Today on EA (18 January 2010)

Iran: There's a lot going on in and about Iran today - the trials are continuing; the Regime's propaganda machine trundles on too! All the news, including links to our own stories and other news media, can be found on our live weblog.

In the light of the Ashura demonstrators' trial starting this morning, and as they are charged with "Mohareb" (offending God and the prophet), Edward Yeranian assesses how this may hurt the regime.

We’ve got the video of the CNN interview in which Tehran University academic Seyed Mohammad Marandi lays out, in the guise of reporting and analysis, the strategy. (Apologies to those of you in the US whom CNN have blocked from seeing the video; the alternative, as laid out by our readers, is to download the video from CNN’s Amanpour website and play it back using QuickTime.)

Afghanistan: We have an evaluation from Juan Cole on this morning's Taliban bomb attack in Kabul, which reportedly killed five and injured eight people. A video of the Esanech (Press TV) report on the attack can be viewed here.

Haiti: EA's Josh Shahyrar has been producing an almost constant humanitarian liveblog since the Haiti earthquake disaster last Tuesday - read his latest posts (17-18 January) here.

Israel: EA's Ali Yenidunya reports on the "strategic" relationship between Israel and Turkey, following Sunday's 3.5 hour meeting in Ankara between Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. An Israeli official said the meeting was conducted "in a very friendly atmosphere".

Palestine: After Israel's Foreign Minister said on Sunday that it would make no further "gestures" towards the Palestinians, Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas has called on Washington to "Draw Red Lines".