Japan Latest: A Moment of Silence as Death Toll Climbs

Today, at 2:46 p.m. local time (0546 GMT), Japan observed a moment of silence to mark one week since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck, followed by a tsunami and the ongoing crisis at its Fukushima nuclear reactors.

The National Police Agency has just released the latest casualty figures, with 6539 dead and 10,354 missing.

At Fukushima, the Tokyo Electric Power Company says it hopes to restore power to two of the troubled reactors by Saturday to activate cooling systems. Fire trucks have been dousing reactor No.3, while teams are trying to restore a power cable to reactors No. 1 and No. 2 to restart pumps to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods.

The damaged No. 4 reactor:

Photo: Reuters

Iran Special: A Rafsanjani Alliance with "Moderate Conservatives"?

Watch these references to "unity" from Rafsanjani and the "moderate conservatives". They may indeed mark a unification --- one which is not of support for the Government, but of the forging of an alliance to challenge Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his closest allies.

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Libya Feature: On the Opposition's Front Line "Where is America?" (Anderson)

For days now, all the fighters have come up to Westerners like myself and asked, with varying degrees of passion, “Where is Obama, where is America?” They wanted to know why the West has, as they see it, dragged its feet about a no-fly zone. It had become clear that without some kind of international deterrent force the rebellion would fail. From here, the arguments being used against a no-fly zone, which seems a low-risk investment in the anti-Qaddafi revolution, have been impossible to fathom. It worked in Serbia, after all, and the West had managed to impose and then enforce a no-fly zone with alacrity in Iraq after the first Gulf War, and then kept it in place for twelve long years. Why is it suddenly so difficult to impose one here in Libya?

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Libya: The Text of the UN Resolution for a No-Fly Zone & "All Necessary Measures"

4. Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 (2011), to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory, and requests the Member States concerned to inform the Secretary-General immediately of the measures they take pursuant to the authorization conferred by this paragraph which shall be immediately reported to the Security Council....

6. Decides to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians....

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The Latest from Iran (17 March): Economy Watch

2100 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist and human rights activist Kaveh Kermanshahi has been given a four-year sentence by an appeals court.

Kermanshahi was originally sentenced to five years in prison.

1700 GMT: We're Watching You. Ayatollah Nourollah Tabarasi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, has declared that 53 intelligence networks have been established to spy on 60,000 seminary students.

1645 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that Ali Karroubi, the son of Mehdi Karroubi, has been released from detention.

Ali Karroubi was arrested more than three weeks ago during a raid on his parents' home and their possible move from house arrest to detention.

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Libya, Bahrain (and Beyond): Foreign Interventions

2200 GMT: We will be back in the morning with analysis of developments, including the United Nations Security Council's vote on Libya. Overnight coverage continues on our Live Feed of Al Jazeera English.

2125 GMT: More than 10,000 protesters have rallied in Armenia's capital Yereva. The demonstrators demanded that President Serzh Sargsyan implement reforms, carry out elections, and release detainees.

2120 GMT: Claimed footage of a regime jet shot down by the opposition in Bohadi in east Libya:

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Iran Snapshot: The Flying Saucers Are Coming!

State media report that Iran has unveiled a home-made unmanned flying saucer as well as a light sports aircraft in an exhibition of strategic technologies.

There has been no response so far from US officials about the possible impact of this development on the current discussions over Iran's nuclear programme or even the prospect of a Flying Saucer Arms Race.

The Supreme Leader's office has also not responded to our enquiries as to whether Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered the development of a manned version of the Flying Saucer.

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Iran Feature: Fire-Jumping with a Flavour of Protest (Ghazi)

Amid tight security, Iranians celebrated the most political fire-jumping festivities known as Chahar-Shanbe Souri, this Tuesday. This traditional Persian festival has been banned by officials of the Islamic republic and has been called “superstitious beliefs lacking religious basis and promoting corruption” even though these remain traditional rituals and national festivities for Iranians because they have been held since 1,700 years before the birth of Christ.

According to Rooz reporters, people in various Iranian cities and towns created small fires and jumped over them on Tuesday evening celebrating the Shahar-Shanbe Souri ritual under the watchful eyes of the security forces. But soon the festivities picked up a political tone as people began to shout “Death to the Dictator” and “Shame on You Dictator, Leave the Country.”

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Bahrain Feature: The US Support of Bullets and Blackhawks (Turse)

Just how American bullets make their way into Bahraini guns, into weapons used by troops suppressing pro-democracy protesters, opens a wider window into the shadowy relationships between the Pentagon and a number of autocratic states in the Arab world.  Look closely and outlines emerge of the ways in which the Pentagon and those oil-rich nations have pressured the White House to help subvert the popular democratic will sweeping across the greater Middle East.

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Japan Latest: Trying to Cool the Nuclear Plant

0615 GMT: The official toll is now 5718 dead, 8913 missing, and 2285 injured.

On the nuclear front, helicopters made four passes in 20 minutes to drop 30 tons of seawater on the damaged No. 3 reactor complex at the Fukushima plant, trying to cool the overheated pool for spent fuel. Today, 11 special water cannon trucks will douse the complex.

Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, after talks with Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said he decided to take the steps despite concerns about exposing workers to radiation. "We could not delay the mission any further, therefore we decided to execute it," Kitazawa said.

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