Latest Syria Video: Challenge to Assad --- Sunday's Protests

A Woman Leads the Protesters

Click to read more ...

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Speech and a City Demolished

1920 GMT: Doctors say Yemeni security forces wounded at least 10 people when they fired on a protest march in Sanaa today.

About 200 more demonstrators were overcome by tear gas when they marched outside their normal protest zone in the streets near Sanaa University.

"We neared the Sanaa Trade Center when police confronted us with tear gas, and suddenly opened heavy gunfire on us from all directions," said Sabry Mohammed, a protester. "A state of terror set in among the demonstrators, and some of them fled into side streets."

1915 GMT: State TV reports that Oman plans to spend 1 billion rials ($2.6 billion) to "satisfy the demands" of protesters seeking jobs and political reforms.

Earlier this spring, up to seven people died in a series of demonstrations against the regime of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Dozens of protesters have continued to camp in tents near the country's Shura Council in the capital Muscat.

The Sultan's office did not specify how the money would be spent.

Click to read more ...

Syria Transcript: President Assad's Speech "Full Transparency with the Citizens"

From my meetings with sections of the population last week, I found that there is a gap which started to appear between state institutions and the Syrian citizens. This gap must be closed; and we need to find channels between ourselves and the Syrian population. These channels should work both ways. We need to broaden and strengthen these channels. And we need to fill this gap; but it should be filled with one thing which is trust, the trust of the citizens in the institutions of the state.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (17 April): Making Claims

2130 GMT: Press Watch (IRNA Edition). In a day of curious stories, the tale of the detained journalist --- an employee of Iranian state media --- has another twist....

IRNA reports that Manouchehr Tamari was arrested by “six unidentified individuals” in Sananda, who "inspected Tamir’s home and confiscated his computer and laptop without providing any IDs”.

IRNA adds, “In recent weeks, following reports of terrorist operations in Sanandaj, the director and reporter of IRNA was summoned to the Kurdistan intelligence office and ordered to refrain from covering news regarding terrorist operations in the province.” The State media outlet said this order was rejected since it is in “contradiction of the inherent mission of the Islamic Republic News Agency".

Click to read more ...

Sunday Special: What is Kim Jong-Il Looking At Today?

Part of the downside of covering international events is that you can easily lose contact with friends. It has been many weeks --- despite all his excellent photographs and even the most wonderful of videos, complete with a new apartment and a special song by a young woman --- that we have touched base with North Korea's Kim Jong-Il.

So today we try to make amends: "Here's looking at you, Dear Leader" as you look at....

Fish....

Click to read more ...

Egypt Special: An Up-to-Date Review of the Uprising, the Battle over the Constitution, and September's Elections

On 25 January, protest movements approached Tahrir Square in Cairo with a unified demand: the downfall of the regime. Eighteen days later, President Hosni Mubarak resigned from his post after 30 years in power.

The celebrations came to an abrupt end, however, when the Supreme Military Council took power, ostensibly as an interim replacement until forthcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections. As "Sandmonkey", an Egyptian blogger and activist, highlighted, "It was time for the revolutionaries to play politics."

Click to read more ...

Libya Feature: Rockets, Snipers, and Resistance in Misurata (Chivers)

Photo: Filippo Monteforte (AFP/Getty)Misurata is nearly severed from the world, a densely inhabited city where anti-Qaddafi rebels have been all but surrounded by Colonel Qaddafi’s conventional troops. They face front lines to their south, east and west. The Mediterranean Sea is at their back.

They endure regular barrages from high-explosive munitions and shortages of equipment and ammunition. But kept alive by tenuous resupply into the port they barely hold, the rebels have created a maze of fighting positions and tank obstacles. They have managed for almost two months to prevent their city from being overrun.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (16 April): What Happened in Ahwaz?

2030 GMT: Explosions. The head of Kurdistan police reports that two bombs have gone off in Sanandaj. There are no casualties.

1845 GMT: Ahwaz Watch. An Ahwazi Arab activist site is claiming that a 37 year-old man, Abdulrahman Ghasem Badawi, was slain on Thursday night at a checkpoint 20 km (12.5 miles) outside Ahwaz.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Serious is This? (Continued)

1900 GMT: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times, who has been reporting from Misurata in Libya, posts this photograph of the war-torn city:

And for comparsion, this was Misurata in August 2010:

Click to read more ...

Obama in Libya: The Issue is Not Why, But How (Bacevich)

Whatever his motives, by conforming to a pre-existing American penchant for using force in the Greater Middle East, this president has chosen the wrong tool.  In doing so, he condemns himself and the country to persisting in the folly of his predecessors.  The failure is one of imagination, but also of courage.  He promised, and we deserve something better.

Click to read more ...