Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Another Centre of Protest?

2045 GMT: The opposition party Wefaq has issued a statement that security forces arrived at two medical centers, Ibn Sina and al-Razi, and seized an unknown number of people.

"They detained doctors, nurses and other staff and brought them to an unknown location. We are worried what happened to them," said Wefaq politician Mattar Ibrahim Mattar. "I cannot reach by phone my brother who works in Razi."

An activist who works for the government said he saw more than a dozen members of the security forces surrounding al-Razi medical center while arrests were made inside.

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Iraq Revisited: Secret Talks Between the British Government and Oil Companies Before the War (Bignell)

Plans to exploit Iraq's oil reserves were discussed by government ministers and the world's largest oil companies the year before Britain took a leading role in invading Iraq, government documents show.

The papers, revealed here for the first time, raise new questions over Britain's involvement in the war, which had divided Tony Blair's cabinet and was voted through only after his claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

The minutes of a series of meetings between ministers and senior oil executives are at odds with the public denials of self-interest from oil companies and Western governments at the time.

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Afghanistan Feature: The US Military, Politics, and "Indications of Progress", Part 358 (Chandrasekaran)

Writing in The Washington Post, Rajiv Chandrasekaran offers the latest article proclaiming progress in the US military campaign in southern Afghanistan.

To be fair, this is more than the common cheerleading piece for American commanders. Chandresekaran cautions that there might be a violent summer in the south and, even more interesting, refers in the middle of the story to "deterioration of security in eastern Afghanistan" and the belief of some US military and diplomats that "the transformation [to Afghan security forces is] unsustainable".

All of this raises the question as to whether the US military are carrying out a high-wire PR balancing act --- we're winning, but to keep on winning, we have to stay far beyond President Obama's proposed withdrawal beginning in July.

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Iran in Pictures: An EA Caption Competition

It has been far too long since EA put on a Caption Competition to highlight the wit and wisdom of readers.

So here you go --- the image is from Iran's Army Day celebrations on Monday.

Photo: Mehr

Iran Feature: How the Civil Rights Movement Challenged the Regime...And Then Made A Mistake (Boroumand)

As one thinks back over the breathtaking events that rocked Iran during the middle of this year, one cannot but recognize that there are mistakes which change the course of history. No doubt the decision of the Iranian civil-rights movement to involve itself in the 2009 elections will count as such a mistake. For if it is true that they failed to help the lesser evil win—and some of them are now paying dearly for this failure—it is no less true that they were instrumental in thwarting the Islamic Republic’s plot to usurp popular legitimacy.

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The Latest from Iran (18 April): A Matter of Intelligence --- Ahmadinejad v. Khamenei?

2115 GMT: A Matter of Intelligence. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, former media advisor to President Ahmadinejad and now managing director of State news agency IRNA, reinforces his paper's line (see 2030 GMT): "The lying media, claiming the aupreme leader has refused the change of the intelligence minister, are executing new scenarios against the government and pretending the president isn't loyal to the supreme leader. Changing a minister in such a strategic and important ministry is impossible without coordination between the president and the dear supreme Leader."

2050 GMT: Claim of Day. Tahavol-e Sabz asserts that a domestic flight was cancelled because of the high price of fuel, which has tripled recently. The website says a senior deputy of the Ministry of Oil stopped the flight at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, even though President Ahmadinejad ordered payment on credit for domestic airlines.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protests and Battles

2100 GMT: Developments in Syria tonight....

The Syrian Minister of Interior says protests amount to "armed insurrection" and has called on citizens to "report terrorists".

The statement comes after more than 5,000 anti-regime protesters took over the main square of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, vowing to occupy the site until President Assad steps down. More than 10,000 mourners had marched in funeral processions for some of those killed in clashes on Sunday.

A video of protest this evening:

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EA on the Road: A Top-Secret Mission in Staffordshire

Accompanied by Junior EA and Little EA, I will be away on most secret business in central England today. (A hint: it involves monkeys and aerial wires.)

Updates on the LiveBlogs will be limited, so we encourage readers to bring in the latest news and ideas through Comments. (If you are commenting without using Disqus, there may be some delay in posting your remarks.)

I will be back this evening to catch up with all the latest developments. In the meantime, do enjoy our features from video in Syria to a first-hand account in Bahrain to the comedy moment that occurs when Iran's Press TV teams up with a far-right Englishman.

Bahrain First-Hand: When the Security Forces Clamp Down (Mahmoud)

Since the Gulf soldiers came to Bahrain, life in the Shia villages and suburbs of the capital, Manama, has been non-stop intimidation, violence and threats. Even trying to move around in normal ways has become life-threatening. They are trying to beat down the opposition with a long campaign against us.

I live in one of the villages near Manama. One night about 7.30pm, I parked in front of my father-in-law's house and walked towards the door, when at least 50 armed and masked thugs --- they were not in security forces uniform ---appeared from one of the village lanes and told me to stop, pointing their shotguns at me. I ran away and they followed, but I managed to hide in one of the houses and they did not see me.

I heard them talking to each other, saying: "Don't worry, we will find him.

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Iran Video Special: What Happens When Press TV Works With Far-Right Englishmen? ("Muslamic Ray Guns")

For months, the Iranian state media has been pushing the theme of turmoil in Britain, with a "people's revolution" challenging the Government.

Last month, Press TV tried to highlight this with a documentary explaining, "There is a sense of incoherent anger. People are angry, but they can't explain why," and featuring an interview with a member of the English efense League. What follows is 98 seconds of unintentional comedy, with the theme of British break-down giving way to a ramble --- see if you can follow it --- about "Iraqi law" and "Muslamic ray guns".