The Latest from Iran (6 May): After the Election

See also Iran Snap Analysis: Some People Were Selected for the Parliament --- Does It Matter?
The Latest from Iran (5 May): The Threat of Inflation

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1630 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Meysam Mohamadi has been sentenced to four years in prison and a five-year ban from print or online journalism.

The same punishment has been handed down to journalist Omid Mohades.

1543 GMT: Parliament v. President. Najmeh Bozorgmehr of The Financial Times reports that the Majlis, in its first post-election session, has challenged the Government with two complaints to the judiciary, one over “incurring irreparable damages” to the country’s economy by violating foreign exchange laws “at a time the country faces numerous sanctions” over its nuclear policies.

Bozorgmehr also notes that the Supreme Court has approved a death sentence for Majid Jamali Fashi, who was convicted in a closed-doors trial of the murder of nuclear scientist Massoud Aliohammadi, in January 2010.

The regime has accused Jamali Fashi, a former kickboxing champion who reportedly beat up protesters after the 2009 Presidential election (see EA feature), with collaborating with Israeli intelligence services.

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Iran Snap Analysis: Some People Were Selected for the Parliament --- Does It Matter?

There is an important conclusion to be drawn from Friday's outcome, but it is only a reiteration of what we noted after the first round two months ago, not in the overwhelming victory of a faction, but in the lack of one: "While the Islamic Republic's system is far too complex to reduce it to the plaything of the Supreme Leader, "stability" --- if not legitimacy --- lay in an arrangement in which he and his circle could be assured that they would not face trouble from a President, Parliament, or judiciary."

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Elections Amid the Protests

Saturday night in the Damascus suburb of Douma, after the visit of United Nations observers (see 0855 GMT)

Bahrain Live Coverage: Prominent Activist Nabeel Rajab Arrested
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Time to Call It What It Is"

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2050 GMT: Syria. A protest in Talbiseh tonight:

1940 GMT: Syria. For the first time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with Syrian refugees, speaking to them near the border town of Kilis in southeastern Turkey.

"You are getting stronger each passing day," Erdogan said. "Your victory is not far....Bashar [President Assad] is losing blood each passing day,""

About 23,000 Syrians are estimated to now be in Turkish camps, having fled since the start of the uprising in March 2011.

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Bahrain Live Coverage: Prominent Activist Nabeel Rajab Arrested

See also Bahrain Video Special: How the Tear-Gassing of A Village Begins
Saturday's Bahrain Live Coverage: The Many 1000s on the Highway

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Nabeel Rajab Leads Protest, 1 April1950 GMT: Finally, a press release from the regime that sets out its approach against detained human rights activist Nabeel Rajab....

Prosecutors, using the Bahrain News Agency, said:

[We] filed a case against the defendant after compiling compelling evidence of his involvement in inciting illegal rallies and marches online on social networking websites....The defendant's cyber-incitement proved detrimental as [it] fuelled rioting, road blocking, arsons, acts of sabotage targeting public and private properties, in addition to the use of Molotov cocktail incendiary bombs. The inquiry has also revealed compelling evidence on the defendant's role in instigating, online, acts targeting policemen whilst on duty, leaving some of them injured.

The statement effectively convicted, "[Rajab] admitted posting the defamatory and humiliating material on his account."

Most telling, however, might be this element of truth about this morning's court hearing, "The defendant stood the trial, in the presence of his lawyer, but he refused to answer the questions about the charges leveled against him, saying that he does not recognize the court."

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US Feature: Six Months to Go --- Why a "Re-Recession" Might Put Obama Back in Office

Social chaos and breakdown in Europe, caused by an adherence to the Fantasy Island politics of austerity by European governments, and a corresponding slip into another US recession: this could be the catalyst Obama needs to convince Independents that his pro-growth economic policies, and not the austerity politics of Mitt Romney, are the best hope for a brighter economic future for America.

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Bahrain Video Special: How the Tear-Gassing of A Village Begins

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By now, regular EA readers will be familiar with the stories and images of Bahraini security forces tear-gassing villages in their efforts to enforce order.

The video from Samaheej on Saturday, however, is beyond the "routine". It offers an insight into how the use of the tear gas --- and the escalation into violent clashes --- begins.

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Bahrain Live Coverage: The Many 1000s on the Highway

How many thousands marching on Friday in the call for significant reforms

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Time to Call It What It Is"
Friday's Bahrain Live Coverage: King Hamad Goes Through The Motions

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2000 GMT: The official websites of the Bahraini Police and Ministry of Interior are both off-line, apparently attacked in retaliation for the arrests of human rights activists Nabeel Rajab and Zainab Alkhawaja.

1910 GMT: Maryam Alkhawaja of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights reports on her detained colleague Nabeel Rajab:

. @nabeelrajab just called his wife informing her he's being kept overnight, will b taken to his hearing tmrw morning #bahrain #feb14

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) May 5, 2012

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The Latest from Iran (5 May): The Threat of Inflation

See also Iran Special: Photoshop Propaganda With Lots of Missiles (and Jar Jar Binks!)
The Latest from Iran (4 May): Election Day Again

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2045 GMT: The Revolutionary Guards Intervene. Forget the election --- this may be the most significant news of the day....

General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has criticised the Government for not being able to meet the Supreme leader's expectations, saying, "We are hoping to take effective steps toward this goal."

Addressing students at Imam Hussain University, which is overseen by the Guards, he declared, "Whether we want it or not, we have become a model in the world and the people of countries which are facing reforms and changes are looking at us to give them examples to follow."

2035 GMT: Economy Watch. Economist Hussain Raghfar has said that Iranians cannot believe official statistics, having lost trust in Government and the Central Bank. Instead, they "search within their families and friends to find the true inflation and unemployment rate. They look at the number of young people in their families who are working and the everyday prices of necessary goods such as food and vegetables."

Raghfar blamed Government policies for economic problems, "For the past 24 month there have been no policies on controlling inflation." He predicted that, if the second phase of subsidy cuts is implemented, the inflation rate will surge past 100%.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Time to Call It What It Is"

Despite shelling, the people protest on Friday in Hawleh, west of the Syrian city Homs

See also Bahrain Live Coverage: The Many 1000s on the Highway
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths at the University

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1950 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria say 27 people have died in violence today, with nine killed in Aleppo Province, eight in Barzeh outside Damascus, and six in Homs Province.

1800 GMT: Egypt. The head of the military prosecution, Adel El-Morsi, has announced that all women arrested during Friday demonstrations at the Ministry of Defence will be released.

According to lawyers and military statements, at least 14 women amongst the hundreds arrested on Friday were to be detained for 15 days pending investigations. They faced charges including infringing upon state institutions, using violence against members of the armed forces, halting traffic, and congregating and trespassing on a military area.

It was reported earlier today that 179 people seized on Friday were being held on 15-day detention orders. Ahram Online has claimed from a military source, however, that orders have been handed down to 300 people.

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Iran Special: Photoshop Propaganda With Lots of Missiles (and Jar Jar Binks!)

You never know when your past propaganda efforts are going to rear up and bite you on the backside. 

Indeed, the editors of the prominent Iranian website Mehr may still not know this.

On Friday, Mehr illustrated a reassuring story about Iran's missile programme --- "French official: No Threat of Europe" --- with an archive photograph of lots of those missiles.

First problem? The image is a Photoshop. In fact, it's not just a Photoshop, it's a Photoshop of a Photoshop.

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