US Journal: In the Solitude of Virginia, Why So Many Crucifixes and Churches?

More than 2000 years ago on the Appian Way leading to Rome, Pompey the Great left human markers hung on a crucifix every few hundred yards. While I'm not certain if each martyr cried, “I’m Spartacus” as Pompey and Crassus rode by, but as I drove the Virginia backroads, I was tempted to yell that referenceevery two or three minutes --- there were so many crucifixes.

We passed Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and churches of other Protestant denominations so often that we quickly lost count. Occasionally, we saw three churches within 200 yards of each other. The McDonald’s, KFC, and Subway signs, the normal companions on a US drive, had been replaced by God's advertising. (Or rather a certain type of God's advertising --- we did see one church for Jehovah’s Witnesses but there was not one mosque, synagogue or Hindu temple. Instead, markers setting out the Ten Commandments were frequently set up in corners of fields.)

Click to read more ...

Egypt Latest: Six Die in Attack on Christian Church (Al Jazeera English)

UPDATE 2030 GMT: A large demonstration from Imbaba has arrived tonight in front of the State TV building in central Cairo.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Persistence

1730 GMT: Opposition accounts and video indicate regime forces in Libya have been scattering land mines in Misurata.

Human Rights Watch has verified the use of Chinese anti-vehicle mines, dropped by mini-parachutes from rockets.

1650 GMT: Another image of the regime airstrike on oil storage tanks of the opposition-held city of Misurata in Libya:

Photo: Bryan Denton (New York Times)

Click to read more ...

Iran Snapshot: All You Need to Know About "Ahmadinejad's Sorcerer" (Azarmehr)

If being a Satanist, child of a prostitute and a ransom collector whose brothers and sisters were thieves and prostitutes was not enough ammunition for character assassination, the article throws in one more accusation by the unknown friend for good measure....

Abbas Ghaffari the sorcerer pretends to be a Muslim and claims to know the Koran and other holy Islamic texts by heart, but he is Jewish and wears a Star of David.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (7 May): Message to Mahmoud --- "Say Uncle!"

1235 GMT: On Campus. The Deputy Minister of Science for Research and Technology, Mohammad Mehdi Nejad Nour, has said at least 36 university courses will be changed by September to make them more "Islamic".

Authorities announced last year that Iran would review 12 disciplines in the social sciences, including law, women's studies, human rights, management, sociology, philosophy, psychology, and political sciences, to consider if their contents were too closely based on Western culture. A group of university and seminary experts was appointed to carry out the review.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: Ahmadinejad Floored By Bugs, Spirits, And Djinns (Tait)

Whenever cornered, Mahmud Ahmadinejad always seems to come out swinging. But Iran's notoriously abrasive president appears in danger of suffering a knockout blow over his political attachment to Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, a man widely seen as a threat to the country's clerical-based political system.

What had been a long-rumbling but low-intensity row has now become so rancorous that it appears Ahmadinejad has lost the political support of his onetime patron, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on all state matters.

And dislike of Rahim-Mashaei, the president's chief of staff whom he is believed to have anointed as an eventual successor, has grown so visceral and widespread that some believe it has reduced Ahmadinejad to a lame duck and may even prevent him completing his second term.

Click to read more ...

Bin Laden Feature: Why The Significance of His Death May Be in East Asia

Osama Bin Laden’s death marks a turning point in America’s relationship with the global community.  For a decade, he and his organization, al-Qaeda, have had an unrivaled place in the collective imagination of Americans and in Washington's global outlook.

But the long-term significance of his death may not be in the Middle East or South Asia. Instead, it will be in East Asia and the Pacific Rim, reflecting a critical change in American foreign policy. 

Click to read more ...

Bin Laden Feature: How US Drones Drove Osama to His Final Location

Bin Laden's Abbottabad CompoundThe only defence against the strikes was to stay indoors around the clock and not draw attention to oneself or to leave the area. Bin Laden did both. In 2006, he moved in Abbottabad, the military town north of Islamabad, ditching his bodyguards and remaining in the same room in the compound for the next five years.

Click to read more ...

Latest Syria Video: The Protests Continue --- Set 2

Damascus

Click to read more ...

Latest Syria Video: The Protests Continue

Snipers on a rooftop in Homs:

Click to read more ...