Iraq Revealed: A Mysterious Death and Britain's Secret Detention Camp (Cobain)

British Soldier with DetaineesThe helicopter crews had been told that a number of detainees were under armed guard at the side of the highway. They were to pick them up after dark and take them to a prison camp. What followed was far from routine: before the night was out, one man had died on board one of the helicopters, allegedly beaten to death by RAF personnel.

The incident was immediately shrouded in secrecy. When The Guardian heard about it and began to ask questions, the Ministry of Defence responded with an extraordinary degree of obstruction and obfuscation, evading questions not just for days but for weeks and months. The RAF's own police examined the death in an investigation codenamed Operation Raker, but this ended with some of the most salient facts remaining deeply buried. The alleged culprits faced no charges.

Asked where the men were being taken, the MoD had initially indicated that they were en route to a prisoner of war camp, one inspected regularly by the Red Cross.

Later it became clear that this was not correct: they were being transported to an altogether more secret location.

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Iran 1st-Hand: Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof "Iran is Like an Alcoholic Father"

The trailer of Mohammad Rasoulof's Goodbye

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I think the current regime will correct itself. Things can’t go on like this much longer. But I will always make films there. Iran is like an alcoholic father. You can’t change your father, but I can see him hurting himself, myself and others. But I still love him.”

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The Latest from Iran (10 February): A Radio Debate Brings Back the 2009 Election

A poster calls for "Allahu Akbar (God is Great) on the night of 13 February for political prisoners such as Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard

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1745 GMT: Mohsen Rezaie, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, today called US claims that it is responsible for security in the Strait of Hormuz as 'inacceptable'. He added that the Iranian government was the one responsible for the security of the waterway.

1715 GMT: Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani Larijani rejected accusations that he owns buildings in the Quds compound in Pardisan in Qom - however, he does own property that belonged to his father. Speaking to students in Qom yesterday, he said that he was running for the elections on advice from the Supreme Leader. In reply to a question, he said that Hashemi Rafsanjani like all other individuals had his merits and his flaws and he did not like some of the latter.

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Iran Feature: The Regime Locks Down the Internet (Erdbrink/Flock)

Throughout today, Thomas Erdbrink, the Tehran-based correspondent of The Washington Post, has been noting the gradual lockdown of the Internet in Iran. His rolling comments are noted in a blog by Elizabeth Flock, while Erdbrink's article follows:

Iran begins blocking access to Gmail, other sites
Elizabeth Flock 

When Thomas Erdbrink, The Washington Post’s correspondent in Tehran, logs on to the Internet in Iran, he never knows whether Gmail and Google Reader, The Post or Facebook will open for him. Increasingly, this is the error message he sees instead of the page he was trying to reach:

Translation: “According to computer crime regulations, access to this Web site is denied.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Decimating Homs

The shelling and smoke in Bab Amr in Homs this morning

See also Syria Video Feature: How Can You Get News Out of the Country?
Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 5 and 6
Wednesday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Shutting Out the Journalists

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2110 GMT: Mazhar Tayyara, a freelance journalist working for several major European news agencies has been killed during the military attack on Homs, Syria:

Tayyara was a freelance journalist who was hired as a stringer for the Agence France-Presse and also who provided video footage for The Guardian and the Die Wilt in Germany.

Apparently Tayyara was trying to help some wounded people get to cover when a second volley of shells fell and he was hit by shrapnel in several parts of his body. He died several hours later in hospital.

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The Latest from Iran (9 February): News and Propaganda over Oil

A cartoon from Javan Online, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, summarises frustration with Iran's political and economic situation

See also Iran Feature: The Regime Locks Down the Internet
The Latest from Iran (8 February): Seeking the Voice of the Nation

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2135 GMT: Elections Watch. The Guardian Council has announced that 3320 out of 5395 applicants, or about 61%, have been approved as candidates for the Parliamentary elections on 2 March.

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Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 5 and 6

A call for help from Sheikh Ra'ed Al-Juri in Baba Amr in Homs, asking when the killing will stop

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Just weeks ago, the Syrian regime was losing territory at an alarming rate to the insurgents of the Free Syrian Army. Last Friday, the FSA captured some key checkpoints and many pro-Assad soldiers.

Five days later, after a ruthless bombardment by regime forces, several hundreds are dead.

The military assault is designed to send messages. To the citizens of Syria, they are being warned that their support of the opposition and the Free Syrian Army is not acceptable and will be punished with extreme prejudice. To the insurgents, the message is simple is that you cannot win, for you are alone. To the members of the Syrian military, the message is defect, and this is the fate you will meet.

The question is, who is listening? The protests, even in Homs, continued on Wednesday. There were yet more reports of defections, particularly in Idlib Province in the northwest. Despite the onslaught, there is defiance is the voices of many, people who no longer believe they have any choice but to fight. For in this Syria, innocent bystanders can just as easily be killed by artillery shells as members of the armed resistance.

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Bahrain Feature: What Has Changed in the Past Year? (Gengler)

Casual reporting of Bahrain's uprising tends to give the impression that the events of February 14 and the year-long aftermath sprang out of nowhere; that Bahrain's Shi'a had finally "had enough" and used the window afforded by the Arab Spring to make their displeasure known, to spectacular effect.

There is no need to devote much time to debunking this storyline, deliberate or not, as any serious study of Bahraini politics would point to a long history of political conflict, whether between Shi'a and state, Sunna and state, or Sunna and Shi'a.

What was surprising about the scenes of February and March, then, was not that such an opposition would mobilize, but that it was able to mobilize on such an unprecedented scale.

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Syria Video Feature: How Can You Get News Out of the Country? (Al Jazeera English)

On Saturday, EA's James Miller will appear on Al Jazeera English's Listening Post, discussing the task of obtaining and assessing reliable video of events in the Syrian conflict.

In the meantime, we feature the latest episode of Listening Post, detailing the difficulties for journalists inside the country.

Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 4 and 5

Because of a mistake in the title, we have moved this video selection to a new spot.

Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 5 and 6

Sorry about that.

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