I see on the horizon a glimpse of a new world, of a shining and flourishing globalization. I certainly see the end of a vicious and black history in which so many peoples and nations had experienced horror, tragedies, destruction and disaster. I certainly see the beginning of a humane, prosperous and generous history full of love and fraternity.
An aerial camera captures the scale of protest in Moscow today
See also Russia Feature: Putin Accused --- Large Protests on Saturday?
EA is working with INN to provide live coverage of today's protests in Russia:
17:35 GMT: Ridus News posts a series of remarkable photographs from today in Moscow taken from a radio-controlled helicopter above the demonstration.
16:58 GMT: Major rally planned in Irkutsk next Saturday.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 17:05 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran A clip of Friday's protests in Sitra in Bahrain --- the march was later confronted by security forces with tear gas and rubber bullets
See also Bahrain Opinion: "Loonies" and The Sins of Bell Pottinger
Bahrain Special: 4 More Revelations about Qorvis, the Regime's PR Firm
Syria Video Feature: Friday's Protests
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: What Will This Friday Bring?
2055 GMT: Gunmen, believed to be from renegade groups of former insurgents, have tried to kill the head of the Libyan army in Tripoli.
The assailants, whom military officials said were probably from the Zintan brigade, challenged the convoy of General Khalifa Hifter as it moved toward military headquarters. The attempt set off hours of intense gunbattles along the main highway to the airport (see 1755 GMT). One of Libya’s largest military bases was also attacked.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 15:21 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Last week we noted that the European Union had not imposed a ban on imports on Iranian oil, primiarly because of the concern of southern European countries such as Greece over a cut-off of supplies; however, we noted that the EU was pursuing alternative suppliers and would likely revive the issue at its next meeting in January.
An EA source offers analysis:
It appears that an EU embargo is highly likely. EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is being saying it appears consensus has been reached on the matter.
The UK Embassy takeover in Tehran seems to have been a critical turning point.
See also Iran Analysis: Will the European Union Ban Imports of Tehran's Oil? (Probably.)
The Latest from Iran (9 December): The Return of the Hidden Drone
2110 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, detained in September, has been released from prison.
Mirtahmasb was one of six directors seized on charges that they worked for BBC Persian.
1630 GMT: Surveillance Watch. Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, has said on its website that it will voluntarily restrict business in Iran because of the “increasingly complex situation” there.
Huawei declared it will not seek new customers will limit business activities with existing clients.
The company did not give a reason for the the pull-back but it has come under pressure on the Internet for the potential use of its technology for repression.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 9:04 | Josh Shahryar in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Bell Pottinger's Peter BingleTwo months ago, I was browsing Wikipedia and noticed a disturbing trend. Many articles about Gulf Arab states looked as if they had been tinkered with to distract readers from human rights abuses. I sent out a tweet for the record:
Is it just me or have the articles about Gulf royals on Wikipedia been all white-washed to minimize human rights abuse issues?
Now thanks to some brilliant journalism by The Independent and bloggers Tim Ireland and Marc Owen Jones, we know a British public-relations firm, hired by the Bahraini regime, has been carrying out that white-washing. Bell Pottinger's employees have tampered with Wikipedia entries, helping their clients by ensuring that unsuspecting readers would not pick up knowledge of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy equality protesters and the human rights abuses committed by the regime.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 8:09 | Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Qorvis is far more than the US branch of Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority. The company also arranged access for Crown Prince Salman to Washington's elite in May and June, including a gathering at the White House.
The Crown Prince sat down with leading members of Congress, while hands were shaken and words were exchanged with columnists like David Ignatius of The Washington Post --- who has been a prime outlet for good news about Bahrain's leadership --- analysts of think tanks like the Council on Foreign Relations and RAND, and former Government officials such as Elliot Abrams.
Dec 10th, 2011 at 14:00 Revolution Square. Meeting for open, transparent and truthful elections.
With over 35,000 people pledging to assemble at 2pm in Moscow alone, and similar demonstrations planned in nearly 130 cities across Russia, today looks set to see an escalation of the post-election protests seen earlier in the week. Initial anger at the results --- which saw United Russia keep its parliamentary majority, whilst dropping from 64 to 49 percent of the overall vote --- was triggered by accusations of fraud levelled at Putin and United Russia. Indeed, one exit poll put the total for United Russia as low as 27.5 percent.
Some Russian groups online, coupled with several Western commentators, are labeling this the “White” or “Snow” Revolution. Protesters on Saturday are being encouraged to bring white ribbons, balloons and flowers to the demonstrations. Many online activists have changed their avatars to include a white ribbon symbol.
1600 GMT: Drone Watch. Although nothing of significance has come out of Washington today on the crashed US drone, some notable details in this account in National Journal:
U.S officials tell National Journal that they lost contact with the drone on Nov. 29, U.S. time, and that it was not clear initially if Iran knew it had crashed. After the link was breached and unable to be restored, the Air Force unit that flies the Sentinels immediately sent a bulletin to the National Military Command Center --- a "pinnacle," designating an incident of potentially national significance.
President Obama was briefed Wednesday morning [30 November]. Other U.S. intelligence assets, possibly including an imaging satellite, were diverted to the search.
Initially, the U.S. considered infiltrating a small recovery element from the Joint Special Operations Command....The military also planned to destroy the downed plane by missile. But both missions were foiled when Iranian troops found the scene of the crash, which has not been disclosed.
Deir Ba'albeh in Homs
Fadwa Suleiman, Syria 
