Belarus Updates: Head of Air Force Arrested

1820 GMT: A second court hearing will be held on Monday for 11 Russian nationals among the more than 600 people detained after Sunday's protest in Minsk over the Belarussian Presidential election.

Many of those who took part in the protests have been sentenced to up to 15 days in prison. Russia has requested that its nationals be released.

On Wednesday, Belarusian authorities released press photographer Alexander Astafyev of St. Petersburg.

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EA Gets to the Point on Christmas

To all of you, the EA WorldView staff send our best wishes for Christmas, the holidays, and the New Year, with our highest hopes for happiness, peace, and goodwill.

The Latest from Iran (25 December): Awaiting a Hanging

2250 GMT: All-is-Well Alert (Overseas Edition). Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has assured a conference, "All Iranians who live outside of the country are not in the opposition. The number of Iranian expatriates who are opponents of the system is limited."

Moslehi said, however, that there is still work to be done: "Foreign intelligence agencies have provided facilities and equipment to [the opponents] to help them make their voices widely heard."

2240 GMT: Execution Watch. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani has commented on the imminent hanging of Kurdish prisoner Habibollah Latifi: "Even illicit Arabs stopped war and killing in [the religious month of] Moharram."

2225 GMT: All-is-Well Alert. The Deputy Minister of Commerce, Mohammad-Hossein Nekoui-Mehr, has said that the Government has taken special measures for decreasing food prices amidst subsidy cuts.

Nekoui-Mehr added that about 7,000 products are currently being monitored by the Ministry to stop any increase in the prices of general commodities.

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WikiLeaks and "Justice": The Detention of Private Bradley Manning (Greenwald)

Last week Glenn Greenwald wrote this article for Salon. On Tuesday, Bradley Manning's lawyer David Coombs wrote, "The defense has raised the conditions of confinement...on multiple occasions with the Quantico confinement facility and the Army Staff Judge Advocate’s (SJA) Office assigned to handle this case. Our efforts, unfortunately, have not resulted any in positive results."

On Wednesday, the office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, confirmed that the case is being investigated.

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Venezuela: Amidst Protests, Chavez Expands His Powers and Curbs the Media

On Thursday, Venezuela’s fledgling student movement held mass protests in Caracas. Amidst the demonstrations, the real story was muffled: the Bolivarian Revolution usurped some more power from the country’s people.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez managed to breeze some more "reforms" through the Congress, controlled by his supporters, which now gives him power to rule by decree for 18 months. The sudden need? From 4 January, the Congress will have a substantial number of opposition members who won’t allow quick passage of Chavez's socialist reforms.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: Washington Blocks the UN and the Palestinians

On Friday, the UN General Assembly voted to hold a summit for the 10th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism, also known as the Durban Conference.

In 2001, the declaration from Durban singled out Israel for criticism, likening Zionism to racism and referring to "the plight of the Palestinians." In April 2009, there was a follow-up conference, but the US, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Australia did not participate. The conference report had no language accusing Israel of racism and no reference to the recent Gaza War. 

Washington continues its opposition to any gathering. US Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington voted against Friday's resolution "because the Durban declaration process has included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism, and we do not want to see that commemorated".

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Christmas Shocker: WikiLeaks Publishes Santa's Naughty List

(Cartoon by Ape Man at Boing Boing; Video by Rooster Teeth)

Iran Interview: Sister of Habib Latifi, Sentenced to Die on Sunday

Masih Alinejad interviews Elahe Latifi, sister of condemned Kurdish detainee Habibollah Latifi:

I thought in honour of the religious month of Moharram, no executions would be carried out, but apparently that does not matter to the authorities. Our last hope is God.

One is hopeful until the last minute. Hopeful to be able to do anything for her loved one.

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A Special Message: Put Something in EA's Stocking for Christmas

It's been a great year.

As the success of Enduring America became the promise of EA WorldView, we added new specialist sections and continued to sharpen our reputation for cutting-edge coverage of world events.

EA, with an all-volunteer staff, still relies on income from our advertising partners and donations from our readers to keep us growing. Last year we asked you to buy us a coffee, but this year we've hung a Christmas stocking on the mantelpiece. We have big ambitions for the site in 2011, and we're hoping a few surprises in the stocking will make this possible.

If you would like to donate- any amount, big or small --- you can do so via PayPal on our Donations page. If you can't use PayPal, drop us a line and we can let you know how you can still reach that stocking.

Wishing all our readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and the best of New Years!

Iran Feature: Why Peace Activists Should Take an Interest in the Green Movement (Postel/Hashemi)

Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi write for The Fellowship of Reconciliation:

We are peace activists and supporters of the Green movement in Iran. We adamantly oppose any military attack on Iran, and we stand in solidarity with the democratic struggle in Iran. We see these positions as inextricably linked, as forming a consistent position based on the principles of peace, social justice, and human rights. But there’s a lot of confusion about this in the peace movement. We offer the following food for thought in hopes of clarifying some of the issues at hand and encouraging peace activists to learn more about the Green movement.

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