The son of the former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani is being investigated by Oxford University after claims that his successful doctoral thesis proposal was written with the help of others.
Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former head of Iran's state-owned gas company, began a five-year DPhil course in the Iranian constitution at the faculty of oriental studies in October.
Photo: AP9. Religion and the Alawites: The Alawites are a secretive religious sect usually regarded as an offshoot of Shia Islam. In Syria they are a tiny minority but, through the president's family and others in senior positions, they are dominant within the regime. About 74% of Syria's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims; Shia Muslims (including the Alawites and Ismailis) account for 13%, various Christian groups 10%, and Druze 3%. Jewish communities have existed in Syria for centuries but today their number is extremely small – probably no more than a few dozen people.
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.
The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities” --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.
AKP, Ahmet Davutoglu, Bashar al-Assad, Iran, Libya, NATO, Namik Tan, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, The Guardian, Turkey 
Latest developments in Turkey....
What Next with the PKK?
The Kurdish separatist group, PKK, ended its unilateral truce on 28 February. Last week, its life-long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan said: “I will make the evaluation in the coming days in March. If something positive happens, the current state of inaction will continue until elections. If not, I am out, I will fade from the scene. My health situation is already not good enough to carry on this work.”
On the following day, three PKK guerillas/terrorists were killed by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Sirnak. On Friday, TSK clashed with PKK members in Bingol --- four PKK members and two village guards were killed. Was this a reaction to Ocalan by PKK ’s senior officials or an organized response by PKK with Ocalan’s permission before the Turkish New Year (Newroz)?
Ahmet Davutoglu, European Union, Iran, Israel, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia, Syria, TSK, The Guardian, Turkey 
Oman has an exceptionally young population --- 43% are under the age of 15 – and even those who buy the line that Oman is well governed recognise that the authorities face an uphill struggle in providing jobs. "The problem is evolving faster than they can provide solutions," one person who is familiar with the country (and asked not to be identified) told me this week.
But there's another problem too. Even if Qaboos is a Britain-friendly, music-loving ruler with benevolent intentions, he is none the less a despot.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 8:43 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Journalism and Media, Middle East and Iran 
>"Social media was absolutely crucial [in Tunisia]. Three months before Mohammed Bouazizi burned himself in Sidi Bouzid we had a similar case in Monastir. But no one knew about it because it was not filmed. What made a difference this time is that the images of Bouazizi were put on Facebook and everybody saw it."
Photo: ReutersAt the heart of the city where he launched his rise to power, Muammar Gaddafi's indignity is now complete. In little more than three days of rampage, the rebels in Libya's second city have done their best to wind the clock back 42 years --- to life before the dictator they loathe.
Benghazi has fallen and Gaddafi's bid to cling on to power, whatever the cost, has crumbled with it. There is barely a trace of him now, except for obscene graffiti that mocks him on the dust-strewn walls where his portraits used to hang.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 1:48 | Ali Yenidunya in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Last night Al Jazeera completed three days of special broadcasts on the "Palestine Papers", the more than 1600 internal documents about the Palestinian negotiations with Israel from 1999 to 2010. The documents themselves carry on, posted not only by Al Jazeera but also by The Guardian of London.
On Tuesday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, tried to strike back, calling the documents "fake". He told the crowd denouncing the Qatari regime, which owns Al Jazeera:
The Palestinian principles ... have not and will not change and the first of them is that East Jerusalem is the capital of the state of Palestine. No one in the world can make us give up on a centimeter of our land, the issue of the refugees or the issue of Jerusalem.
Tonight, in one of the most extensive and potentially most significant leaks in recent history, Al Jazeera is releasing more than 1600 internal documents on the Israel-Palestine conflict from 1999 to 2010>.
The Guardian of London is also publishing the documents, summarising some of the revelations:
• The scale of confidential concessions offered by Palestinian negotiators, including on the highly sensitive issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
• How Israeli leaders privately asked for some Arab citizens to be transferred to a new Palestinian state.
• The intimate level of covert co-operation between Israeli security forces and the Palestinian Authority.
• The central role of British intelligence in drawing up a secret plan to crush Hamas in the Palestinian territories.
• How Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders were privately tipped off about Israel's 2008-9 war in Gaza.
Earlier this week The Guardian of London, noting an article on the opposition site Kalemeh, wrote in astonishment: even though Twitter and Facebook are blocked in Iran, the Supreme Leader had come out on both.
Only thing is: it's an old story.
We know this because we were one of Ayatollah Khamenei's first Facebook Friends. Here are the EA story and updates, run unedited, from August 2009:
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UPDATE 16 August, 2035 GMT: Supreme Leader wants to click "Get New Nokia N97" ad on his page but worries he will put himself under surveillance.
Ayatollah Khamenei still has 39 friends.
