Detained activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, on Day 83 of his hunger strike, with BBC correspondent Frank Gardner (see 1241 GMT)
See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Idlib Explosions Raise the Stakes
Monday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Enter the Observers
1710 GMT: Blurred but still notable footage of protesters scattering in Bani Jamra after a charge by police firing tear gas:
See also The Real Net Effect: The Saudi Regime Tries to Control Social Media
Bahrain Live Coverage: The Regime Plays for Time
Monday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Enter the Observers
1545 GMT: Palestine. Al-Monitor claims, from Palestinian institutions monitoring Israeli prisons, that 15 Palestinian detainees have now been on hunger strike for at least 25 days, with one now on the 63rd day of a fast.
The article asserts that there are now almost 2000 prisoners on hunger strike.
1545 GMT: Syria. Another video of the funeral today in Idlib Province for victims of this morning's regime shelling and mortar fire:
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 10:05 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Journalism and Media, Middle East and Iran 
Hamza KashgariMedia monitoring, as practiced by governments in Libya, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria and Iran (to name a few), is not so much enforced by datacenters, wiretaps and informants but by searches of TV stations by police, days in a holding cell and the warrant officer's truncheon. The technology, of course, plays an increasingly vital role, not least because it makes it so much easier to prepare a mound of "evidence" to the prosecution's satisfaction. As Sultan Al Qassemi notes, governments and their supporters are becoming more social media savvy too.
At the commission, the news went around by word of mouth. One news was that Mir Hossein Mousavi was planning to come to the commission. But no real news came into the headquarters.
Even prior to the voting, the Ministry [of Interior] appeared to be poised to win the election. We sensed that they seemed confident that they (the Ahmadinejad campaign) would win in any way. When we told the other reformist kids, who called us from the outside, of the atmosphere inside the building, they brushed us off as being influenced by the events inside.
We had no idea that they planned to rig the elections at this scale. When we spoke with reporters from the other side (i.e., supporting the administration), they told us that Ahmadinejad would win with 24 million votes.
2025 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has joined in the criticism of the Government over the economy, claiming it is increasing imports rather than supporting domestic production.
2015 GMT: Justice Watch. On Monday, we reported that Ali Akbar Heydarifar, a deputy to former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, was arrested over alleged involvement in the abuses at the Kahrizak detention centre in autumn 2009. Mortazavi, despite heated criticism from MPs and a file against him, has so far escaped prosecution and retains his post as a Presidential advisor.
A curious footnote from Radio Zamaneh:
Heydarifar, who reportedly signed the [Kahrizak] detainees’ transfer order, was involved in a recent altercation at a gas station in Esfahan.
He was reportedly trying to jump the line at the gas station when other customers complained. Media reports indicate that Heydarifard took out a gun and began shooting into the air. He was released after Security Forces called to scene checked his ID.
The Iran Prosecutor has announced that Heydarifar is also facing prosecution for the incident at the gas station.
A protest in Aleppo on Sunday night
See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: Smuggled Footage of Crackdown & Interview with Ala'a Shehabi
Iraq Snapshot: The Divisions Among the Shia Factions
Bahrain Snap Analysis: The Regime's Propaganda Struggles
Bahrain 1st-Hand: The AlKhawaja Story - Wife/Mother Speaks Out
Turkey Live Coverage (30 April): Questions on the Syrian Front
Sunday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Two-Step of Protest and Detention
2100 GMT: Iraq. In a further escalation of political tension, fugitive Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and some of his bodyguards have been charged with a series of murders, including the killing of six judges.
Hashemi, a Sunni politician, fled Baghdad in December when the Shia-led Government issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of running death squads. He is now in Turkey and is not expected to attend the trial when it begins on Thursday.
2034 GMT: UAE. Amnesty International has called on the United Arab Emirates to immediately and unconditionally release nine political activists who have been detained in the last month.
The nine men belong to the Reform and Social Guidance Association (al-Islah), a non-profit organization that advocates --- through peaceful debate --- greater adherence to Islamic precepts.
In a separate feature posted earlier today, we wrote about the Bahraini regime's public-relations efforts and assessed, "Far from taking the initiative, however, the regime has appeared to be on the defensive over events."
Here's a vivid example of developments on the ground overtaking spin. Amidst the regime effort to highlight a Grand Prix free from discord and controversy last week, Britain's Channel 4 sent a crew into the country. By the end of the weekend, reporter Jonathan Miller and his cameramen had seen protests, the police response of tear gas and arrests, and the effects on residents. They had followed the story of slain activist Salas Abbas Habib. They had been briefly detained, along with Bahraini activists Ali Al A'ali and Ala'a Shehabi, before they were deported late Sunday night.
The follow-up interview with Shehabi:
1800 GMT: National Security Council (MGK) convened under the chairmanship of President Abdullah Gül.The meeting's main topic is thought to be Syria, its border with Turkey, other Middle East-related issues, the political crises in neighboring Iraq and the NATO summit. The MGK statement said:
We have drawn attention to the obligation to fulfil all requirements of the six-point Annan plan.
We think that problems in Iraq should be solved within the framework of pluralist democracy and rule of law principles and by restoring unity and solidarity of the country
1140 GMT: Istanbul's Mayor Avni Mutlu said that all the measures for the coming May Day were taken. More than 14 thousand security officers will be on duty on Tuesday.
1100 GMT: Four members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been captured in the province of Sanliurfa by Turkish security forces. It is claimed that they were well trained in bombing and infiltrated through the Syrian border for an operation.
1045 GMT: Having blocked Israel's participation in NATO's new Partnership Cooperation Menu, Ankara says it will block EU participation in an upcoming NATO summit on Afghanistan taking in Chicago on May 20-21 unless the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is also allowed to be present.
1000 GMT: In an explosion in front of the Istanbul Regional Directorate for the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, one person is injured.
See also The Latest from Iran (29 April): The Ayatollahs and the Revolutionary Guards
2040 GMT: Labour Front. As expected, authorities have refused a permit to Iran's workers to march on May Day. Labourers instead an indoors ceremony in a hall today.
1740 GMT: Defiance of the Day. The pro-Ahmadinejad Iran newspaper declares that Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi, despite Parliamentary objections, is still working as head of the Social Security Fund.
MPs had threatened to impeach the Minister of Labor if Mortazavi, under fire for his role in the abuses at the Kahrizak detention centre in 2009, continued in the post. Mortazavi reportedly offered his resignation, but this was rejected by the President.
Baztab claims that Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has been told that the Supreme Leader opposes impeachment of the Minister.
Saturday's demonstration of followers of Shia cleric Mahmoud al-Hasani al-Sarkhi
Iraq can be portrayed as a country of homogeneous Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish blocs. That is far too simplistic: consider the recent demonstrations in Baghdad by followers of the Sadrist splinter group of Shi’a cleric Hassan al-Sarkhi.
The trouble began on February 17, when a recently-opened office of Shia cleric Mahmoud al-Hasani al-Sarkhi was set on fire. Supporters of Sarkhi blamed followers of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shia cleric in Iraq, and violence between the two groups has escalated since them. As analysts Reidar Visser said concisely, "Impression is sec[urity] forces confrontation w/ Sarkhi followers is growing trend over past months. Also Sistani vs Sarkhi."
