Israel-Palestine Breaking: Dozens of Palestinians in "Nakba Day" Demonstrations Injured by Israeli Troops (Al Jazeera English)

UPDATE 1620 GMT: The Associated Press says at least 12 pro-Palestinian protesters are dead and dozens wounded. Four were killed in clashes on the Syrian border --- Al Arabiya adds a report of 10 dead on the Lebanese front.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to act with "maximum restraint". He continued, "But nobody should be mistaken. We are determined to defend our borders and sovereignty."

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US at War Feature: Blackwater Founder Supplies Mercenaries for Gulf Regimes (Mazzetti/Hager)

Blackwater in New Orleans, 2005Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

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Britain Royal Wedding Follow-Up: The Story of Princess Beatrice's Most Exquisite Alien Hat (And You Can Buy It!)

I did not attend Britain's recent Royal Wedding between some fellow named William, who apparently knew Lady Diana, and a Miss Middleton, who seems to have had a very fetching sister.

So when I saw this photo, I honestly thought an alien was attacking a young woman who seemed blissfully unaware of the experience.

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Bahrain Interview: Electroshocks and Abuse for Detained Medical Staff (Maskati)

Q: There have been reports police used electroshock on the detainees -- did anyone tell you about that? What did they say was done to them?

A: Yes. You know an electric shaver? It looks like that but it is for electroshock. What was explained to us, it is the same size, the same style, but it shocks.

Q: How would police use that in interrogations?

A: They say they put it for 10 seconds, then they take it. Some of them, they say, they say they put it on sensitive places.

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Bahrain Video: The Dismissal of the Workers (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English reports on the dismissal or suspended of more than 2000 private sector employees, most of them Shia, in Bahrain in recent weeks.

The sackings linked to the regime's crackdowns on the protests that started in mid-February.

The Latest from Iran (14 May): Say Uncle! (Again)

1925 GMT: Syria Watch. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Council, has said Iran is supporting the Assad regime because Damascus is backing the opposition to Israel’s occupation of Arab lands: “Syria is providing great assistance to resistance, therefore the position that we have taken is very natural.”

1915 GMT: The Next Wave of Attacks (cont.). Uskowi adds weight to our interpretation in the previous entry, pointing to Ahmad Tavakoli's criticism of Ahmadinejad's Ministerial dismissals (see 1305 GMT) as unduly hurried, sending a message of political “instability” and his specific denunciation of “that famous, deviationist and problematic character” --- read the President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai --- as the instigator of the latest move.

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Syria, Yemen, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Marching on the Streets

2110 GMT: Reuters now report that 35 anti-regime protesters in Taiz in Yemen were wounded today when plainclothes gunmen fired into the crowd (see 1220 GMT).

2100 GMT: Claimed footage of protesters in the Syrian town of Daraa shouting slogans against the Assad regime as Major General Mohammed Aalgirat leaves a building:

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Iran Feature: Iranian Regime to Unveil "Islamic Charter of Human Rights" (Radio Zamaneh)

Tehran Trial of Political Prisoners, August 2009Iran's human rights chief has announced plans for an "Islamic Charter of Human Rights" that will be prepared jointly among some Islamic countries.

Iranian media quoted Mohammad Javad Larijani, the international advisor to the judiciary and the head of its Human Rights Council, from comments he made to a group of Iranians in South Africa: "The preliminaries of this project were accomplished in an earlier meeting in Tehran; however, we will finalize the details of the project in a meeting with judicial and legal representatives of Muslim countries and announce it to the world."

"The Islamic Charter of Human Rights will have the capacity to even affect non-Muslim nations," Larijani said.

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Iran Snapshot: Are US Politicians Giving Support to "Terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq? (Duss)

Maryam Rajavi, head of People's Mojahedin of IranAn article in today’s Wall Street Journal looks at the considerable support that the exiled Iranian Islamist-Marxist cult Mujahideen-e Khalq — which is designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization — has been able to cultivate, both in European capitals and in DC, getting people like Rudy Giuliani and Howard Dean to speak at their events.

The article notes that these speakers “wouldn’t disclose their speaking fees, but many of them charge between $25,000 and $40,000 per appearance.” Dean also said that “he has made both paid and unpaid speeches for MeK.”

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US Snapshot: Indiana Supreme Court Rules Police Can Enter Home Without Warrant

Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

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