North Korea Special: Kim Jong Il Looks at His Hacked Twitter Account

We have had the esteemed pleasure in recent weeks, first of informing you by pictures of North Korea Dear Leader Kim Jong Il looking at wondrous things like food, pigs, and wood, then of informing you by video of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il looking at an apartment complete with running water, a crying girl, and toilet paper.

We regret this morning, however, that we must inform you that Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is looking at his hacked Twitter account.

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The Latest from Iran (10 January): Don't Mention the Election

1935 GMT: The "Subversive" Writers. More on the authors targeted in a new Government campaign against dangerous writers (see 1520 GMT)....

The international media have picked up on the specific case of Nobel Prize winner Paolo Coelho, who has appealed to the Brazilian Government after learning from his publisher of a ban on his books.

It is unclear whether the ban is linked to Coelho's editor, translator, and friend, Dr Arash Hejazi. The doctor attracted the ire of the Iranian Government as a supposed foreign agent after he tried to save the life of Neda Agha Soltan, killed by a gunshot during demonstrations on 20 June 2009.

Indeed, there is a Who's Who of Iranian authors whose place on the blacklist has not attracted notice outside Iran. They include Simin Behbahani, Mahmoud Doulatabadi, Ali Ashraf Darvishian, Sepanlou, Javad Mojabi, Bahman Farzaneh, Abbas Milani, Mashallah Ajudani, Bahram Beyzaie, Ebrahim Golestan, and Reza Ghassemi.

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The Arizona Shootings: What We Know and Don't Know

More than 36 hours since the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizon, killing six people and wounding 14, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, many facts and claims have surfaced: some of them have been proven wrong, notably the report on Saturday that Giffords had died, and some have held up affirmed. But beyond that, many questions remain unanswered.

Giffords, a Democratic Party house member from Arizona’s 8th congressional district, was holding an open meeting with her constituents just after 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Safeway supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobe, near Tucson. The Congresswoman held such meetings, called "Congress on Your Corner", regularly. As the meeting started with the Congresswoman, her aides, and several dozen of her constituents, a 22 year-old white male named Jared Lee Loughner arrived at the scene.

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Iran Breaking: Attorney Nasrine Sotoudeh Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

The 26th Branch of the Revolutionary Court under Judge Pir Abassi has sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh to 11 years in prison and banned her from practicing law and leaving the country for 20 years. 

Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh's husband, told CHRR: "This sentence was delivered to my wife's lawyer Nasim Ghanavi and we now have 20 days to request an appeal."

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US Video: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on "Political Violence" (March 2010)

Yesterday Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was critically wounded, shot in the head as she hosted a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a supermarket in Tucson. The gunman first targeted Gifford at point-blank range, then fired into the crowd. Six people were killed; 13, including Giffords, were injured.

Last March, after her office was vandalised, Giffords was interviewed by MSNBC News. She said:

We can't stand for this....They [politicians] really need to realise that the rhetoric and firing people up and things, for example, like we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list....The way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. 

When people do that, they got to realize there's consequences for that action....

Latest on Arizona Shootings: 6 Dead & 13 Wounded, Congresswoman Giffords Critical, 2nd Suspect Sought

Photo: Matt York (Associated Press)US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona is in critical condition after surgery for a single "through-and-through" gunshot wound to the head.

Giffords, a Democrat, was the first victim in a mass shooting as she held a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a Safeway supermarket in Tucson. The gunman, alleged to be 22-year-old Jared Loughner, then fired into the crowd, killing six people, including Federal Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl. Thirteen other people, including Giffords, were wounded.

The shooting took place about 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Saturday. The gunman used a semi-automatic Glock pistol, firing about 20 shots, before he was overpowered as he tried to reload.

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WikiLeaks and Iran 2009: Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi "More Powerful Than Ahmadinejad"

Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is a prominent cleric, politician, and member of the Assembly of Experts. He has been called the "spiritual mentor" of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But is he really "more powerful" than the President?

Well, that is what one source told US diplomats in September 2009. The Tehran University professor, in a wide-ranging discussion on post-election politics, religion, and society, declared that the "profoundly anti-democratic" Mesbah Yazdi was working behind the scenes to shape the Iranian system. He asserted, ""You can't understand what's been going on in Iran without understanding (the beliefs and activities of) Mesbah-Yazdi."

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Terrorism Weekly: What is Behind Britain's Transportation Alerts?

This is undoubtedly a reminder to the travelling public to be vigilant (although authorities have to be careful: frequent alerts arguably have the opposite effect). However, there is another audience for this alert. In this case the threat is posed not by known terrorists  under surveillance --- about 2000, according to the British intelligence service MI5 ---  but the terrorists who are, in the parlance of Donald Rumsfeld, the “known unknowns". It is a small group or even an individual who has managed to remain under the radar that create concern for obvious reasons.

The message to them is “we are on to you”. Although some terrorists may not be terribly bright, they generally tend to be rational and  thus can be deterred from their plans by a superior show of force or greater vigilance.

Or so the state may hope.

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The Latest from Iran (9 January): The Enemy are Facebook and Twitter

2200 GMT: Plane Crash. Fars is now reporting that 72 of the 105 passengers died when Iran Air's flight from Tehran to Oroumiyeh in the northwest of the country crashed near its final destination.

2010 GMT: Plane Crash. The Red Crescent Society says that "scores have been killed". There are at least 35 survivors, but many of these are in critical condition.

1855 GMT: The Assassinated Scientist. Fars News claims, from an "informed source", that those responsible for the killing of physicist and professor Masoud Alimohammadi in January 2010 have been arrested.

Alimohammadi was killed by an explosive as he left for work. Iranian officials have accused foreign elements of being behind the crime.

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Tunisia Latest: At Least 9 Dead in Saturday Clashes

1945 GMT: Radio Kalima is claiming more than 50 people died on Saturday night and Sunday morning: 16 in Thala, 22 in the Kasserine region, 2 in Meknassi, 1 in Feriana, and 8 in Reguab.

The site claims special forces and militia used live ammunition and also fired on funeral processions and burial ceremonies.

1525 GMT: A two-minute video of the dead and wounded, lying in hospital, from the Thala clash is racing across the Internet. (Warning: graphic images)

Reuters says Tunisian authorities are now admitting eight were killed in Tala and the Kasserine region last night.

The Regional Federation of Labor, Kasserine, has published the names of 19 victims.

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