Yemen and Media Opinion: Does a Life March Take Place If No One Covers It?

Yemen's Life Watch reaches Dhamar, halfway from Taiz to Sana'a

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Last week, tens of thousands of Yemenis marched 264 kilometres (160 miles) from Taiz to the capital Sana'a to demand justice for fallen protesters. To demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh be brought to trial over his actions in suppressing peaceful demonstrators. To demand that the wishes, hopes and dreams of millions of Yemenis who brought their lives to a standstill for the past year to get rid of a despotic dictatorship will be honoured.

When the marchers reached Sana'a, they did not get justice or honour. Instead, they were gifted bullets from their current rulers, condemnation from the US Ambassador, and something akin to a deafening silence in most of the international media.

The protesters called their walk through the rugged terrain of Yemen the Life March --- but does a march for life take place if no one is covers it?

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Sudan Special: A New Spark for 2011's Forgotten Revolution?

Police attack a sit-in of 16,000 student protesters on Sunday

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This intimidation and suppression has displayed the vast arsenal the al-Bashir regime was ready to unleash against protesters from the start of attempts to build a social movement for change. However, if this has limited attention to other attempted revolutions in 2011, the 30 January protests have initiated a movement which sees itself as a spark to ignite the whole country in unified opposition. 

Events of the last week may prove to be the catalyst for a wider movement to flourish. Whether the passion fueling the movement leads to its expansion, or whether it encounters a failure to achieve broad popular support, it is vital --- amid orchestrated suppression and the abuse of the last clampdown --- that the world not look away this time.

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Our Happy-Holiday Card: EA WorldView's Musical Anthems

For us at EA WorldView, this day will be a day of family, friends, and celebrations --- for 24 hours, we will be putting away the LiveBlogs as we exchange presents. In our absence, we want to wish all of our readers the happiest of holiday seasons. It may be a cliché, but it is one we hold dear: we peace upon the world and goodwill to all men and women.

Because music is a universal language --- and because we spend our days sending each other music videos on YouTube! --- we thought we would mark today with the songs which have accompanied us as we set out on the EA adventure. We hope you enjoy our assorted Christmas messages!

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Scott Lucas
Billy Bragg --- Waiting for the Great Leap Forward

I first heard Billy Bragg as he offered hope and wit during the coldest days of Thatcherism in Britain, but it was this song this was at my side during the awful time from 2001 through and beyond the Iraq War of 2003. I remember listening to it in anticipation of the march of at least 1.5 million people in London in 15 February 2003, the largest rally in British history.

That gathering did not stop the imminent war --- though it came closer than people realise --- but it always gave me hope and perspective on both the challenges and possibilities of activism. It also made me think that maybe day-to-day writing about those challenges and possibilities could be my own little jump forward.

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The Latest from Iran (25 December): A Compliment for the Supreme Leader?

0755 GMT: Elections Watch. Yesterday we highlighted a statement by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a leader of the Islamic Constancy Front, positioning it before March's Parliamentary elections with declarations of loyalty to the Supreme Leader but support for the camp of President Ahmadinejad. An EA reader extends the analysis by noting Mesbah Yazdi's assault on the reformists, whom anti-Ahmadinejad conservatives are hoping to bring into the elections --- he summarises Yazdi's comments:

Reformists started the "deviations" right after [the Iran/Iraq] war, because they could not during the war. Reformists denounced velayat-e faqih [clerical supremacy] and started the separation of Islam from politics and democracy. We chose Ahmadinejad [in 2005] because he had the guts to run with Islamic slogans, unlike everyone else afraid of losing people's votes....The Constancy Front is worried, for the sake of "unity", that seditionists will be allowed to join as "principlists" and gain power again.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Peace on Earth?

An anti-regime demonstration on Saturday outside the Constantino Church in the Damascus suburb of Yabroud

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0645 GMT: We open this morning with a separate video/picture feature of clashes in Bahrain last night, including the visual evidence that police are allying with armed plainclothes men in operations against villages.

Earlier, State media said charges relating to freedom of expression would be dropped in 34 cases involving 343 individuals linked to protests, although some of the accused would be tried on other allegations "including acts of violence and sabotage".

Matar Matar, a senior official with the opposition society Al Wefaq and a former MP, responded, "It's a media show, not linked to the application of the recommendations of the [Bahrain] Independent Commission of Inquiry." Protesters have called for the immediate release of all political detainees. 

In Yemen, President Saleh has personally repeated the declaration, issued by his office earlier this week, that he will leave for the United States during the transition of power. He did not say when he would depart.

Meanwhile, the hope of the Life March, a 250-kilometre (155-mile) walk by thousands from Taiz to the capital Sana'a was soon overtaken by the gunfire, tear gas, and water cannon of the regime. Firing on protesters who wanted to go to the Presidential Palace and demand Saleh's trial for crimes against his people, the security forces killed nine people.

Bahrain Video/Picture Feature: Are Police Allying with "Thugs" For Attacks?

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A series of images and first-hand reports from Bahrain last night pointed to a new phase in the conflict between security forces and protesters. It appears that, whether or not the police requested assistance, they have been joined by plainclothes men in the use of force and intimidation.

The main location was Dar Kulaib. Police mingled with men hurling stones and other objects and then the force, armed with sticks and metal rods, moved into the village, damaging vehicles and property:

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Russia Feature: The White-Ribbon Protests Return

See also Russia Feature: Renewed Protests Against Putin... But Will the "Dear" Leader Hang On?

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Saturday saw peaceful, large protests across Russia. In Moscow, the central site of the demonstrations, estimates of crowd size vary. Whilst government figures suggest around 30,000, some protest organisers have claimed upwards of 120,000 attended the rally.

Russia now enters a 10-day national holiday, which will likely keep protests low, but we can expect to see renewed demonstrations in January, carried forward by the momentum of today's events.

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The Quest for #2012Worldview: A Special Request to Readers for A New Year's Project

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Russia Feature: The White-Ribbon Protests Return to Russia

This entry is now re-titled and re-posted above.

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Violence Continues Through the Night...

In Bayada, Homs, protesters run through the trash to escape sniper fire.

See also Friday 23 December LiveBlog: Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Damascus Bombs
Bahrain Special: Last Night It Rained Tear Gas

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1710 GMT: The "Strike of Dignity", shutting down shops and schools in support of protests against the regime, continues across Syria. Footage from Kisweh outside Damascus:

1635 GMT: Upsetting scenes continue to unfold across the Middle East today, whilst the suffering wrought by yesterdays events comes to us through videos and reports. None of this violence has stopped the spirit of protest, with demonstrations taking place in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and beyond.

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