China Objects to US Comments in Diaoyu Islands Dispute
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Sunday that Beijing is "firmly opposed" to comments made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about China's dispute with Japan over the Daioyu Islands.
Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 15:36 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Video of the airstrike at Aleppo University on January 15th.
On Wednesday, we posted an article, Syria Exclusive: Proving the Assad Jet Fighter's Attack on Aleppo University, where we compiled evidence that a regime airstrike was responsible for the 15 January attack that left more than 80 students dead.
Today we have received new information which --- when added to our audio and video evidence, eyewitness testimony, and expert analysis --- definitively establishes that a fighter jet was responsible for this attack. Evidence also suggests that a missile, not a bomb, was used.
There is now conclusive evidence that the explosions at Aleppo University were caused by an airstrike, not a ballistic missile strike and certainly not a car bomb.
Well-placed Western government officials in the region, with access to "technical" information about the strike, have told EA that they "can say with 'certainty' that the missiles were delivered by a jet, flying at altitude".
The officials were specific that their evidence showed that the explosion was not from a ballistic missile fired from the ground or a bomb dropped from the aircraft.
Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 14:58 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Election queue in Jordan on Wednesday (Photo: Khalil Mazraawi/AFP)
See also Syria Live Coverage: A Growing Crisis Over Food?
Wednesday's Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Netanyahu Claims Narrow Victory
1530 GMT: Jordan. Opposition candidates have won a significant minority of the seats in Parliamentary elections, despite a boycott by some oppositon groups.
Initial results released by the Independent Electoral Commission had 18 opposition Islamists winning seats in the 150-seat Parliament. About a dozen leftists affiliated with pan-Arab nationalist groups, who are vocal critics of the Government. Fourteen victors from a centrist party are expected to lean toward the opposition rather than the Government in the legislature.
While supporters of King Abdullah claimed the majority of the seats, their vote total was far short of that in 2010.
See also Iran Feature: A New Crisis for the Currency and the Economy?
Wednesday's Iran Live Coverage: The Supreme Leader's Committee Chooses the "Right Man" for the Presidential Election
1859 GMT: Justice Watch. The first hearing in the trial of judges accused of involvement in the abuses and killings at the Kahrizak detention centre will be held on 26 February, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has announced.
At least three post-election protesters were slain at the centre. No senior official has yet been convicted over the incident.
There was no indication by Hossein Ejei that Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi, long accused of possible involvement in his then-role as Tehran Prosecutor General, will be brought to court.
Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 13:04 | James Miller in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2045 GMT: Helicopter Shot Down in Aleppo. The LCC posts this video, which we also saw from other sources, of a helicopter shot down somewhere in Aleppo province. We have not seen this footage, or any similar footage, before, suggesting that this could be new. The description says the aircraft was "brought down by machineguns," presumably anti-aircraft guns:
2012 GMT: 90 Killed Nationwide Today. The death toll has risen to 90, according to the Local Coordination Committees:
40 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs; 13 in Homs, during a raid of Qusair; 12 in Aleppo; 9 in Idlib; 5 in Lattakia; 5 in Daraa; 4 in Hama; 2 in Deir Ezzor.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC) is an activist network operating both inside and outside of Syria. They claim to use stringent verification processes to ensure that a member of the LCC can vouch for any information posted either on their Facebook page or their website. The LCC also populates a database of those killed in the Syrian conflict, which can be seen at the website for the Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria.
Amid mounting accusations of war crimes and abuses against all sides in the Syrian conflict, Al Jazeera English's Inside Syria considers, "Blurring the Rules of Engagement".
Panellists are Rafif Jouejati, a spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordination Committee; Barak Barfi, a research fellow at the New America Foundation; and Khaled Saleh, the head of the media committee for the Syrian National Coalition.
"Ahmadinejad's critics are looking to erase all vestiges of his power, [Central Bank head Mahmoud] Bahmani is a firewall for Ahmadinejad. If he is forced out, then the President may be next in line to take the blame for the economic situation."
"I have a confession to make. I'm still on a bit of roller-coaster after hearing those words in Washington, DC..
You see, there's the highs of when he talked about Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall --- and, I thought, "Yes, absolutely. References to the fights for equality, the fighte for justice by women and by African-Americans, the fight for gay rights.
But before that, I spent the first several minutes on a low. And after that passage, I fell into a valley of anti-climax.
Because Obama started with what makes "us" different, what makes "us" American, what makes "us" special?
And I thought, "That's all well and good if you're one of the 'us' who is American. But what about the 'us' in the rest of the world?".
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 14:06 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran ;)
UPDATE: We have posted an important follow-up story with additional evidence. See Syria Exclusive: Definitive Evidence of Regime Airstrikes on Aleppo University.
Original article is below:
On 15 January, two explosions, three minutes apart, ripped through Aleppo University during the first day of final exams. At least 80 students were killed, and many more were wounded.
Within minutes, reports flooded social media that a regime warplane had fired two missiles at the campus. A student posted on Twitter:
A plane hit with two shells. We saw the plane with our own eyes. I am not going to doubt my eyes and believe regime media.
When the plane roamed above the university following the shelling, the university guards and soldiers told us, "Hide, the plane is back!"
A few words of concern --- with a request for knowledge and understanding, rather than caricature and polemic --- to British Prime Minister David Cameron about his declaration of "generational struggle" against "terrorists", "jihadists", Al Qa'eda, and anyone else with a "poisonous ideology":
