Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 25 Killed by Bombs

Photo: Mohammed Ameen/Reuters0945 GMT: Iraqi officials have reported more attacks throughout the Baghdad area, with the death toll at 56 and more than 200 wounded.

0815 GMT: Iraq. At least 25 people have been killed and at least 80 wounded in a series of coordinated car bombs and blasts have hit Shi'ite districts across Baghdad and south of the capital.

In addition to car bombs and roadside blasts, a suicide bomber driving a truck attacked a police base.

Iran Feature: So What is The Regime's "Must Read" US Book?

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So which US book is catching the eye of the Iranian leadership these days --- and doing so with approval?

Fars News, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, offers a clue this morning with s a glowing review of the latest opus from Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett: "Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms With the Islamic Republic of Iran".

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Bahrain Feature: UN-Linked Institute Sets Up in Kingdom...With Regime Funding (Elliott)

Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalif, and International Peace Institute President Terje Rød-Larsen exchange copies of their agreement

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As Bahrain enters the third year of a crisis sparked by Arab Spring protests in 2011, the government continues to bar many human rights advocates and journalists from entering the country.

But one non-profit group is not only being welcomed into the tiny Gulf kingdom, it’s opening an office there. And it’s doing so with funding from Bahrain’s ruling monarchy.

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Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Gathers to Name A Prime Minister

Claimed footage of insurgents hitting a regime tank in Idlib Province

See also Syria Video Discussion: Two Years After the Start of the Uprising
Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Arrested in Cairo Protests
Sunday's Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

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2110 GMT: Damascus. An opposition Facebook page has claimed "a number of 120mm heavy caliber mortars...in a joint operation coordinated with battalions operating in Damascus".

Targets included the Presidential Palace, Damascus International Airport, and security buildings.

"The operation comes in conjunction with the second anniversary of the start of our revolution, which is a revolution of freedom and dignity against the despotic regime of the criminal Bashar al-Assad," the statement said.

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Iran Live Coverage: "Sedition is On the Way"

See also Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: Nuclear Talks in Istanbul

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1620 GMT: Election Watch. A pointed statement from Presidential candidate Mostafa Pourhommadi --- even more significant because Iranian media is disseminating it in Persian and English --- aiming at President Ahmadinejad....

Pourmohammadi, former Minister of Interior and current Inspector General, challenged the likelihood of Ahmadinejad promoting his controversial right-hand man, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, as his succeesor: "It has been said that Mr. Mashai intends to become candidate. We have counted for that and know what to do. We have to do our own job. We must not reveal our tactics now.”

Significantly, Pourmohammadi also pointed to the possibility that the recent spate of campaign declarations --- which include former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar, and Expediency Council official Hassan Rohani --- might be reconciled with the Supreme Leader's 2+1 Committee seeking a "unity" candidate: "Our collective tactic is to agree on one person if there is a powerful rival.2

Pourmohommadi continued, "If the ruling side candidate has a high capacity we will enact our own plans, if he doesn’t and goes into coalition with others again we will have our own plans.”

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Syria Video Discussion: Two Years After the Start of the Uprising (Al Jazeera English)

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Al Jazeera English hosts a discussion on the second anniversary of the uprising against the Assad regime, "Where is the Syrian Conflict Heading?"

I am not sure there is much value in this in the way of insight or dialogue --- rather, it is marked by warnings, forebodings, and fixed positions.

The panel includes Yaser Tabbara, legal advisor for the opposition Syrian National Coalition; analyst Joshua Landis; and Danny Makki of the Syrian Youth in Britain.

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Arrested in Cairo Protests

See also Turkey Special: Kurdish Leader Ocalan "Nearing Deal" with Erdogan
Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Gathers to Name A Prime Minister
Sunday's Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

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1425 GMT: Egypt. Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ossama Kamal has said that the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry will be unable to provide power plants with enough fuel in forthcoming months.

Kamal, in a meeting with the Egyptian Cabinet, said, “There is a 25% in fuel insufficiency for power plants in the country."

In an attempt to reduce the shortage, the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry announced a bid to import 500 million cubic feet of fuel daily to meet the needs of power plants.

“Egypt has a dire need to import 750 million cubic feet of gas daily to meet needs of power plants and factories,” officials from the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said. “A total of 5.75 billion cubic feet of gas is being produced on a daily basis, but what is actually consumed is 6.5 billion cubic feet daily."

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Turkey Special: Kurdish Leader Ocalan "Nearing Deal" with Erdogan

So now we know the basis of reports that there may be a "solution of the Kurdish issue". Speculation, sometimes fed by the Erdogan Government, has risen amid a renewal of meetings with the imprisoned leader of the PKK insurgency, Abdullah Ocalan, on Imrali Island. However, it is with the leak of Ocalan's conversation with pro-Kurdish MPs that speculation has turned into expectation.

What Did Ocalan Say?

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

See also Syria Feature: Remembering A Voice For the Syrian Revolution
Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

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1544 GMT: Insurgent Advance Near Golan Heights. Insurgents commanders said they have seized a Syrian military intelligence compound in the southern Hauran Plain near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The compound near the Yarmouk River in the town of Shagara, 8 kilomtetres (5 miles) from a cease-fire line with Israel, fell after a five-day siege, opposition sources said.

"We have completely taken over this security compound this morning. It's a command centre for the shabiha [pro-Assad militia]," said Abu Iyas al-Haurani, a member of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. "Anyone who was arrested in the Yarmouk Valley was sent to this military intelligence headquarters to be tortured and it has a strategic importance. With its fall we have completed our liberation of the town of Shagara."

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Iran Live Coverage: Nuclear Talks in Istanbul

See also Iran Feature: Why Withdrawal of Google Reader is a Blow for Iranians

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1659 GMT: On the Seas. Iran launched a domestically-built destroyer in the Caspian Sea on Sunday, its first deployment of a major warship in the area.

President Ahmadinejad inaugurated the guided missile destroyer Jamaran-2 in the port city of Anzali, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Tehran.

He said the deployment aimed to bolster peace and friendship in the region: "The destroyer is there to meet those who want to jeopardize the security of surrounding nations,"

The 1,400-ton destroyer is equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles as well as anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and communications terminals.

Iran launched a version of the Jamaran destroyer in 2010 in the Persian Gulf.

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