal in 2006, had failed to meet its contractual commitments, with slow progress of the project to study two-dimensional seismographic information on 7500 square kilometers of the oilfield and to drill an exploration well.
A number of major contracts with foreign companies have been suspended in the last two years amid technical issues and sanctions.
1615 GMT:Iraq. Officials say a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged belt at a gathering of his family, killing his pro-government cousin and six other relatives, in Ramadi, 115 kilometres ((71 miles) west of Baghdad.
The bomber entered the home of his cousin, the local leader of the Sahwa militia, on Friday night as the extended family was gathered for a meal. He approached his cousin and detonated his explosives, killing him as well as his wife, three of their teenage children, his brother and another relative.
Protest in Khartoum, 29 June 2012 (Photo: Nabeel Alhady/Girifna)
In my dream, I was inside a tunnel. The tunnel was jammed with cars, and I was in one of them. I was alone in the taxi, and the driver was frustrated with the heavy traffic. The tunnel seemed endless, and I asked the driver to roll down the windows because I could slowly feel myself running out of breath. My claustrophobia started to kick in, and the long queue of cars both ahead and behind me gave me a strong sense of uneasiness. The windows were now open, but I couldn't feel any air gushing in. I poked my head out of the window in an attempt to find where the tunnel ended… to figure out if freedom was near. The tunnel was a long, endless spiral. I was trapped and there was no way out. Stepping out of the car was not an option; there was no sidewalk inside the tunnel. Death was near; I began preparing myself for it.
Much like what I went through with my multiple detentions a week or so ago, the trauma I suffered during this dream felt real.
In an exchange over the uprising in Syria, Shawabka and Murad accused each other of various crimes, including working for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Ignoring the host's pleas to "calm down", Shawabka hurled his right shoe at Murad and followed up by pulling out a silver pistol.
Shawabka only briefly pointed the gun at his opponent, but the two men wrestled on-camera until the programme cut to credits.
I spoke at length with Monocle 24 last night about the latest statements and manoeuvres of the Iranian regime, linking nuclear talks with important domestic issues.
The launching point for the discussion was Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi's warning that a repetition of the protests following the disputed 2009 Presidential election would not be tolerated (see today's Live Coverage); however, it soon moved to the connection of that statement with Tehran's desire for a deal in the negotiations over uranium enrichment. And the conversation even picked up on another sign of the regime's concerns: the black comedy of the "disappearing polls" on State TV's website this week, with inconvenient results blamed on hacking by the BBC.
To get to the item, open the Monocle Daily site and click "Play" on the display for 6 July. The discussion starts at 1:04.50.
2030 GMT: Sanctions. Canada's TD Bank Group has begun closing the accounts of some of its customers, saying it is complying with new federal regulations for economic sanctions against Iran.
The bank has sent letters to clients telling them that, under recent changes to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulation, Canadian financial institutions are forbidden from providing financial services to anyone in Iran or for the benefit of Iran. That includes any use of an account to send or receive money via wire transfer to or from friends and family in Iran.
So far, no other Canadian bank has taken similar action.
Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 11:26
Saturday's Expediency Council Meeting2110 GMT: Poll Watch. Days after State TV's website was embarrassed by surveys indicating most Iranians would give up enrichment of 20% uranium for sanctions relief and would not support the closure of the Strait of Hormuz --- to the point where the polls were withdrawn and the BBC was accused of hacking the site --- Khabar Online produces a result of 80% opposing the blocking of the Strait.
