Syria 1st-Hand: A Journalist's Account of Detention and Abuse (al-Khalidi)

The young man was dangling upside down, white, foaming saliva dripping from his mouth. His groans sounded more bestial than human.

It was one of many fleeting images of human degradation I witnessed during four days as an unwilling guest of Syrian intelligence, when I was detained in Damascus after reporting on protests in the southern Syrian city of Deraa.

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Palestine Snapshot: The Palestinian Authority's Three Steps After "Mubarak Friday"

After the departure of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, senior Palestine Liberation Organisation official Yasser Abed Rabbo has confirmed Ramallah's determination to have elections in September, without giving a specific date. Rabbo, signalling to Hamas and its leadership in Gaza, continued, "We call on parties to put aside all of their differences and to focus on conducting the elections by September at the latest."

However, Hamas is determined not to take the offer. Its spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Saturday:

Hamas will not participate or recognize or give any cover for this election and we consider this announcement a conspiracy against the Palestinian people. Hamas believes in elections but elections can come only after [political] reconciliation.

In a second step, the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator Saeb Erekat quit in the wake of the scandal over the leak of more than 16,000 "Palestine Papers" revealing the PA's manoeuvres on talks with Israel and on Gaza: "If there was any security failure in my office, then I am responsible. For that, I have resigned."

Still, as protesters march in other Arab countries, this may not be enough for Ramallah to be secure from an uprising. This morning, it is reported that  a "massive change" is expected in West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Cabinet. More Erekats are expected to give their resignations for a "fresh' face to the region and to the Palestinian people. 

Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Restoring Order?

0615 GMT: Here's the sign that we have moved from Sunday into Monday --- a Cairo observer reports, "Good morning. I could still hear chanting at 4AM. I could still hear chanting at 8AM. People are roaming Tahrir square now."

A BBC correspondent reports "small numbers" of police on the streets of Cairo.

0600 GMT: Laura Rozen of Politico gives some insight into how the US Administration is now doing crisis management on Egypt:

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Iran Nuclear Snapshot: How the US Media Missed the Important Story About the Talks

US newspapers, recapping the failure of the discussions on uranium enrichment in Istanbul, seem to be oblivious to the core issue.

We reported yesterday, drawing from information from Reuters, that the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) appear to have put a much tougher proposal to Iran than the offer in October 2009, which led to weeks of negotiations before stalling.

In the talks 15 months ago, the 5+1 asked that Tehran send 60% of its low-enriched uranium, which is about 3.5% quality, to Russia and France --- later Russia and Turkey --- for processing. In this weekend's discussions, the 5+1 proposed that Iran send about 90% of its low-enriched uranium abroad. In addition, Iran would have to send all or almost all of its 20% quality uranium, which it began producing last year, to other countries.

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Iran Snap Analysis: Nuke Talks? What Nuke Talks?

While discussions started in the morning and continued late last night, "Western" broadcasters and the press --- with a couple of notable exceptions --- were silent after CNN correspondent Ivan Watson got the day started with the incisive report, "On eve of Iran nuke talks,diplomats from P5+1 & Iranian negotiator all sat at same table for dinner hosted by Turks in Ottoman palace."

There is more substance this morning in a report from Steven Erlanger in The New York Times, based on unnamed "Western diplomats", that the late-night sessions was "tense and even acrimonious".

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Tunisia Analysis: Mis-Reporting the Story (Whitaker)

The Tunisian uprising is beginning to get more coverage in the English-language media, so this may be a suitable moment to look at the sort of coverage it is getting. 

Considering the horrific violence meted out by the police over the weekend, the Ben Ali regime is being given an extraordinarily easy ride.

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Iraq Update: Al-Sadr Calls for Peaceful "Resistance" Against US "Occupiers" (Al Jazeera)

UPDATE 1200 GMT: Clarifying the use of "peaceful" in the headline, this is Reuters' report on the speech:

Sadr said occupiers should be resisted "by all means" but added that arms were for "people of weapons only," a comment that seemed to endorse the authority of the army and the police and could calm fears of a return of the [Sadrist militia] Mehdi Army.

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Thousands of Iraqis have turned out in the central Iraqi city of Najaf to hear Muqtada al-Sadr's first speech since his return from four years of self-imposed exile.

The Shia Muslim religious leader called the US, Israel and the UK "common enemies" against Iraq in his speech on Saturday , and urged his followers to resist what he called "the occupiers" by all means.

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Iran Note: A Message to the Media About "American Woman Spying Through Her Teeth"

UPDATE 2105 GMT: Given my crankiness this morning at the lack of scrutiny by most in the media sensationally recycling this story, it is only fair to give a big tip of the hat to Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor, who gets to the heart of the matter, "US Woman Arrested in Iran as Spy: Why the Story May Not Have Teeth".

Peterson updates on the changing stories in the Iranian media --- Fars says, “The detained spy asked the Iranian authorities not to return her to Armenia in fear of her life,” but the TV outlet Al-Alam says Hall Talayan never entered Iran, as she did not have the proper visa --- and notes the lack of support from Iranian government officials and outlets like Press TV.

Peterson notes our original entry, "The uncertainties prompted the EAWorldView website, which closely follows daily events in Iran, to urge caution."

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Iran Snapshot: The Politics of Smog

Earlier this year, the Majlis approved a $2 billion expansion of the Tehran subway system, with extension of the existing services and completion of two new lines , taking the Metro from the centre of Tehran to Imam Khomeini International Airport 25 miles away. 

But the Ahmadinejad Government has refused to allow the allocation. The reason? It is another front in the contest for control between Parliament and the President, but the financing would also hand more power to another rival of Ahmadinejad, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.

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