Latest from Iran (4 September): Shrinking Lake, Growing Protests

1710 GMT:Environment Watch. Associated Press' coverage of the Lake Urmia protests is taken entirely from the summary of Mehr, which claims demonstrations have ended with no casualties.

Mehr --- and thus AP --- assert that the protests ended Saturday night.

1410 GMT: Protest Watch. Peyke Iran reports that the strike of cloth merchants in the Tehran Bazaar, complaining about the Government's policies on value-added tax, is continuing despite talks with MPs.

1405 GMT: More claimed footage from Saturday's protests in Tabriz over Lake Urmia:

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The Latest from Iran (28 August) It's the Ecology, Stupid

An overview of the ecological problems facing Lake Orumiyeh in northwest Iran

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1420 GMT:The US Hikers. The lawyer for US citizens Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, sentenced earlier this month to eight-year prison sentences on charges of espionage and illegal entry has said that he has filed an appeal.

Fattal and Bauer were arrested, along with American Sarah Shourd, who in July 2009 while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border. They had 20 days to appeal the sentence.

Shourd was freed on $500,000 last September and did not return for trial.

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