EA Music Video Special: BBC Censors Rapper Mic Righteous's "Free Palestine" Lyric

The British Broadcasting Corporation has censored the lyric "free Palestine" in a performance by rapper Mic Righteous on BBC Radio 1Xtra.

The song was recorded for a late night hip-hop show on 4 December, but when it was rebroadcast on 30 April, a sound effect was added to mask the offending two words in the rap (at the 2:59 mark in the video above), "I can still scream 'Free Palestine' for my pride, still pray for peace, still burn the Fed for the brutality they spread over the world. Pakistan's a ocean of bodies in the brown water still nobody helps." 

The broadcaster defended its censorship: "All BBC programmes have a responsibility to be impartial when dealing with controversial subjects and an edit was made to Mic Righteous' freestyle to ensure that impartiality was maintained."

Pakistan Video: Former Head of Afghan Intelligence "No Other Country Has Inflicted So Much Pain on US" (60 Minutes)

Speaking to the US programme 60 Minutes, Afghanistan's former head of intelligence, Amrullah Saleh, launches a series of attacks on Pakistan's political, military, and intelligence activities. He claims that the Pakistani authorities long knew of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts and that agencies in Islamabad have supported the Taliban on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Occupation and Defiance

View Syria - Tuesday 17/05/11 in a larger map

Map of protests on 17 May

---

Today's videos have moved to a separate entry "Syria and Yemen Video Special: The Protests of Defiance

2045 GMT: Within this summary of the Obama Administration's diplomatic push ahead of the President's speech on Thursday is this nugget:

White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan has been busily firming up the administration's stance on Yemen, where protesters have been pressing the government to fulfill promises of a leadership change. Brennan called President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday to urge him to implement the Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered agreement, which would see Saleh step down from power.

"Brennan noted that this transfer of power represents the best path forward for Yemen to become a more secure, unified, and prosperous nation and for the Yemeni people to realize their aspirations for peace and political reform," the White House said in a statement about the call.

The US intervention did not work, at least in the short-term: Saleh pushed away the deal this evening.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (18 May): Disputing Economic Growth

2055 GMT: Disputing Economic Growth. And so back to where we started this morning....

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar has directly challenged the President over his economic claims in his Sunday night interview, disputing the promise that 2.5 million jobs could be created each year for the next two years.

And Bahonar went after Ahmadinejad's subsidy cuts plan, saying it was threatening production in the country.

2015 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. Another challenge to the President's inner circle is emerging --- Iranian media are circulating claims of undue influence in Iran's automobile industry by the "diversionary current" within the Government.

"Diversionary current" has become the euphemism to refer to Presidential Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai and his allies.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain 1st-Hand: Expelled Journalist on "A Nation Now in Fear" (Richter)

Pearl Roundabout Monument, 19 February 2011Frederik Richter, who had worked for Reuters in Manama since 2008, was thrown out of Bahrain by authorities earlier this month --- possibly because he reported a rift in the monarchy over how to handle the protests that began 14 February. 

He narrates his expulsion and reports on "a traumatized nation":

Click to read more ...

Iraq Feature: As US Military Exit, Private Contractors Enter (Bowman)

Private Contractors in Iraq, undatedA U.S. Army helicopter brigade is set to pull out of Baghdad in December, as part of an agreement with the Iraqi government to remove U.S. forces. So the armed helicopters flying over the Iraqi capital next year will have pilots and machine gunners from DynCorp International, a company based in Virginia.

On the ground, it's the same story. American soldiers and Marines will leave. Those replacing them, right down to carrying assault weapons, will come from places with names like Aegis Defence Services and Global Strategies Group — eight companies in all.

Click to read more ...

Middle East: Obama Plans a Speech, But Little Prospect of Substance (Landler/Cooper)

Mr. Obama had considered laying out American parameters for a peace deal [between Israel and Palestine], several officials said — a move that [Secretary of State] Clinton favored, but one that would have put him at odds with his national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, and his top Middle East adviser, Dennis Ross.

But the unity accord between Hamas and Fatah, the party of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, effectively killed the plans to try to push through an American proposal, one administration official said. “It’s hard to imagine how we do that when Hamas hasn’t agreed” to recognize Israel’s right to exist and to forswear violence against Israel, the official said.

Click to read more ...

Afghanistan: Obama Administration "Has Accelerated Direct Talks with Taliban" (DeYoung)

The administration has accelerated direct talks with the Taliban, initiated several months ago, that U.S. officials say they hope will enable President Obama to report progress toward a settlement of the Afghanistan war when he announces troop withdrawals in July.

A senior Afghan official said a U.S. representative attended at least three meetings in Qatar and Germany, one as recently as “eight or nine days ago,” with a Taliban official considered close to Mohammad Omar, the group’s leader.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Finding the Dead

Candle-lit demonstration in the Damascus suburb of Saqba last night

---

2045 GMT: Activists says Lebanon has detained at least two Syrian soldiers who crossed the border to escape clashes between security forces and protesters.

The soldiers reportedly fled after opening fire on regime troops attacking civilians near a border checkpoint that they were manning. One soldier is said to have been killed.

2040 GMT: Libyan officials said they have been trying unsuccessfully to contact Minister of Oil, Shukri Ghanem, who has reportedly defected (see 1030 GMT), for the past 24 hours.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (17 May): Reacting to Ahmadinejad

2025 GMT: Sanctions Watch. US authorities have added another Iranian state-owned bank to its sanctions list.

The US Treasury claims Iran's Bank of Industry and Mines, the 21st to be listed by Washington, is handling transactions on behalf of two previously sanctioned institutions, Bank Mellat and Europaesch-Iranische Handelsbank.

2010 GMT: Execution Watch. Iran’s Supreme Court has approved the death sentence for Habibollah Latifi, according to his family.

Click to read more ...