Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Aid Corridor for the Mountains

2130 GMT: After his refusal to sign a deal for transition of power, Yemen's President Saleh has telephoned Gulf leaders, including the heads of the Saudi, Bahraini, Kuwaiti, and Omani regimes.

Saleh blamed the opposition Joint Meeting Parties for the stalemate, saying they refused to sign the Gulf-brokered initiative "within the framework of transparency and openness".

The JMP had signed the agreement on Saturday night but balked at Saleh's insistence that they come to the Presidential Palace and sign again.

Saleh told the Gulf leaders that he was still ready to accept the initiative.

1955 GMT: Security forces charge a pro-reform demonstration in Tangier in Morocco today:

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Middle East Analysis: Dennis Ross & the Battle Within the Obama Administration

Israeli PM Netanyahu and Dennis RossIn February 2009, we headlined, "Treading Softly on Iran: Dennis Ross Sneaks into the Administration". Our analysis at the time:

He has been brought [into the Administration] with a remit so broad that it threatens to be vague. Now he is not focused on Iran but overlapping with both [Afghanistan-Pakistan envoy Richard] Holbrooke and [Israel-Palestine envoy George] Mitchell. There may be some State Department master-plan setting out how Ross, a forceful personality, will work with those two envoys --- equally forceful personalities --- and how he and his staff will in turn work with permanent State Department desks overseeing the Middle Eastern, Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asian regions.

More than two years later, Holbrooke is dead and Mitchell has resigned in frustration. But Ross is still very much present in the National Security Council. And the operative term is not "work with" other personalities and other departments but "work against".

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Bahrain Video: Editor al-Jamri on Suppression of an Independent Newspaper and His Trial

Until this spring, Mansoor al-Jamri was the editor of Bahrain's largest independent newspaper, al-Wasat. However, in the regime crackdown against dissent, State media launched a propaganda campaign against the publication in March. Jamri and his two top editors resigned; within days, they were arrested.

On Wednesday, al-Jamri was at Bahrain's High Criminal Court, tried on charges that al-Wasat intentionally published false news reports to destabilize the regime. At his lawyer's request, the trial was adjourned until June.

Al-Jamri is interviewed by Margaret Warner of the US Public Broadcasting Service:

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

MARGARET WARNER: Why do you think you have been singled out for prosecution?

MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: I'm really very surprised, because I was part and parcel of the reform process.

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Arab Spring Alert: Why, Oh Why, Are You Ruining Our Fight Against Terrorism?

Britain's Tony Blair & Muammar Qaddafi, 2004You might think that the "Arab Spring" would bring hope to everyone, given calls for democracy, justice, civil society, political representation, freedom of expression and media.

Nope.

There is one group which is worried that all of these demonstrations and discussions might be aiding terrorism. "European and Israeli intelligence officers" are worried that friendly intelligence services --- you know, Mr Qaddafi's men in Libya, Mubarak's in Egypt, Ben Ali's in Tunisia --- are being disrupted by all this fuss on the streets.

Read on....

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Iran Shocker Update: Brave Scientist Challenges Ahmadinejad on "The West is Plotting Droughts"

On Friday, we featured President Ahmadinejad's declaration, in a speech opening a dam, that "Western countries are plotting to generate drought in some areas of the world, including Iran".

Well, it appears that Ahmadinejad is getting some unexpected resistance to his revelation. It is coming not from the evil scientists of the West, but from one of his experts.

"There is no scientific confirmation for the claim that a country makes enormous efforts and spends resources on specific technologies to destroy clouds to prevent rain in other countries,"according to University of Tehran professor Esmail Kahrom.

Ahmadinejad claimed European countries were using special equipment to prevent the rain clouds from reaching Iran, but Kahrom noted distance of 5,000 to 6,000 kilometers (3100 to 3700 miles): "In this case, from a scientific point of view, such activity is impossible."

Instead of looking at devious Western plots, Kahrom suggested that the emphasis on the current drought --- last year the rainfall in Iran was 79% less than the average since 1968 --- should be elsewhere: "To survive these dry years, it is necessary to use water sparingly, stop wastage by using modern means," said Kahrom.

So far, we have no news that Kahrom has been detained for his subversive remarks.

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Long Haul

2015 GMT: Associated Press reports that NATO warplanes have bombed command centres near Tripoli and in Libya's southwest, trying to cut communications links between the Qaddafi regime and his battlefield units.

2005 GMT: Video of a protest in Idlib in Syria during the funeral of a demonstrator killed on Friday:

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The Latest from Iran (21 May): Two Presidents in Trouble

2030 GMT: At the Movies. Director Mohammad Rasoulof, facing a six-year prison sentence, has won the Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section Saturday for "Be Omid e Didar" (Goodbye).

Rasoulof, who is appealing his sentence, cannot travel abroad so his wife accepted the prize on his behalf.

The film tells the story of a young Tehran lawyer trying to get a visa to leave Iran.

Rasoulof was sentenced with fellow director Jafar Panahi in December and barred from making films for 20 years. Panahi's latest film, smuggled out of Iran, is also being shown at Cannes (see separate video).

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Iran Breaking: Another Ahmadinejad Ally Gone - VP Baghaei Barred for 4 Years

Fars is reporting that Hamid Baghaei, Vice-President in charge of executive affairs, has been barred from any civil service position for 4 years by the administrative justice court. Baghaei was punished for "numerous violations" as head of Iran's Culture and Heritage Organization.

Baghaei confirmed the sentence in a news conference today, while saying he does not accept the verdict and will appeal.

Baghaei was recently appointed as Vice President by President Ahmadinejad. He is a close ally of Ahmadinejad's right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, who has also held the Culture and Heritage post.

Baghaei is the highest-profile member of Rahim-Mashai's circle to be punished in recent weeks. Earlier this week, Kazem Kiapasha, who had served with Rahim-Mashai at the Tehran municipal offices and at Culture and Heritage was arrested.

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Iran Video: Extract from Jafar Panahi's Banned "This is Not a Film"

This week the latest film of renowned director Jafar Panahi, sentenced to six years in prison for "propaganda against the state" and a lifetime ban on moviemaking --- he is free while the case is appealed, but cannot leave Iran --- was shown at the Cannes Film Festival after it was smuggled out of Iran.

"In Film Nist" ("Not a Film") depicts a day in Panahi's life as he waits to hear the verdict of his appeal.

"New Egypt" Feature: Military Detains "Thousands" (Hill)

Photo: ReutersBy positioning itself as the guardian of stability, the army has garnered support from a public that remembers clearly how the loathed police force abdicated responsibility for the looters, vandals and street thugs unleashed by the regime against the revolution just a few months ago.

But since it was deployed to the streets on January 28, that same army has subjected thousands of ordinary Egyptians to incommunicado detentions, trials and sentencings in front of military courts that provide little or no due process. Soldiers have stormed demonstrations in Tahrir Square and have beaten activists with metal bars, ropes and electrified batons.

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