Syria Feature: Homs --- Dying Without Food, Medicine, or Supplies (Damon and Korouny and Lee)

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Last week "Sammy", an activist in Homs, concluded an interview with EA's James Miller, "I do not know what the world is waiting for. Is it a terrorist group, or a revolution?....At least they need to send relief, to help the humanitarian situation. We need humanitarian aid."

This morning we post two videos and an article about the situation inside Syria's besieged city. At the top of the entry, CNN's Arwa Damon reports from Baba Amr in Homs on the lack of food and other essentials and the efforts to get supplies to the population.

Below, Mariam Korouny writes for Reuters about the crisis, and Al Jazeera English posts a video report by Laurence Lee about the deaths and shortages.

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Palestine Breaking: Israel Frees Hunger Striker Khader Adnan (Al Jazeera English)

UPDATE 1850 GMT: Ran Cohen, the Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights (Israel), has confirmed that Khader Adnan has ended his hunger strike.

UPDATE 1705 GMT: The text of the Israeli Supreme Court statement:

We have been delivered a joint notice by the representative of the Appellant and the representative of the Respondents, according to which there is no intention to extend the administrative detention beyond 17 April 2012, and (after offsetting the days of detention during which the Appellant was subjected to a criminal investigation), subject to the absence of new and significant material being added in the matter of the Appellant. In light of the above, the Appellant has ended his hunger strike and declared his retraction of the appeal.This being the case, the appeal is stricken, and the hearing schedule for today is thereby cancelled.

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Bahrain Video Feature: Re-Visiting the Protesters, A Year Later (Al Jazeera English)

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One of the activists was a young trainee engineer, Sayed Ahmed. He was arrested at a checkpoint at the height of the crackdown. Though initially he was told he would be quickly released, his plight became more serious when police learned of his appearance in the Al Jazeera film. "I was handcuffed and blindfolded," he said. "Badly beaten on my face and body. I was in so much fear." He would be held in prison for the next six months, until his release in December.

Another activist, Dr Nada Dhaif, who had served as a medical volunteer in a tent at Pearl Roundabout was also arrested. At the start of the protests she had been full of optimism, inspired by the "Arab Spring" and believing that change was coming to Bahrain. "This is our golden chance," she said in February 2011. "Either we grab it now or never!" But that optimism faded when police came to her home in the middle of the night. "It was 19th March around 3am. They raided my house, came into my bedroom, two dozen masked men. It was horrible. You are coming with us, they said. We are going to teach you a lesson."

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Syria Video Feature: How Can You Get News Out of the Country? (Al Jazeera English)

On Saturday, EA's James Miller will appear on Al Jazeera English's Listening Post, discussing the task of obtaining and assessing reliable video of events in the Syrian conflict.

In the meantime, we feature the latest episode of Listening Post, detailing the difficulties for journalists inside the country.

Syria 1st-Hand Video: Inside Homs Before the Massacre

Before last night's assault by Syria regime forces on Homs, killing hundreds of people, Al Jazeera English's Jane Ferguson got inside the city to interview insurgents, activists, and residents:

Tunisia Video: A Revolutionary Model? (Al Jazeera English)

Al Jazeera English's Empire series looks at Tunisia a year after the toppling of President Ben Ali and considers the political situation and future of the country:

Sudan Feature: On 1st Anniversary of Protests, a New Vision for the Country? (Nasr)

Thousands in Sudan protesting last month at the University of Khartoum

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The arrests of activists in Khartoum this week is yet another troubling indication of President al-Bashir's unwillingness to accept open critique. It also shows, however, just how scared the regime is of the growing solidarity movement in the north of the country, between the Manasir's continued struggles and youth activists in the capital (many Manasir themselves) who wish to see change in Sudan and freedom from corrupt rule. Coupled with the continued violence in Darfur --- and al-Bashir is a wanted war criminal for his role in the genocide there --- the one year anniversary of last year's attempted uprising marks an opportune moment to consider a vision for what a new Sudan could be.

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Iran Video: Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera - Tehran, China, & US Sanctions

I appeared on Al Jazeera English's Inside Story on Wednesday, with Professor Sadegh Zibakalam and former Iranian diplomat Mehrdad Khansari, to discuss US efforts for tightened Chinese sanctions on Tehran.

The headline is easy enough: Beijing will not publicly back the US effort. Far more interesting are the complexities beyond --- China's private position, which may include a continued decrease in supplies from Iran; the restrictions on Tehran's oil from other customers, such as Japan and the European Union; and Iran's internal economic situation.

It was interesting to me to hear the difference of approach on that latter issue --- for me, it is even more important than the US manoeuvres; for Professor Zibakalam, it seemed secondary to the regime's manipulation of "sanctions" to hold public support. And I also noted the very different perspectives among the panellists on the Straits of Hormuz issue and the prospect of war.

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Afghanistan Video: Controversial Footage of US Marines Urinating on Bodies of Insurgents

Expect a media furour today over this clip of American soldiers in Afghanistan, apparently urinating on the bodies of slain insurgents. Marine Corps Headquarters has issued a statement: "While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated."

Al Jazeera English's coverage of the incident:

US Video Feature: The Decline of American Power? (Al Jazeera English)

I took part this autumn in filming for an episode of Al Jazeera English's Empire considering the nature and status of US "power" in the 21st century. I am not sure if even a dedicated 45 minutes, with four studio guests and six interviewees, provides the answers --- the presenter concludes, "America's national emblem and the symbol of its strength, the bald eagle, might be fierce and majestic but it's the funny Mickey Mouse that rules with his red shorts, yellow shoes and white gloves" ---  but I think there is lots here to consider about the tension between American "exceptionalism" and the position of the US in the world today: