Iran Live Coverage: "Viva Spring" --- Ahmadinejad Launches An Election Campaign

See also Iran Special: Ahmadinejad Declares Political War --- "My Rivals Will Rig the Presidential Election"
Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: 34th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution --- But How Many Are Celebrating?

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1525 GMT: Karroubi's Son Arrested. The website linked to detained opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi says his son Mohammad Hossein was arrested today by security forces.

Karroubi, like fellow opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, has been kept under strict house arrest for 23 months. Earlier today, Mousavi and Rahnavard's daughters were detained and interrogated for hours before being released.

1505 GMT: Mousavi's Daughters Released. Zahra and Narges Mousavi, daughters of the detained opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, have been released after hours of interrogation in Evin Prison.

The Mousavi daughters were detained this morning in raids on their homes (see 0950 GMT). No reason has been given by authorities.

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

A regime tank fires from a main highway into Jobar, near Damascus

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Battle in Damascus Takes Toll on Regime Soldiers (New York Times)
Syria Analysis: Dissecting The Washington Post's Scary "Iran-Hezbollah 50,000 Militiamen in Syria " Story
Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2nd Anniversary of Mubarak's Fall
Sunday's Syria Live Coverage: Assad Changes His Ministers Amid Economic Crisis

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1930 GMT: Car Bombs. Footage has been posted of the aftermath of today's explosions at the Turkish border, with smoke rising and victims screaming.

1800 GMT: Negotiations. Ali Haidar, the Minister for National Reconciliation, has told a British journalist, "I am willing to meet [head of opposition National Moaz] al-Khatib in any foreign city where I can go in order to discuss preparations for a national dialogue."

Al-Khatib said earlier this month that he will enter discussions with the Assad regime if it meets conditions such as the release of political prisoners.

Haidar, without making commitments, said the discussion could lead to political reforms:

The dialogue is a means to provide a mechanism for reaching free parliamentary and presidential elections. This is one of the subjects which will be discussed at the table. Such a thing could be the result of negotiations, but not a precondition.

We reject a dialogue that is just to hand power from one side to another.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The 2nd Anniversary of Mubarak's Fall

11 February 2011: The crowd in Cairo's Tahrir Square reacts to news of Hosni Mubarak's resignation

See also Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus
Sunday's Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Threatens Resignation if New Cabinet Not Accepted

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2030 GMT: Egypt. Clashes continue at the Presidential Palace --- Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera English tweets:

Police firing tear gas at protesters #presidentialPalace #Egypt twitter.com/SherineT/statu…

— Sherine Tadros (@SherineT) February 11, 2013

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Syria Analysis: Dissecting The Washington Post's Scary "Iran-Hezbollah 50,000 Militiamen in Syria " Story

Head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Mohammad Ali Jafari announces Tehran's military support for Assad regime, 16 September 2012

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The real question beyond "50,000 militiamen": why is the US Government, backed by an Arab ally, feeding this story to the Post now?

Is this laying the ground for the revelation that the Obama Administration --- contrary to its recent denials --- has been involved in provision of arms to the insurgency, supposedly ensuring that it can block any rise of an Iran-Hezbollah-Assad force after the fall of the regime? Is it another volley in the campaign to separate "good" insurgents from "bad" insurgents such as Jabhat al-Nusra? Is it justification for the ever-increasing US sanctions on Iran, including the measures put in place last Wednesday? All three?

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Iran Special: Ahmadinejad Declares Political War --- "My Rivals Will Rig the Presidential Election"

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For at least one day --- the day of the 34th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution --- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had seized the initiative. He had declared that he would not give way to all his "enemies", even if they led Parliament and the judiciary, even if they might include members of the Supreme Leader's camp. He had said that it was he --- not they --- who represented Iranians.

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Iran Live Coverage: 34th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution --- But How Many Are Celebrating?

One of a set of photos of today's rally in Tehran for the 34th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution

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1725 GMT: The Ahmadinejad. Distracted by the nuclear issue, Western media continue to miss the primary significance of the President's speech and the escalating political conflict in Iran.

Even the Christian Science Monitor, whose Scott Peterson is one of the best correspondents on Iran, is far from the mark: its summary of the "soaring, defiant rhetoric" makes no reference to Ahmadinejad's attacks on his rivals, including his allegation that they will rig the June Presidential election.

Interestingly, there has been no reaction so far from the camp of the Supreme Leader, who used a Thursday speech to tell Ahmadinejad and the Larijani brothers --- head of judiciary Sadegh and Speaker of Parliament Ali --- to cease political fire.

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Syria 1st-Hand: A "Sliver of Hope" in Non-Violent Civil Movements (Hossino)

Protest in Azaz, September 2012

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The secular and nationalist spirit that initially sparked the Syrian revolution is also still alive and well. Many grassroots activists and religious leaders are working to forge a country that is built on secular principles, against sectarian revenge, and supportive of equal rights for all its citizens. Even some of the sharia courts that have sprung up to administer justice in areas the Syrian government has abandoned contain surprising, non-sectarian trends.

Whether such a movement can survive as the uprising drags on is not yet clear. For the time being, however, these figures embody the sliver of hope that Syria may avoid an all-out sectarian war.

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Threatens Resignation if New Cabinet Not Accepted

See also Syria Live Coverage: Assad Changes His Ministers Amid Economic Crisis
Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Overnight Clashes In and Beyond Cairo

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1900 GMT: Mali. French and Malian troops fought running gun battles with Islamist insurgents in northern town of Gao today.

The French-Malian force took the town earlier this month, as insurgents --- who had moved in last April --- withdrew.

Gunfire broke out in the area of the central market and police station, hours after French and Malian forces reinforced a checkpoint that had been attacked for the second time in two days by a suicide bomber.

French helicopter gunships flew overhead.

"Islamists who have infiltrated the town are trying to attack our positions, but we're fighting back," a Malian army officer said. Another Malian soldier said one group of rebel infiltrators had come in on motorbikes.

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Syria Live Coverage: Assad Changes His Ministers Amid Economic Crisis

See also Syria 1st-Hand: A "Sliver of Hope" in Non-Violent Civil Movements
Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Threatens Resignation if New Cabinet Not Accepted
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting from Damascus to Idlib

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1737 GMT: Iran's Lifeline to Assad. Egypt's Syrian Economic Task Force has said that ships belonging to Iranian oil companies, but disguised under different flags, are crossing through the Suez Canal with oil and sometimes weapons for Damascus.

At least two ships have been identified as belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). One of the ships changed its flag four times --- including Malta, Bolivia, and Sierra-Leone --- and its name once in the last 11 months, and the SETF said it lacks proper certification.

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US Politics Analysis: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" --- The Battle over "Stimulus" v. "Cuts"

Selection of certain statistics from the latest Budget report allows those in the political arena to make two wildly opposing arguments. There is a case to be made for the urgent need for another round of spending designed for growth and job creation. There is just as strong a case for drastic reductions in government expenditure, slowing America’s descent into unsustainable debt.

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