Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Assad Shoos Away UN Envoy Annan

2112 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees, at least 40 people were killed by Assad forces today nationwide:

14 martyrs in Homs, 10 martyrs in Daraa (Tayba, Nawa, Inkhel), 7 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs (Douma, Daraya, Thayabiya), 5 martyrs in Aleppo (Izaz and Atareb), 2 martrs in Idlib and 2 martyrs in Kafr Zeita, Hama.

According to the LCCS, only 2 of those killed were members of the Free Syrian Army - 38 were unarmed civilians.

2033 GMT: Syria. Two videos released today give an impression of the scale of violence reported in the Hamidiyah district of Homs today. The first, 2 minutes long (before it repeats without sound), shows shells falling on the district at the center of what was once Syria's 4th largest city. The second video, more than 10 minutes of nearly constant shelling and gunfire, as smoke fills the sky:

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Syria Audio: Scott Lucas on Monocle 24 "There is No Diplomatic Way Forward"

I spoke with Monocle 24 Radio on Tuesday night, going beyond the day's events --- from the expulsion of Syrian diplomats by a number of countries to President Assad's meeting with United Nations envoy Kofi Annan --- to argue that the Syrian regime is "In for a Penny, In for a Pound", committed to the crushing of the insurgency and the suppression of the opposition.

That in turn means, "There is no diplomatic solution." And, by the gloomy conclusion of the interview was that we were likely to be discussing the same pattern of events six months from now.

The discussion is on "The Monocle Daily" --- you will need to get to the programme through "Filter Timeshift" --- beginning at the 7:08 mark.

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The Latest from Iran (29 May): Putting Parliament in Place

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani tells his defeated challenger, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel: "Even if Mojtaba [Khamenei, son of the Supreme Leader] cherishes you, this will be your fate for some time!" (Cartoon: Nikahang Kowsar)

See also Iran Letter: An Imprisoned Blogger Writes the Supreme Leader
The Latest from Iran (28 May): No More Nice Guy --- Tehran Shifts Line on Nuke Talks

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2024 GMT: CyberWatch. Iran’s Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre has issued a warning about the data-mining virus Flame, saying it is potentially more harmful than the 2010 Stuxnet virus, which affected the infrastructure for the Islamic Republic’s nuclear enrichment programme.

In contrast to Stuxnet, Flame is designed not to do damage but to collect information.

An Iranian cyber defense official, Kamran Napelian, claimed, "[Flame's] encryption has a special pattern which you only see coming from Israel. Unfortunately, they are very powerful in the field of I.T.”

Napelian said he was not authorised to disclose how much damage Flame had caused, but he guessed the virus had been active for the past six months and was responsible for a “massive” data loss.

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Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Alkhawaja Ends His 110-Day Hunger Strike

Claimed footage of a convoy of security forces scattering a demonstration by women in A'ali on Sunday

See also Monday's Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Nabeel Rajab Released from Detention

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1525 GMT: Activists are reporting that their colleague Zainab Alkhawaja, detained since 21 April, has been released.

Alkhawaja, the daughter of detained human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, has been briefly held on several occasions since the start of mass protests in February 2011, but this was her first extended stay behind bars. She was fined last week for alleged assault of a policewoman and was being held for participation in illegal marches.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Annan in Damascus, Burning a Headquarters in Cairo

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square with a "crossed-out" poster of Presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Stories from Houla --- Playing Dead While Your Family is Killed
Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Alkhawaja Ends His 110-Day Hunger Strike
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Condemns Houla "Massacre"...As Assad's Forces Shell Hama

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2040 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordinating Committees of Syria says 72 people have died in violence today, including 24 in Homs Province.

2000 GMT: Syria. Back to our opening story, with a far-from-positive signal from the meeting between United Nations envoy Kofi Annan and President Assad.

Annan's spokesman confined himself to general rhetoric about the discussion, with the UN envoy conveying "the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria" and continuing:

The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today.

I appealed to him for bold steps now -- not tomorrow, now -- to create momentum for the implementation of the plan.

The real tip-off on the talks comes from Syrian State news agency SANA, in its headline "Success of Annan's Plan Depends on Stopping Terrorism and Weapon Smuggling" and text:

President al-Assad pointed out that the armed terrorist groups escalated their terrorist acts noticeably as of late in various areas across Syria, committing murder and abduction against Syrian citizens in addition to robberies and targeting public and private properties with arson and vandalism.

He stressed the need for the countries who are financing, arming and harboring the terrorist groups to commit to Annan's plan, and that these countries' political will to participate in stopping terrorism must be put to the test.

President al-Assad affirmed to Annan that the success of his plan depends on stopping weapon smuggling and curbing terrorism and those who support it.

Translation? Assad and the regime have told Annan that the insurgents, and any international supporters of them, have to make the initial concessions --- laying down arms and accepting Government authority throughout the country. That in turn means there will be no pull-back of regime forces or let-up of shelling when Assad's military feel they are being challenged.

I will be speaking with Monocle 24 about this at 2110 GMT.

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Iran Letter: An Imprisoned Blogger Writes the Supreme Leader

Hossein Ronaghi MalekiI am of the belief, every human being’s silence against oppression and injustice is a betrayal of the innocent blood of the martyrs of this land....

I will repeat a quote from the Exalted Prophet Mohamad: “The land and government will survive under blasphemy but will not last under oppression.”

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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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Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Nabeel Rajab Released from Detention

Nabeel Rajab's remarks on release from detention today (English translation at 1605 GMT)

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Condemns Houla "Massacre"...As Assad's Forces Shell Hama
Sunday's Bahrain Live Coverage: Regime on Human Rights "You Are Biased. P.S. We'll Sue You"

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2030 GMT: The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has issued a statement on behalf of its founder, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who ended his 110-day hunger strike today.

Alkhawaja informed his family, "In spite of not succeeding in achieving the main demand of his hunger strike, 'Freedom or Death', he was still able to achieve his overall goal of shedding light on the ongoing human rights situation in Bahrain."

At the same time, Alkhawaja had to consider "the policy of the Bahraini Authorities in force-feeding him, which was imposed since the 23rd of April, a blatant violation and torture according to international regulations". So, "in response to countless requests from those in solidarity with him, and his inmates in the detention center", he was ending the fast.

Alkhawaja, who appeared in court last week, said he would no longer attend hearings, including one scheduled tomorrow. He demanded "his immediate release and the dropping of all malicious charges and the [life] sentence issued by the National Safety Military Court", as well as "the necessary guarantees that would enable him to continue his activities in defending human rights in absolute freedom".

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Turkey Live Coverage (28 May): Erdogan's Dilemma on the Kurdish Problem

1845 GMT: European Parliament President Martin Schulz held meetings with President Abdullah Gul and government and opposition leaders. Schulz said that it was no secret that Turkey's accession process would be a long and difficult one.

As for the Kurdish problem and the case of Leyla Zana, who was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Schulz said that there had been no real progress on the Kurdish issue and that the European Parliament would follow her case very closely.

1720 PKK has opened harassing fire to Turkish soldiers in the eastern province of Kars. One soldier was wounded and taken to the nearest hospital by a helicopter.

1530 GMT: In the middle of and exchange of fire in Aleppo, a Turkish citizen, Aliye Tas (63), was killed. 

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