Wikileaks and Libya 2006: Documenting The "Financial Gains" of Muammar Gaddafi and His Family

In May 2006, the US Liaison Office in Tripoli documents the extensive interests of the family of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in the Libyan economy: "The...family and other Jamahiriya [Libyan system] political favorites profit from being able to manipulate the multi-layered and regularly shifting dynamics of governance mechanisms in Libya. They have strong interests in the oil and gas sector, telecommunications, infrastructure development, hotels, media distribution, and consumer goods distribution."

Click to read more ...

Latest Tunisia Video: Wednesday's Protests

Reuters summary, via The Guardian, of interviews and protest in Tunis today:

Claimed footage of last image of Imed Trabelsi, nephew of wife of ex-President Ben Ali. Trabelsi died from a stab wound on Saturday:

Click to read more ...

Russia-Palestine-Israel Triangle: Moscow Seeks A Bigger Role

Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Palestinians will ask the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to declare Israeli settlements illegal and to demand a halt to their construction.

In advance of the meeting, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in the West Bank, holding meetings with Ramallah's officials including the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Medvedev said:

Russia's position remains unchanged. Russia made its choice a long time ago....We supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Click to read more ...

Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Righting the Government Ship

2135 GMT: Elaph reports that about 50 people are continuing a sit-in protest on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, breaking the 8 p.m. curfew.

2105 GMT: President Fuad Mbazaa, addressing the nation on television, promised "a complete break with the past" with a "revolution of dignity and freedom" honouring "all the legitimate aspirations of the uprising".

Mbazaa's address followed the first meeting of the Cabinet, which proceeded despite reports that it would be delayed until Thursday.

2050 GMT: The Democratic Forum for Work and Liberty, after a meeting of the leadership, has confirmed that the withdrawal of its head Mustafa Ben Jaafar as Minister of Health is "final".

A spokesman said,"We have decided to withdraw from the current government and non-participation....[The party will] call to start new negotiations to form a new government."

Jaafar had resigned, in what the party called a "suspension" of participation, as a minister on Tuesday.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (19 January): Ahmadinejad v. Khamenei?

2110 GMT: Ahmadinejad v. Khamenei. This may not be entirely accurate reporting, but it does bring us full circle with the updates.

The Twitter account "M_Ahmadinejad" reports, "Ayatollah seems really depressed today: he's been locked in his room playing Carole King records all morning."

1835 GMT: Curtain Down. The Iranian theatre and art community has criticised the shutdown by Iranian authorities of a Tehran production of Hedda Gabler, reported in last week's updates.

The House of Theatre and Association of Drama Actors described the ban as illegal, since the production had an official licence ifrom the Supervision and Evaluation Council.

The play was closed after allegations that it promoted “vulgarity and hedonism". Director Vahid Rahbani and members of the crew were summoned to the Tehran Prosecutor’s office “to provide clarification”.

Click to read more ...

Iran Snapshot: Politics, Propaganda, and Denial Special

Lots of political grandstanding to cope with today. The international media will be occupied with all  the posturing on the eve of resumed nuclear talks in Turkey.

We already know that script, however, as the Ahmadinejad Government gives itself space to negotiate by showing how tough it is and as the "West" gives itself room with the story-lines that 1) its efforts, and those of Israel, have delayed the date of Iran's nuclear weapons capability and 2) Ahmadinejad is not actually crazy but very practical.

More intriguing today are the domestic showpieces.

Click to read more ...

Tunisia Analysis: Will the New Government Survive?

Perhaps the most striking political development, given the symbolism of resistance and Government, was was the Minister who did not resign. Blogger Slim Amamou, an iconic figure inside and outside Tunisia because of his challenge to Ben Ali through social media, the man who had been arrested a week before Ben Ali fell and whose release symbolised the "new" Tunisia, refused to step down as Minister of Youth and Sport. 

Amamou said he would resign when he decided, not when others did. But that only brought further - questions.

What should he decide? And what will others, in the meeting rooms and on the streets, now decide?

Click to read more ...

Haiti News and Video: The Arrest of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier

On Tuesday, two days after he returned to Haiti from a 25-year exile, former leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier was charged with corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds, and other crimes during his rule from 1971 to 1986.

Haiti Snapshot: Thoughts on Watching the Return of "Baby Doc" (Shahryar)

The video shows an enthusiastic crowd welcoming Duvalier, 59, as he is taken away.

Israel Snapshot: Labour Party Splits; How Will It Affect Coalition and Peace Talks?

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that the Palestinian Authority was refusing to return to negotiations with Israel because of the Labor Party's threats to leave the coalition.

A day later, the story was not that Labor had left but that the party had split. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that he would quit and,  with four of Labor's remaining 12 MKs (Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, and members of the Knesset Shalom Simhon, Einat Wilf, and Ori Noked), form a new party called Atzmaut (Independence).

Click to read more ...

Tunisia Video: Claimed Footage of Tuesday Protests

Return of opposition leader Moncef Marzouki to Tunisia

Protest in El Kef in northwestern Tunisia:

Click to read more ...