US Politics Feature: Ron Paul, the Youth Vote, and the Legalisation of Marijuana

Before and after the Iowa caucuses, one of the curious stories to emerge was the extraordinary support 76-year-old Paul was garnering among the youth of that state. Most of the commentary credited it to his followers in the anti-war brigade and associated it with the growing disillusionment with America's conflicts abroad.

A natural conclusion; and with some merit. But that alone does not explain why he appealed, according to CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) to 48% of voters under the age of 30.

One possibility is that many young Paul supporters are not voting for him, first and foremost, because of his views on foreign policy. Instead, they are considering their personal lifestyles and deciding that Paul, with his calls for the legalisation of marijuana, is the candidate who best represents their interests.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Inconvenient Beating, An Inconclusive Meeting

2205 GMT: That last update appears to be even more significant than we originally thought. First of all, an opposition Facebook page says that there were clashes between anti-government protesters and Bahraini police yesterday in the village of Al Dair. Apparently, there was another protest in Al Dair tonight (see a photo gallery posted by activists).

But the significant piece of evidence is this video, which shows a crowd being attacked by plain-clothed men. The attackers then appear to grab a young boy and drag him away. Towards the end of the video, a white van, which appears to be similar to one used by police, appears in the frame, suggesting that the plain-clothed men are the same as the ones in the last video and are working with the police. At the very end of the video, a policeman appears and fires teargas towards the now-scattered crowd, confirming this suspicion:

A daytime rally, reportedly today in Al Dair village:

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Bahrain Interview: Nabeel Rajab - How Police Attacked the Manama March and Beat Me

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Footage of the Manama march and police attack on Friday night

See also Bahrain Feature: Dar Kulaib --- The Regime's "Sectarian" Tactics and A Village Under Assault
Friday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Explosion in Damascus, Police Attack in Manama

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Rajab tried to get to his car as other protesters sought shelter in houses from the continuous baton charges and tear gas smoke. He only made it 500 metres. Several riot policemen cornered him in an alley. He felt two hard baton blows on his back, then one of the officers punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The riot police then started to kick him as he hid his face in his hands. As they verbally abused him, he shouted his name and said that he was a human rights activist. 

That altered the riot police's behaviour immediately --- the kicks and punches started to fall harder and more frequently. 

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching an Explosion

Footage of the moment a bomb exploded in Damascus on Friday

See also Bahrain Interview: Nabeel Rajab - How Police Attacked the Manama March and Beat Me
Bahrain Feature: Dar Kulaib --- The Regime's "Sectarian" Tactics and A Village Under Assault
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Starting 2012 With a Bang

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2110 GMT: Richard Sollom, Deputy President of the U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights, has been denied entry into Bahrain despite the regime's pledge of transparency over its legal and political procedures.

Sollom, an American citizen, intended to observe Monday's hearing in civilian court in the case of 20 doctors and nurses who have been given prison sentences of 5 to 15 years by a military tribunal.

2010 GMT: Protesters march in Sitra in Bahrain today, chanting, "We have a right to defend ourselves" --- police subsequently fired tear gas at a group of demonstrators on the main highway:

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The Latest from Iran (8 January): Mr Chavez, Can You Spare a Dime?

See also Iran Photo Special: Snapshots of Life and Living
The Latest from Iran (7 January): "We are in an Economic War"

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2140 GMT: Elections All-Is-Well Alert. Press TV goes over the top in its cheerleading, "Iran Political Groups Debate Parliament Vote": "A number of reformist lawmakers said it's business as usual and everyone is taking part because there are assurances that like the previous rounds the next elections will be free, fair and transparent."

An excess from nerves? Possibly, because in the next paragraph the website undermines its confident assurance, "Principalist political organizations and politicians are also preparing themselves for the elections. They express concern over the consequences of absence of reform oriented forces."

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Africa Feature: Will Fuel Protests Ignite an Opposition Movement in Nigeria? (Campbell and Gambrell)

#OccupyNigeria: An activist-produced montage of the emerging protest movement

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Is this the long-awaited Nigerian Spring? The conventional wisdom (which I shared but increasingly doubt) is that the country was too divided by religion and ethnicity and with too weak a sense of national identity for a popular opposition movement comparable to those that roiled Tunisia, Egypt or Syria. Yet, the protests are nationwide and peaceful; thus far, casualties have been caused by the security services, not the protestors. In some cases, protestors have organized themselves through the use of social media. Protestors in Kano are explicitly invoking the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement. They refer to their encampment as "Occupy Kano" and its venue as "Tahrir Square".

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US Video Feature: The Decline of American Power? (Al Jazeera English)

I took part this autumn in filming for an episode of Al Jazeera English's Empire considering the nature and status of US "power" in the 21st century. I am not sure if even a dedicated 45 minutes, with four studio guests and six interviewees, provides the answers --- the presenter concludes, "America's national emblem and the symbol of its strength, the bald eagle, might be fierce and majestic but it's the funny Mickey Mouse that rules with his red shorts, yellow shoes and white gloves" ---  but I think there is lots here to consider about the tension between American "exceptionalism" and the position of the US in the world today:

Iran Photo Special: Snapshots of Life and Living (The Atlantic)

The Atlantic posts a colourful, sometimes stunning collection of 42 photographs on the diversity of life inside Iran. We introduce the feature with these three images, but all of them reward a look:

Iranian grooms Javad Jafari, left, and his brother Mehdi, right, with their brides Maryam Sadeghi, second left, and Zahra Abolghasemi, before their wedding in Ghalehsar village, about 360 kilometres (220 miles) northeast of Tehran, on 15 July 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Bahrain Feature: Dar Kulaib --- The Regime's "Sectarian" Tactics and A Village Under Assault

See also Bahrain Interview: Nabeel Rajab - How Police Attacked the Manama March and Beat Me

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In the last month, I have seen several reports and images of violence in Bahrain that I dismissed as "minor", in relation to other news and pictures. These reports included smashed windows of cars, graffiti daubed on neighbourhood walls, and vandalism to the outside of homes.

I was wrong to set aside these items. I was blind to the significance that they all came from a single, somewhat isolated, village in the south of the country: Dar Kulaib.

I failed to recognise the signs of a continued campaign of harassment. I missed indications that the attacks on Dar Kulaib mya be a strategic attempt by the regime to provoke retaliatory violence, re-framing the opposition movement for democratic reform as a faction advocating sectarian conflict --- a re-framing the regime has repeatedly sought, and failed, to achieve since February.

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The Latest from Iran (7 January): "We are in an Economic War"

See also Iran Appeal: Rejecting the "Islamic Penal Bill" Against Human Rights
Iran Audio Feature: Scott Lucas on Iran, Europe, and the Oil Sanctions
The Latest from Iran (6 January): Squeezing the Regime

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1830 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish blogger and human rights activist Rojin Mohemedi was released from Evin Prison on Monday.

Mohemedi, who studies at Manila Medical School in the Philippines was arrested at an airport in Tehran and imprisoned on 23 November, accused of incitement of propaganda against the regime.

1730 GMT: Currency Watch. A senior Central Bank of Iran official has denied the rumour (see 1558 GMT) that Bank head Mahmoud Bahmani has resigned amidst the currency crisis and other economic problems.

"Mr Bahmani will remain firmly in his job and whoever has published this false report has made a mistake," Deputy Governor Ebrahim Darvishi said.

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