Egypt and the Fall of Mubarak: EA's Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera's Inside Story

This was the episode of Inside Story recorded for Al Jazeera English last Friday at 1400 GMT. It was supposed to air at 1730 GMT, but before then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak --- whose situation we were discussing --- decided he would resign his office.

So now the biggest interest in the programme --- which never aired but did make it on-line --- may be whether we got it right, hours before the climactic events. I am appearing with Maha Azzam, an associate fellow at the think tank Chatham House, and Adel Darwish, the political editor of Middle East Magazine.

Iran in Pictures: Security v. Protesters on 25 Bahman

A Stone-Thrower in Tehran

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Latest Iran Video: The Marches of 25 Bahman

NOTE: We are treating all these videos as "claimed" from today:

Crowd Fleeing Security Forces

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The Latest from Iran (14 February): It is 25 Bahman

2140 GMT: Something's Missing. Peyke Iran prints the front pages of Iran's newspapers for Tuesday --- surprisingly, the marches of 25 Bahman have disappeared.

2130 GMT: Clerical Intervention. Grand Ayatollah Sane'i, meeting families of political prisoners, has said that today's tyranny is unprecedented in Iranian history.

The families also met Grand Ayatollahs Vahid Khorasani and Mousavi Ardebili.

2125 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohsen Barzegar and Hossein Zamen Zarrabi,members of the Islamic Association of Nooshiravani University of Babol, have been arrested.

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Asserting Command?

2045 GMT: In Bahrain, eyewitnesses said one protester was killed as police in fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up pro-reform demonstrations. As helicopters circled over Manama, more than 20 people were hurt, one of them critically, in clashes in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital.

The kingdom has a Shi'ite majority but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.

In the village of Diraz, authorities dispersed protesters with teargas (see video at 1845 GMT) Ten protesters were injured in Nuweidrat by police firing teargas and rubber bullets at demonstrations calling for the release of Shi'ite detainees.

1915 GMT: Suppression of another march in Bahrain:

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US Politics Special: The Conservative Way Forward on Medicaid and Medicare

The conservative Roadmap's guiding philosophy is the vaunted economic efficiency of the free market,with hundreds of millions of individual choices in the health insurance market driving down the overall cost of health care provision.

Both Medicare and Medicaid began in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society". Medicare is funded solely by federal dollars, partly through an employee payroll tax, and provides health care coverage for participants who are over 65. Medicaid is a joint state-federal enterprise, with states generally receiving a dollar of federal money for each dollar they spend, allowing low-income families to receive medical treatment.

The highlight of Rep. Ryan's recommendations for Medicaid is the issuing of a debit card to low-income families, loaded with a set amount of funds that can be paid to approved health care insurers.

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Palestine Snapshot: The Palestinian Authority's Three Steps After "Mubarak Friday"

After the departure of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Yasser Abed Rabbo has confirmed Ramallah's determination to have elections in September, without giving a specific date. Rabbo, signalling to Hamas and its leadership in Gaza, continued, "We call on parties to put aside all of their differences and to focus on conducting the elections by September at the latest."

However, Hamas is determined not to take the offer. Its spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Saturday:

Hamas will not participate or recognize or give any cover for this election and we consider this announcement a conspiracy against the Palestinian people. Hamas believes in elections but elections can come only after [political] reconciliation.

In a second step, the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator Saeb Erekat quit in the wake of the scandal over the leak of more than 16,000 "Palestine Papers" revealing the PA's manoeuvres on talks with Israel and on Gaza: "If there was any security failure in my office, then I am responsible. For that, I have resigned."

Still, as protesters march in other Arab countries, this may not be enough for Ramallah to be secure from an uprising. This morning, it is reported that  a "massive change" is expected in West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Cabinet. More Erekats are expected to give their resignations for a "fresh' face to the region and to the Palestinian people. 

Iran: EA's Coverage of 25 Bahman --- Will There Be Marches?

Iran's opposition --- from figures such as Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to political parties to student groups to labour organisations --- has called for rallies across the country on Monday. Ostensibly, these are in support of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings; however, the marches are also to demonstrate the "Green Wave", which arose first to challenge the claimed election of President Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and then to demand rights and justice, has not been quelled by the Iranian regime.

EA has been LiveBlogging every day of the post-election crisis since 13 June 2009, and we would not miss one. James Miller of Dissected News and I will be on hand from 0600 GMT.

If the rallies materialise, we will also have snap analyses, photos, and video, courtesy of EA correspondents in Britain, Europe, the US, and Iran as well as the best sources from old and new media. And we will be partnered with Dave Siavashi of Iran News Now and Josh Shahryar, who will be LiveBlogging for Tehran Bureau.

New to all of this? Have a read of James Miller's "Iran 101".

Egypt Video: The "New Normal" in Tahrir Square

Evan Hill of Al Jazeera English shot this footage in Tahrir Square on Cairo on Saturday, recording the removal of barricades, the clean-up of the square, the handing--out of flyers, and some skirmishes:

Terrorism and Marriage: Don't Like the Wife Now? Put Her on a No-Fly List

Ms EA points --- presumably because of her interest in terrorism and not for any other reason --- to this article from Justin Penrose, writing for the Sunday Mirror in Britain:

An immigration officer put his own wife on a terrorist watch list – ­so she could not get home from a trip to Pakistan.

The officer was so sick of his partner that when she was visiting family overseas he added her name to the register of people banned from flights into the UK.

When she went to the airport to get her return flight back, officials told her she could not board the plane and did not ­explain why.

She called her husband, who ­promised to look into it – but left her stuck in Pakistan for THREE YEARS. He was sacked after bosses found out about his antics.

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