Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protest Creep

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Activist Zainab Alkhawaja (@angryarabiya) stands in front of police after security forces attacked a protest in A'ali in Bahrain

Bahrain 1st-Hand: How Activist Zainab Alkhawaja Defied the Police...And Escaped Arrest

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2114 GMT: After losing an appeal, it appears as though Libya's former Prime Minister, Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, will be extradited from Tunisia to Libya to face trial. However, the move could still be blocked when the new government takes over in Tunisia:

It was unclear whether Tunisia's incoming president, who is a former head of the country's best-known human rights group, would sign the order. Al-Mahmoudi's lawyers have also appealed to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, asking them to grant him a status of political refuge.

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The Latest from Iran (26 November): Embezzlement

Graffiti of the Day. "The Greens Are Awake and Alert"

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2125 GMT: Labour Front. ILNA reports on the protests of Tabriz workers and retirees in East Azerbaijan against changes in Iran's labour laws.

2037 GMT: Habil Darvish, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tehran Metro, has criticised the Government for paying only 20% of the allocated subsidies this year.

And Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf has struck a note of defiance: 400 new metro carriages will run until the end of year, even though the Government has ordered banks not to cooperate with the Metro.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: At a Crossroads for Reconciliation?

2220 GMT: While we look for confirmation that defected soldiers have killed 40 in Deir Ez Zor, the Syrian regime is claiming that they killed 16 "terrorists" in al Rastan, Homs:

Syrian security forces bust a "terrorist gang" in the central province of Homs, killing 16 of its members, arresting dozens and seizing large quantities of arms, state television said on Friday.

The operation was carried out in the town of Rastan in Homs, one of the main hubs of protest against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the report said, without specifying when it was launched.

2211 GMT: Another report from Shakeeb Al-Jabri:

Reports from Tal Kalakh of "3 military martyrs in clashes which erupted after defection;" allegiance of those fallen not given.

2203 GMT: Now the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights is also reporting clashes between security forces and the Syrian Free Army in Deir Ez Zor:

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The Latest from Iran (25 November): Down, Down, Down

Claimed footage, posted yesterday, of a recent strike by workers in Tabriz in northwest Iran

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2045 GMT: The Lesser-of-Two-Evils Watch. Kayhan editor Hossei Shariatmadari, criticising the Green Movement for saying the Iranian system should apologise to the people, has remarked, "We would rather bribe the US than the people."

2035 GMT: Elections Watch. Solat Mortazavi, the head of Iran’s Elections Headquarters, has repeated that two leading reformist organizations, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, will not be allowed to field candidates in March's Parliamentary elections.

Mortazavi told a workshop for provincial elections officials that the Supreme Leader has instructed officials to ensure that the “enemy” does not turn the elections into a challenge to the Islamic Republic. He said individual reformists are not barred from the elections so long as the Guardian Council declares them eligible.

The two reformist organisations were dissolved by court order last year. Many of their members have been arrested and given long prison sentences.

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

Aleppo

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests Across the Country --- Set 1

Waar section of Homs

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Occupy Wall Street (and Beyond) Video: How Police in Oakland Said "Happy Thanksgiving"

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Police clashed with protesters in Oakland, California on Thursday, reportedly after an officer told a driver delivering portable toilets to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza to leave because he did not have the proper permit.

Occupy Oakland soon released, "Video of OPD tackling ppl today over a couple of Port-a-Potties. Seriously."

The footage shows a protester wrestled to the ground, as others were handcuffed. At least one arrest was reported.

Egypt LiveBlog: One Week Later....

1959 GMT: Despite concessions, speeches, and a new prime minister, this is the scene in Tahrir Square, Cairo, this evening, as thousands remain to protest:

1954 GMT: Egypt's new prime minister will have more power than his predecessor, a concession to the protesters, perhaps, but will it be enough to alleviate their fears and frustrations?

Kamal el-Ganzouri, 78, served as prime minister between 1996 and 1999 and was deputy prime minister and planning minister before that. He also was a provincial governor under the late President Anwar Sadat.

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President Obama's Wars: The US Steps Up Its Proxy Fight in Somalia

Civilians Flee Fighting in Northern Somalia (Photo: Abdi Warsameh, AP)The Obama administration is intensifying its campaign against an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia by boosting the number of proxy forces in the war-torn country, expanding drone operations and strengthening military partnerships throughout the region.

In many ways, the American role in the long-running conflict in Somalia is shaping up as the opposite of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: relatively inexpensive, with limited or hidden U.S. footprints.

While the White House has embraced the strategy as a model for dealing with failed states or places inherently hostile to an American presence, the indirect approach carries risks. Chief among them is a lack of control over the proxy forces from Uganda, Burundi and Somalia, as well as other regional partners that Washington has courted and financed in recent years.

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US, Middle East, & Iran Feature: RIP, Dennis Ross

Benjamin Netanyahu & Dennis RossBluntly summarised, Ross's approach was to bully a perceived adversary into negotiations. Israel would only face meaningful talks once the Palestinian Authority had accepted a series of demands; the "international community" would only move to agreement with Iran once Tehran had made the substantial concessions.

It was an approach guaranteed to fail, and it did. Mitchell persisted but finally gave up. There is no foreseeable prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which explains why the Palestinians made their move in September for recognition by the United Nations. The window for a resolution with Iran on the nuclear issue closed in November 2009 --- to be fair to Ross, more because of internal politics in Tehran than his politics within the Obama Administration --- and it has never re-opened. With that closure, Ross' vision --- sanctions, more sanctions, and the threat of even tougher action to force Iran to its knees has triumphed over the following two years.

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