Syria Feature: Who and What are the Shabiha? (Keller)

Shabiha pursuing protesters at Aleppo University, 16 May 2012

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"Women, children and old men were shot dead," Syria's foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, told reporters this week. "This is not the response of the heroic Syrian army."

Then who did kill 108 people in Houla, including 49 children, in cold blood? The answer appears to lie with the armed civilian militias from nearby Alawite villages, who are known to Syrians as shabiha, from the Arabic word for ghosts.

The term initially referred to shadowy gangs of smugglers who grew up around the coastal city of Latakia in the 1970s, and whose immunity from law seemed to come from their tribal and village connections to the ruling Assad family.

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Syria 1st-Hand: The Stories from Houla --- Playing Dead While Your Family is Killed

11-year-old Ali Adil al-Sayyid explains how he survived as his family were killed by regime supporters in Houla

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"My mum yelled at them. She asked: 'What do you want from my husband and son?' A bald man with a beard shot her with a machine gun from the neck down. Then they killed my sister, Rasha, with the same gun. She was five years old. Then they shot my brother Nader in the head and in the back. I saw his soul leave his body in front of me.

"They shot at me, but the bullet passed me and I wasn't hit. I was shaking so much I thought they would notice me. I put blood on my face to make them think I'm dead."

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Iran Feature: Celebration and Censorship --- At the Tehran International Book Fair (Dehghan)

The idea of an international book festival in Tehran might sound incongruous. Leaders of the Islamic republic are no great book enthusiasts. Numerous writers are banned and as one of the world's most-censoring countries, Iran has a relatively low level of book reading.

But Tehran's international book fair, held annually in the first half of May, attracts half a million visitors per day. The figure is more than the number of people who visit Frankfurt Book Fair, which claims to be the biggest in the world, over its entire duration.

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Burma Feature: Aung San Suu Kyi & NLD Win --- Is This Beginning of "Democracy"? (Golluoglu)

Celebrations at National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon

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If Burma ever needed a moment to rejoice, this was it. In a nation ruled by an often brutal military junta for nearly half a century, Aung San Suu Kyi's apparent victory in Sunday's parliamentary by-election could not be exaggerated.

Swarms of chanting Burmese flocked to National League for Democracy's (NLD) Rangoon headquarters as the sun set over the crumbling city, calling for the fall of "a sham democracy" and the return of "our fair leader, our beloved leader, Mother Suu".

"We did it! We won!" shouted the thousands of supporters as they filled the streets clapping, dancing and waving red party flags.

While unofficial party results indicate that Suu Kyi may have won 65% of the vote in 82 of her constituencies' 129 polling stations, local observers said that the number may have been as high as 90%, with the NLD reported to have won a minimum of 40 of the 44 seats it contested in the 664 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

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Iran Animated Video: The Death Penalty, the Juveniles, and a Lawyer

As part of Amnesty International's 2012 death penalty campaign, The Guardian and animators from Sherbet tell the story of lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has saved 20 of the 40 juveniles he has defended from execution in Iran, and of Behnoud Shojaee, one of those whom he could not save:

Iran Snapshot: Expecting an Unhappy New Year in Tehran (Dehghan)

Woman Passes Election Posters in TehranThis is the time of year when Iranians prepare for the most important holiday of the Persian calendar, Nowruz, the ancient Zoroastrian festival marking the spring equinox. Carpets are washed, furniture wiped down, tables set with painted eggs and children are bought new clothes. Family come to visit: there are many faces you get the chance to see only once a year.

This year, the 13-day family celebration which is meant to blow away the fatigue of winter is clouded by the fear of war, exhaustion and public anger caused by political discontent at home and western economic sanctions.

"How can I keep my head held high in front of my children with an empty pocket at this time of the year?" asked Mohammad, a 35-year-old high school teacher from Tehran with two sons. "I'm supposed to give them happiness and joy. Instead I feel ashamed at not being able to fulfil their expectations."

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Bahrain Feature: The Long Tentacles of the Regime's PR Octopus (Owen Jones)

The CEO of Bell Pottinger PR with Bahrain's Minister of EnergyThe BBC World Service show "World Have Your Say" broadcast a show last week that concerned the media war in Bahrain. Among the topics discussed was the government PR machine, though unbeknownst to the BBC, one of the guests on the show is the managing director of a company who receives money from the government to do PR. Another guest on the show was also suggested to the BBC by a PR company connected to the royal family, though the BBC were quick to emphasise that she was not representing the royal family.

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Bahrain Opinion: No Reform, So Why is the Grand Prix Going Ahead? (Lubbock/Rajab)

> The Bahrain International Circuit, a palm-lined, glitzy race track in the middle of the desert, is due to host Formula One in April. Behind the facade, however, lie tales of misery, blood and torture.

Last year, the head of security at the BIC raided its offices alongside plainclothed police with a list. The list contained the names of every Shia employee. One by one they were dragged from their desks and beaten in front of colleagues [see footnote]. In total, 27 were arrested, and many were left in jail for months. The BIC is responsible for purging its own people. It is hardly a place that deserves to host this race again.

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Saudi Feature: Did Interpol Help With Deportation of Hamza Kashgari? (Bowcott)

Hamza KashgariInterpol has been accused of abusing its powers after Saudi Arabia allegedly used the organisation's red notice system to get a journalist arrested in Malaysia for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

Police in Kuala Lumpur said Hamza Kashgari, 23, was detained at the airport "following a request made to us by Interpol" the international police cooperation agency, on behalf of the Saudi authorities.

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Iraq Revealed: A Mysterious Death and Britain's Secret Detention Camp (Cobain)

British Soldier with DetaineesThe helicopter crews had been told that a number of detainees were under armed guard at the side of the highway. They were to pick them up after dark and take them to a prison camp. What followed was far from routine: before the night was out, one man had died on board one of the helicopters, allegedly beaten to death by RAF personnel.

The incident was immediately shrouded in secrecy. When The Guardian heard about it and began to ask questions, the Ministry of Defence responded with an extraordinary degree of obstruction and obfuscation, evading questions not just for days but for weeks and months. The RAF's own police examined the death in an investigation codenamed Operation Raker, but this ended with some of the most salient facts remaining deeply buried. The alleged culprits faced no charges.

Asked where the men were being taken, the MoD had initially indicated that they were en route to a prisoner of war camp, one inspected regularly by the Red Cross.

Later it became clear that this was not correct: they were being transported to an altogether more secret location.

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