Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Starting 2012 With a Bang

Bahraini police, after speaking to activist Nabeel Rajab, attack the protest march in Manama on Friday night

See also Syria Video: Amidst the Violence, A #SecurityFail Comedy Moment
Friday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Calling for International Intervention?

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1930 GMT: Security camera footage showing the moment of yesterday's blast in Damascus has been obtained by the Al Alam News Network (and uploaded to YouTube via a third party). The commentators note that the explosion can be seen under the highway overpass, next to a car belonging to the security forces. See our liveblog yesterday for a map pinpointing the exact location of the blast.

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Meet EA's Newest Correspondent: Dear Leader Kim Jong Un on the Iowa Caucus

We were all very sad at EA WorldView when we heard the news that Glorious Leader Kim Jong Il of North Korea would be looking at things no more.

However, we were soon cheered up. Kim Jong Un, the new Dear Leader, has joined EA in embracing social media to comment on all the news that is fit to satirise, taking to Twitter like a Republican no-hoper to a Presidential election year. This week, between sharing his love for the band Creed and the actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kim Jong Un --- or @KimJongNumberUn to his followers --- offered the following rather acute overview of the Iowa Caucus and ongoing Republican campaign:

We promise more nuggets of analysis from this brilliant, youthful, dictatorial mind over the coming months.

Iran Appeal: Rejecting the "Islamic Penal Bill" Against Human Rights

Iran's parliament is preparing to pass the "Islamic Penal Bill" --- legislation that flouts its legal obligations under the ICCPR. The legislation endangers free expression and reinforces laws that violate the rights of Iranian citizens. The bill fails to prohibit stoning, lashing, and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishments; redress discriminatory laws; or, raise the age of majority for girls and boys. In a particularly worrisome clause, the bill expands punishment for "actions against national security", a charge that has routinely been used to persecute dissidents.

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Syria Video: Amidst the Violence, A #SecurityFail Comedy Moment

A moment of comedy amidst the daily tragedy in Syria: a member of the security forces forgets the basics of getting into a pick-up truck. 

Iran Audio Feature: Scott Lucas on Iran, Europe, and the Oil Sanctions

I spoke at length with London's Monocle Radio on Friday night about the European Union's forthcoming cut-off of oil imports from Iran, the timing and manner of its implementation, and the consequences for Tehran.

There are lots of take-away points from the interview but the headlines may be: 1) the EU decision is going to be announced at the end of January, but probably will not take effect until months later, as alternative supplies are assured; 2) yes, this will be a major blow to Iran, both in symbolism and in economic impact.

The discussion begins at the 6:08 mark.

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Calling for International Intervention?

Scene of the explosion in Midan in the Syrian capital Damascus today

See also Syria Video Special: Friday's Mass Protests Across the Country - Set1 and Set 2

Bahrain Analysis: Will 2012 Be Like 2011?
Syria and Bahrain Analysis: Evaluating The Protests and the Crackdowns --- Will New History Be Made?
Thursday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Message to President Obama

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2310 GMT: Nabeel Rajab is home. He tweets of his experience:

It was minimum cost for freedom and justice - 9umoood [Resistance!]

Disturbingly, Nabeel also confirms earlier reports that his "family and house were attacked by teargas" whilst he was in hospital.

2240 GMT: Nabeel Rajab is out of hospital. Zainab Alkhawaja has uploaded this picture showing him as he walks out of Salmaniya hospital:

She quotes Nabeel as saying: ""The most important thing, is we don't give up. That's why next week we'll do the same as 2day"

Said Yousif Almuhafda, who was also injured after security forces attacked, came to visit Nabeel in the hospital. Zainab reports that he was threatened by police when he got there. Zainab later uploaded this photo of the two human rights campaigners which she captioned: "Two heroes after a rough day".

2105 GMT: This video shows Nabeel Rajab speaking to a police officer. As the officer withdraws, the crowd begins to chant, and then the video decays into gunfire and chaos:

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The Latest from Iran (6 January): Squeezing the Regime

Supreme Leader: "We will break the neck of boycotters" / Journalist: "Take care of your own neck, Haji" (Cartoon: Nikahang Kowsar)

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2100 GMT: Elections Watch. Gholam-Hossein Haddad-Adel, former Speaker of Parliament and a member of the Supreme Leader's inner circle, has made conciliatory noises about rivals in the Islamic Constancy Front, led by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. Haddad-Adel, linked to the Unity Front preparing for the Parliamentary elections in March, said, "We do not disagree with our friends in the Constancy Front. There may be difference in preferences but we are united on principles."

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Mass Protests Across the Country --- Set 2

Tonight in Deir Ba'alba in Homs

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Mass Protests Across the Country

Damascus suburb of Zamalka

Damascus suburb of Yabroud

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Bahrain Analysis: Will 2012 Be Just Like 2011? (Gengler)

An opposition rally in Sitra in Bahrain on 5 January --- the crowd chants, "Down Down [King] Hamad"

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As Bahrain approaches the one-year anniversary of the February uprising, neither the formal opposition in al-Wifaq et al., nor the youth-dominated street movement, shows signs of losing interest in pursuing fundamental political change. Indeed, February 14, 2012, will carry more symbolism even than the same date in 2011, as it marks simultaneously the one-year anniversary of mass protests as well as the ten-year anniversary of Bahrain's 2002 Constitution, promulgated unilaterally by King Hamad and, for protesters, symptomatic of the latter's aborted political reform project promised at the outset of his ascension.

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