Israeli Jets Kill 14 in Gaza; Rockets Fired into Southern Israel (Brulliard/Abdulkarim)

An explosion in Gaza today from an Israeli airstrike

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An escalation of cross-border violence continued for the second day on Saturday, as the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip rose to 14 militants and militant factions fired dozens more rockets into southern Israel.

Two militant groups in Gaza said those killed in at least 10 airstrikes from Friday to Saturday were their fighters, among them a top commander. Witnesses and medics said the latest airstrike, at midday Saturday, killed two militants in the crowded Gaza refugee camp of Khan Younis.

Militants vowed revenge after the initial strike that killed a leading commander on Friday, and they claimed responsibility for a subsequent torrent of more than 90 rockets that the Israeli military said were launched from Gaza toward southern Israel.

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The Latest from Iran (10 March): Oh, the US is So Weak

See also The Latest from Iran (9 March): "Legitimacy" --- Home and Abroad

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Iran Media: "Objective Reality of US Society"2028 GMT: Protest Watch. The Mothers of Laleh Park and their supporters have issued a statement challenging the Iranian judiciary’s harsh sentencing of human rights activists.

The Mothers of Laleh Park, who emerged after the June 2009 Presidential election to protest killings and detentions, declared, “While the possibility of a humane life is evaporating for Iranian people and especially freedom seekers, the criminals are rising in stature, and there are no fair courts answerable to the people.”

The statement condemned the sentences imposed on human rights lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani and the deputy head of the Human Rights Defenders Centre, Nargess Mohammad, contrasting their judicial fate with that of Saeed Mortazavi, the Tehran Prosecutor General when the abuses occurred at the Kahrizak Detention Centre in summer 2009.

The Mothers wrote, “Judge Mortazavi, whose many crimes are common knowledge, was dismissed after his offences regarding Kahrizak were revealed. But not only did he not stand trial, he was instead appointed as head of the task force against drug trafficking. And now he is being appointed to the helm of the Organization for Social Security.”

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Tunisia Feature: Women Speak Out for Rights in a "New Country" (Le Nevez)

Yasmine Bhar, a student who has a part-time job in a call center, was another protester who had given up a days’ pay to attend the protest. “I’m afraid actually. I’m afraid for my Tunisia, for my future, for my rights” she said. She too was frustrated by a perception that too little was being done, both by the government and citizens to counter the influence of the Islamist movement. “I hope that people move. I want people to stop being cowardly and indifferent,” she said.

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US Politics Analysis: How Rick Santorum Can Defeat Mitt Romney

Rick Santorum's campaign ad attacking Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for supporting "Obamacare"

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Rick Santorum's biggest advantage over Mitt Romney in these next months will be his concentrated attack on the "Big Government" philosophy behind President Obama's economic policies, exemplified in the health care proposals. Santorum can rally Republicans behind the banner of individual freedom in a way that Romney cannot. If this election year is all about the economy, Santorum is beginning to articulate a positive vision of personal economic liberty that transcends the numbers of high unemployment and low growth.

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Syria Snap Analysis: Kofi Annan - Lost on the Road to Damascus

See also Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A UN Envoy in Damascus

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The Syrian National Council's Burhan Ghalioun has today condemned statements made by the UN's envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, suggesting that a political solution in Syria is possible, and desireable:

These kind of comments are disappointing and do not give a lot of hope for people in Syria being massacred every day. It feels like we are watching the same movie being repeated over and over again ...

Any political solution will not succeed if it is not accompanied by military pressure on the regime ...

As an international envoy, we hope he will have a mechanism for ending the violence ...My fear is that, like other international envoys before him, the aim is to waste a month or two of pointless mediation efforts.

These statements echo those made by the ranking members of the Free Syrian Army, other ranking members of the SNC, the various splinter groups, many of whom are even more hawkish than the SNC, every contact we have within the opposition, and nearly every single video that comes out of Syria.

Our assessment - We've been wondering if Kofi Annan is in the right country. Maybe he got lost on the road to Damascus, because from what we've seen, there is no chance of reconciliation between the regime and the opposition.

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EA on the Road: A Visit to London

I will be working in London today. James Miller will be here this afternoon to take you through the latest from Syria to Iran to Bahrain, but updates will be limited until then.

As always, we thank readers for bringing in news and analysis through our Comments section --- sign into Disqus if you want to see your contribution immediately. And we hope you will consider our features on Iran and Palestine today.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A UN Envoy in Damascus

A demonstration in Daal in southern Syria on Thursday night

See also Syria Snap Analysis: Kofi Annan - Lost on the Road to Damascus
Palestine Opinion: Have Hunger Strikers "Reinvigorated Resistance"?
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A "Pretty Devastated" Section of Homs
Turkey Live Coverage (8 March): Erdogan's Kurdish Problem

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2130 GMT: It's been another bloody day in Syria. The LCCS now reports that 82 have died at the hands of security forces, "33 martyrs in Idlib including 25 martyrs who were killed in Ain Larouz massacre , 26 martyrs in Homs,7 martyrs in Yabroud in Damascus Suburbs 6 martyrs in Daraa, 4 martyrs in Hama, two martyrs in Damascus 2 martyrs in Lattakia and one martyr in each of Bokamal and Aleppo/"

However, there are reports that the gunfire in Hama and the shelling in Al Rastan, north of Homs, have continued into the night. After another day of defiant protests in the face of violence, there will be yet another bloody night in Syria.

We'll end the day where we started. Kofi Annan said that a political solution was the only viable way to end this conflict. I made the assessment that such a solution was not possible because the opposition leaders refuse to consider it, the opposition in the street refuses to consider it, and too much blood has already been spilled.

82 dead Syrians seems like a lot, but it's now a fairly typical day. That's 82 people who had families, friends, and maybe coworkers, 82 people who have lost a loved one at the hands of the regime. And this story has had a constant narrative from the start - every life lossed is just strengthening the resolve of the opposition, and the chants in the street aren't getting any quieter.

"The people want the fall of the regime. The people want the execution of the President. We bow to no one but Allah."

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Palestine Opinion: Have Hunger Strikers "Reinvigorated Resistance"? (Silver)

Woman with Poster of Hana al-ShalabiKhader Adnan and Hana al Shalabi have reinvigorated resistance and raised the long-flagging morale of people on the streets. This is a dramatic testament to the adage that change can only come from below --- so maybe it's time we stop looking to the top.

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The Latest from Iran (9 March): "Legitimacy" --- Home and Abroad

See also Iran Special: Explaining The Supreme Leader's Nuclear Politics
The Latest from Iran (8 March): Let the Political In-Fighting Resume

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1958 GMT: Stoking Up the Temperature. Note the careful comments of Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, when he is asked about the Parchin military site and possible testing of high explosives in the nuclear programme:

"We have information that some activity is ongoing there," Amano...said at agency headquarters.

Asked whether he was concerned that Iran may be trying to whitewash the site, he said: "That possibility is not excluded ... We cannot say for sure because we are not there."

The veteran Japanese diplomat added: "We have to go there."

Now look at how Reuters converts this into a really dramatic, scary story: "UN Nuclear Chief Doesn't Rule Out Iran 'Cleaning' Army Site".

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Iran Special: Explaining The Supreme Leader's Nuclear Politics

It has never been the case that the Supreme Leader's approach to nuclear politics has been separate from his politics at home. And, with that recognition, it is only one step to the conclusion that his position on talks with the US and its allies is linked to "legitimacy", not in those foreign powers but in the eyes of his people.

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