Sudan Feature: 500,000 Displaced as North Sudanese Forces Gather on Border (Flint)

Fierce new fighting along Sudan's volatile north-south divide is raising deep concern for the safety of the Nuba people, the forgotten victims of the country's long-running civil war who are once again under attack by government forces and militias.

The fighting has significantly increased the chances that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the civil war six years ago will collapse, reigniting a north-south war and ending all hopes of peaceful partition when oil-rich South Sudan formally declares itself independent on 9 July.

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Iran Flashback Video: "Neda: An Iranian Martyr" (PBS/BBC)

Two years ago today, dozens of protesters were killed when Iranian security forces cracked down on public marches challenging the legitimacy of the 2009 Presidential election.

One of those slain was a philosophy student named Neda Agha Soltan.

This is the PBS/BBC documentary, from November 2009, on her death and on the post-election conflict in Iran.

See also The Latest from Iran (20 June 2009): From Rally to Street Fighting

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Iran Document: Opposition Advisor Arjomand "The Goals, Networks, and Methods of the Green Movement"

No regime is sustainable without the support of a significant portion of the population. We must create awareness amongst a large segment of our society. We must establish social networks designed to foster the exchange of ideas and open discussions. This phenomenon has occurred in many other countries as well. Firstly, we must mobilize public opinion. Secondly, we must specify the people's demands and lastly force the opposing group [ruling government] to suffer setbacks.

Our strategy should be to weaken their position and reduce their resources particularly their armed forces. We are witnessing the delegitimization of this government. We must look into new methods of resistance such as sit-ins and strikes. The inefficiencies of the ruling government are gradually emerging and today we are witnessing the confessions by some within the government regarding these inefficiencies.

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The Latest from Iran (19 June): Politics Through Divination

2020 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Rahman Bouzari of the reformist Shargh newspaper has reportedly been released from Evin Prison.

1835 GMT: The Battle Within. The hard-line Mashregh News discusses the conflict over the Ahmadinejad Government's appointment of Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh (see 0640 and 1225 GMT) as the staff and finance manager of the Foreign Ministry.

The website says there are eight reasons for the appointment, including the vacancy of about 50 Ambassadorial posts for more than a year. It claims that the team around controversial Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, who is close to Malekzadeh, will choose the new Ambassadors.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: In the Camps

A refugee camp of Syrians in Turkey (Reuters)

2110 GMT: NATO has acknowledged that an airstrike on the Libyan capital Tripoli may have caused "a number of civilian casualties" when a residential building was destroyed.

The Libyan regime, claiming nine people were killed and six injured, has been showing foreign journalists the building site and taking them to a hospital where casualties have been taken.

"This is cold-blooded murder," regime spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said amidst the rubble of the building. "Is this the protection of civilians? Is this really the search for peace and democracy in Libya, to attack peaceful neighborhoods of Tripoli?"

NATO said in a statement Sunday that a military missile site was the strike's intended target: "However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure."

The development has already had an effect on reporting: the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, in a lengthy report tonight that highlighted the damage and hostile reactions of local residents, declared, "For NATO, this has been the worst day since the start of the conflict."

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EA on the Road: Community Day at the University of Birmingham

Today we will be part of the University of Birmingham's Community Day, meeting current and future readers to talk about how we cover the news and to get their ideas.

If you are nearby, stop by the exhibition, as well as enjoying all the other events and activities --- there is even a Bouncy Castle.

The Community Day will be across campus from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Iran Document: The Women Who are Political Prisoners (Sadr)

Taking a serious and fruitful measure in order to stop violation of human rights, including various forms of sexual torture and violence against political prisoners as the most severe form of violation of human rights, is a necessary step towards releasing some pressure from the popular movement of the Iranian people. We must start now, tomorrow is too late.

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Yemen Opinion: The Unfinished Revolution (Karman)

Pro-Reform Protest in Sanaa, 10 June 2011We call on American officials to engage with the leaders of Yemen’s democracy movement and abandon their misplaced investment in the old regime’s security apparatus, which has killed more innocent women and children than terrorists.

We understand America’s concerns about terrorism and recognize your right to attack terrorist sanctuaries. We have no objection to agreements that protect your security interests. We only ask that you respect international standards on human rights and the Yemeni people’s rights to freedom and justice.

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Libya: Pimps and Snitches --- The Story That Brought the Expulsion of a British Journalist

Gunmen in Tripoli's Green SquareOn Saturday, Libyan authorities ordered Xan Rice, a reporter for The Guardian of London, out of the country. This was the article on Friday that apparently raised their anger:

Locals call them pimps or snitches. They wear plain clothes, drive unmarked cars and are as numerous as scorpions in the Libyan desert, only more dangerous. Loathed and feared in equal measure, they are the eyes and ears of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, and a large part of the reason that Tripoli has not been able to join the revolt sweeping the country.

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Libya: How Obama Overruled His Lawyers on Intervention (Savage)

President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

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