The Latest from Iran (8 April): A Prize for An Imprisoned Journalist

Ahmad Zeidabadi on trial in August 20091800 GMT: Clashes at Camp Ashraf. Representatives of Camp Ashraf, home to 3500 people including many members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), have said that Iraqi security forces killed at least 25 residents and wounded 320 in an attack in Diyala province, about 90 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the Iraqi Government, said five members of the security forces were wounded. He did not give any casualty figures for residen, saying they threw rocks at security forces in a "riot".

A medical source said a hospital in nearby Baquba had received the bodies of three Iranians and that 16 other Iranians, five Iraqi soldiers, and one Iraqi policeman were brought to the hospital with injuries.

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Libya Video: Eman Al-Obeidi Tells Her Story (with Help of Qaddafi's Son)

On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview.

The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.

Saadi Qaddafi later told CNN, "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman." No one has been arrested in the incident.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Slow Build-Up

2005 GMT: Two clips of demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, with a large Shi'a population, in support of the uprising in Bahrain:

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Iran Video: An Interview with Roya Boroumand about Activism

Roya Boroumand is the co-founder and executive director of the Boroumand Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, as well as a former consultant with the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. In this two-part video, she talks to Tavaana about activism and the experience over three decades of campaigns for rights in Iran:

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Yemen Portrait: The Protests, the President, and His Supporters in Washington (Filkins)

A Western diplomat in Yemen said, “O.K., fine, Saleh goes. Then what do you do? There is no institutional capacity—in the bureaucracy, in the military, or in any other institutions in this society—to really step in and pick up the pieces and manage a transition.” A failed state in Yemen, coupled with an already anarchic situation in Somalia, could provide Islamist militants with hundreds of miles of unguarded coastline, disrupting the shipping lanes that run from the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean.

The senior Administration official put it bluntly: “Our goal is to help prevent a coup or a usurpation of power by Muslim Brotherhood types or by Al Qaeda.”

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Afghanistan Video and Report: The US Military's "Kill Team"

The "Kill Team" documentary from Der Speigel --- Warning: Graphic Content
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John Horne writes for EA:

Over the last two weeks, and days before violent protests erupted in Afghanistan, the US magazine Rolling Stone and Germany's Der Speigel have presented investigations --- including graphic photographs --- of atrocities committed by US troops. Soldiers belonging to a platoon stationed in Kahdahar Province murdered local Afghans, took pictures of themselves posing with the bodies, planted weapons, and even removed body parts to keep as trophies.

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The Latest from Iran (7 April): We Have Met the Enemy, and They are Facebook and Twitter

2015 GMT: Line of the Day. President Ahmadinejad gives short shrift to the New Year message from President Obama, "What do you know about Nowruz?"

2005 GMT: Currency Watch. Peymane claims that the Iranian toman has dropped to a rate of 1115 v. the US dollar.

The Iranian Government has been trying to keep the toman's value around 1050 to the dollar. Last autumn, after the announcement of subsidy cuts and amidst sanctions, it intervened with influxes of foreign reserves when the toman fell, on the "free market", to 1200 to the dollar.

Peymane also reports that gold prices are rising amidst economic uncertainty.

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US Politics: Scott Lucas with BBC on "Eternal Appeal of the Kennedys"

I spoke with BBC Radio Wales this morning about the lasting appeal of John F. Kennedy and his family, in the US and beyond, as HBO launches a new mini-series about the late President.

The discussion begins just after the 2:26.00 mark.

Libya, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Just Another Day of Many Thousand Protesters

2020 GMT: Der Spiegel reports on a possible shift in the German position on Libya, with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle saying military support of humanitarian action, such as relief operations, is possible.

Germany abstained on the UN Security Council resolution for a no-fly zone and measures to protect civilians.

1755 GMT: Four journalists --- James Foley of Global Post, Claire Morgana Gillis, an American freelance journalist; Manu Brabo, a Spanish photographer, and Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer -- have been seized by regime forces near Brega in east Libya.

1750 GMT: Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has said Ankara is holding talks with both sides in Libya, seeking a "roadmap" to achieve a cease-fire.

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Bahrain Feature: Medicins Sans Frontieres on "Military Crackdown on Patients"

Health facilities in Bahrain have been drawn into the center of the country’s current unrest and clashes between government and opposition protestors that began in February 2011. The result is an unacceptable circumstance in which medical facilities --- which are generally functioning well in terms of material, infrastructure and skilled staff --- now no longer impartially serve the medical needs of the population.

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