Tunisia Snapshot: Turning Repression Into People's Art (Sandels)

Photo: Jonny Wallstrom (Zero Silence)Wassim Ghozlani is part of a collective of Tunisian artists and photographers called Artocracy in Tunisia who are aiming to bring the voices of the people back to the streets of the country, breathe new life into places like the police station in La Goulette and shed old images of government repression through a photography project called "Inside Out."

In several places inside La Goulette's former police headquarters hang portraits of regular Tunisians. They're young, old, women and men. One of them, flanked by a police stop sign and graffitti thrashing Ben Ali, shows a young woman staring angrily at the camera. Outside the station, passers-by are greeted by the portraits showing a young man and woman making funny faces, below.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Not So Fast

2100 GMT: Tonight's take-away from the 40-nation gathering in London to discuss Libya is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's indication that arms supplies to the opposition may be under consideration: "It is our interpretation that [United Nations resolution] 1973 [authorising the no-fly one and measures to protect civilians] amended or overrode the absolute prohibition of arms to anyone in Libya so that there could be legitimate transfer of arms if a country were to choose to do that. We have not made that decision at this time."

2025 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman quotes an eyewitness that residents of Brega are fleeing east after the Libyan army regained control of Ras Lanuf, the next town to the west, tonight.

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Libya Feature: Who are the Insurgents? (Anderson)

During weeks of reporting in Benghazi and along the chaotic, shifting front line, I’ve spent a great deal of time with these volunteers. The hard core of the fighters has been the shabab --- the young people whose protests in mid-February sparked the uprising. They range from street toughs to university students (many in computer science, engineering, or medicine), and have been joined by unemployed hipsters and middle-aged mechanics, merchants, and storekeepers. There is a contingent of workers for foreign companies: oil and maritime engineers, construction supervisors, translators. There are former soldiers, their gunstocks painted red, green, and black --- the suddenly ubiquitous colors of the pre-Qaddafi Libyan flag.

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Iran Feature: Lessons from Middle Eastern Uprisings (Afary)

Just when the Green Movement seemed to have been defeated by the brutal repression of the Iranian regime, the mass uprisings in the Arab World gave it new life. This resurgence of the Green Movement is evident not only in recent street protests in Tehran and other major Iranian cities on February 14, February 20, March 1 and March 8, but also in a variety of articles by activists and thinkers who are reflecting on the lessons of the Middle Eastern uprisings (References are provided at the end of this article). 

In my reading of many of these articles, I have come across three main issues: 1. The need to raise economic demands alongside political demands; 2. The need to go beyond calling for reform and put revolution on the agenda; 3. Warnings about the internal dangers after a movement successfully overthrows a dictator.

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Libya Video & Transcript: President Obama's Address to the US People

THE PRESIDENT:  Tonight, I’d like to update the American people on the international effort that we have led in Libya –- what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.

I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform who, once again, have acted with courage, professionalism and patriotism.  They have moved with incredible speed and strength.  Because of them and our dedicated diplomats, a coalition has been forged and countless lives have been saved.

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Libya Audio Snapshot: The Latest from Regime Stronghold Sirte

Offering a sharp counterpoint to reports at the start of today that the opposition had taken Sirte, the regime stronghold and Qaddafi birthplace east of Tripoli, Ian Black of The Guardian describes a town which is still under the control of regime forces. He says well-equipped units, switching to lighter weapons to avoid air strikes, are moving into Sirte:

The Latest from Iran (28 March): Politics Resumes

1800 GMT: Economy Watch. Prominent economist Saeed Leylaz has declared that the main problem of the Iranian economy is domestic mismanagement rather than foreign sanctions, adding that smuggling is $20 billion per year.

1755 GMT: Labour Front. Claimed video of a strike on 19 March at the Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran:

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Libya, Syria, and Yemen: Scott Lucas on BBC Radio Wales

Former British diplomat Paul Whiteway and I appeared on BBC Radio Wales this morning to discuss the latest situation on the ground in Libya and the development of NATO and US approaches, including the move beyond the "no-fly zone" and protection of civilians " to the support of the opposition and "regime change".

We also had a moment to consider Syria and Yemen, where --- in a statement missed by the media --- US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appears to have given support to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The item starts just before the 2:07.00 mark.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Breakthrough?

1820 GMT: The Egyptian stock market has rised for a second day in a row, after almost two months of suspension and then a sharp fall on re-opening last week.

The EGX 30 Index rose 0.8% to 5,251.3 at the close. It has fallen 26% this year amidst the uprising against the Mubarak regime.

1715 GMT: British Tornado jets attacked and destroyed regime ammunition bunkers in the Sabha area of the southern desert early Monday.

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Britain 1st-Hand: A Reflection on Saturday's Mass Protest Against Government Cuts (Campbell)

Photo: Dominic CampbellI went along [on Saturday] with one intention – to be part of a family of people hurting from the cuts, powerless to stop the loss of public services their communities rely on, keen to make their voices heard and make people understand what they’re going through. A form of national group therapy almost. Most accepted it would change nothing in the short-term, decisions already made, budgets as good as set, listening not exactly the forte of government at the best of times.

And for the first 4 hours of my day that’s exactly what I experienced. A technicolour of flags, faces and families, a sight that took my breath away from the other side of the Thames as the march first came into view passing along Embankment. Whatever your politics, whichever side of the cuts divide you come down on, we should be proud that as a nation we can come together on such a scale to support each other at a time of hardship.

For the first half of the day, we danced, we chatted, we laughed, we made new friends and (amazingly given the size of the crowd) bumped into many familiar faces and friends.

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