Algeria Updates: Parties React as Government Offers Concession on Sugar and Cooking Oil

2125 GMT: Ali Belhadj, who was Vice President of the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), and fellow detainees have been brought to court from the headquarters of national security. The charges are not clear, although they are thought to be related to this week's protests.

In late 1991, FIS won the first round of Parliamentary elections, but these were called off by the military, who banned the party. Belhadj was jailed from 1991 to 2003 and re-arrested in 2005 for a statement on Al-Jazeera. He was freed in March 2006 under the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation.

2000 GMT: Journalist Mustapha Benfodil has been released after several hours of questioning. He was detained with several demonstrators in a protest in Staouéli (see 1645 GMT).

Click to read more ...

Egypt Latest: Investigating a Death from "Torture"; Challenging the Government and Sectarianism

1435 GMT: Mohammad ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency of a founder of the National Alliance for Change, has responded to the alleged torturing to death of Sayed Balal: "If torture is proven to have occurred, officials at all levels must be punished. Torture is a crime against humanity. It is not an internal affair."

0725 GMT: The Egyptian public prosecutor has ordered an autopsy on the body of Mohamed Sayyid Bilal, who died in detention on Wednesday after he was arrested in a protest in Alexandria. 

Bilal's brother Ibrahim claimed the body had signs of burns and other abuse, and the family then filed a report with the prosecutor's office demanding an investigation.

Click to read more ...

Sudan Special: Today's Referendum for Secession by the South (Ezell)

Photo: Associated PressToday voters in southern Sudan decide whether to secede from the north to form the world’s newest nation.

Assuring peace in Sudan this weekend will not be easy, but it is imperative to keep all parties satisfied. In an agenda including the great partition, power-sharing, and equal distribution of revenuesfrom natural resources, the hope is that both Khartoum and Juba have recognized that a bold, shrewd form of government-tribal reconciliation is essential to prevent an explosion of violence.

Click to read more ...

Syria Transcript: US Sends Ambassador so Damascus Can Challenge Hezbollah

On Saturday, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley briefed the press on the appointment of Robert Ford as the ambassador to Syria. His explanation of the decision was far from consistent. If the matter  has nothing to do with "placing ambassadors in countries with which Washington has significant disagreements", why is there no ambassador to Tehran or an attempt to build official dialogue with Hamas-ruled Gaza? Why just Damascus?

The answer? Washington wants to assign "a constructive role" to Syria, such as dealing with the "Hezbollah concern" in Lebanon and in the region.

Click to read more ...

WikiLeaks Latest: US Department of Justice Subpoenas Twitter Records of Volunteers (Greenwald)

Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir --- a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament --- announced on Twitter) that she had been notified by Twitter that the DOJ had served a Subpoena demanding information "about all my tweets and more since November 1st 2009.

What hasn't been reported is that the Subpoena served on Twitter -- which is actually an Order from a federal court that the DOJ requested -- seeks the same information for numerous other individuals currently or formerly associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp, and Julian Assange.  It also seeks the same information for Bradley Manning and for WikiLeaks' Twitter account.

Click to read more ...

Algeria Latest: At Least 3 Dead in Friday's Protests

1755 GMT: Protests took place today in the Kabylie region east of Algiers on Saturday, including in the cities of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia.

The Government continues to combine denunciation and reassurance. Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a representative of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, condemned protesters. He said oil revenues were improving living standards for Algeria's 35 million people, but improvements would take time as there had been no investment during fighting between the government and Islamist groups in the 1990s.

Minister of Trade Mustapha Benbada said urgent measures would be taken and promised, "From the start of next week, the situation will get better." Possible measures included fixed profit margins on goods such as cooking oil and sugar.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in his third term, has not made any public comment on the protests.

1410 GMT: Minister of Interior Daho Ould Kablia has issued his first statement on this week's protests.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Video: Hundreds Dress in Black to Mourn Alexandria Bomb Victims

On Friday hundreds of Egyptians responded to an appeal via Facebook to mourn the victims of the 1 January bomb outside Al-Qiddisine church in Alexandria.

The one-hour ceremony took place on Alexandria's corniches, with mourners holding banners calling for national unity.

Iraq Update: Al-Sadr Calls for Peaceful "Resistance" Against US "Occupiers" (Al Jazeera)

UPDATE 1200 GMT: Clarifying the use of "peaceful" in the headline, this is Reuters' report on the speech:

Sadr said occupiers should be resisted "by all means" but added that arms were for "people of weapons only," a comment that seemed to endorse the authority of the army and the police and could calm fears of a return of the [Sadrist militia] Mehdi Army.

---

Thousands of Iraqis have turned out in the central Iraqi city of Najaf to hear Muqtada al-Sadr's first speech since his return from four years of self-imposed exile.

The Shia Muslim religious leader called the US, Israel and the UK "common enemies" against Iraq in his speech on Saturday , and urged his followers to resist what he called "the occupiers" by all means.

Click to read more ...

Tunisia Audio Feature: Interview with Blogger Slim Amamou Before His Arrest

On Thursday afternoon, prominent Tunisian blogger Slim Amamou, a contributor to Global Voices Advocacy, was summoned to the Ministry of Interior and arrested.

Amamou had denounced attacks against Tunisian email accounts and organised protests against censorship. Last May, he was arrested and detained for more than 12 hours until he recorded a video calling for the cancellation of a rally.

The day before he was arrested, Amamou spoke to The World.

Listen to the audio....

The Latest from Iran (8 January): Confronting the Enemy, Talking to the Enemy

1814 GMT: Sedition Watch. Gholam-Hossein Elham of the Guardian Council gets to the point: opponents and protesters are "mohareb" (enemies of God) and must be eradicated.

1810 GMT: Financial Mismanagement Watch. Another criticism of the Government's handling of energy revenues: the Baran Foundation reports that, although Iran had an $8 billion oil profit, not one toman was transfered to the treasury this year.

1805 GMT: Diplomatic Truths. Mehr reports on the increasing power of the President's "special envoys" and the chaos for Iranian diplomacy after the dismissal of Foreign Minister Mottaki.

1749 GMT: The Espionage Non-Story. Western media continue to take the tale of the "American-spying-through-her-teeth" seriously (see 1215 GMT), amidst these developments from Iranian officials:

She is no longer 55. She is 34.

Sometimes she is American. Sometimes she is Swiss.

Click to read more ...