Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

1555 GMT: Egypt. The Pope of Egypt’s Coptic Church has received the Libyan Ambassador in Cairo to discuss the fate of three Egyptian Coptic-Christians and an Egyptian evangelical, detained in Libya on charges of "promoting Christianity".

Yesterday the Libyan Embassy temporarily suspended operations in Egypt amid concerns over the safety of its staff.

One Egyptian national was released earlier this mohth in the case.

Click to read more ...

Syria Feature: Remembering A Voice For the Syrian Revolution (Hanano)

---

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, I watched a single video: footage of an early expression of resistance recorded in central Damascus on March 15, 2011. After watching thousands of videos for the last two years of protests, funerals, destruction, bombs, and countless corpses — I was surprised that this video was as difficult to watch as the horrific ones. It’s a video that accidentally recorded an act of unparalleled bravery: one voice that pierced 41 years of a nation’s voluntary silence.

Click to read more ...

Iran Feature: Why Withdrawal of Google Reader is a Blow for Iranians

Google’s announcement that it’s killing off Google Reader, the company’s beloved, if not wildly popular, tool for consuming RSS feeds, was met with outrage from journalists and other, largely American nerds who rely on it to efficiently churn through blogs and other websites. But the real tragedy is likely to be felt in countries like Iran, where Google Reader is used to evade government censorship.

Click to read more ...

EA On the Road: A Break in London

I will be in London today, and EA staff will be taking a well-earned break.

Live Coverage will be limited today; however, we are grateful to readers who bring in latest news via our Comments sections. And we hope you will enjoy our features today on Iran and on Syria.

Syria Live Coverage: The Protests on the 2nd Anniversary of the Uprising

Friday's opposition rally in Al Bab in Aleppo

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Gazans Who Fight with the Insurgency
Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The New Coalition Government
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: Britain and France to Lift Arms Embargo on Insurgents?

---

0756 GMT: Cluster Bombs. Human Rights Watch, frp, field investigations and review of more than 450 videos, claims regime forces have used at least 156 cluster bombs in at least 115 locations in the past six months.

The organisation said it has investigated specific two cluster bomb attacks in the past two weeks --- one in Deir Jamal near Aleppo, and one in Talbiseh near Homs – that killed 11 civilians and wounded 27 others.

Click to read more ...

Iran Snapshot: Why Luxury Car Sales Do Not Mean an All-Is-Well Economy (The Economist)

Cars have become even less affordable for the poor. But middle-class Iranians buy them as investments as cash savings lose value because of inflation and the currency collapse. Iranians with government links are making a mint. At the end of 2011, after a run on the currency, officials fixed the exchange rate at 12,260 rials to the dollars to help importers. Three months ago this was cut to 24,368 rials. But only importers with government connections can get cheap dollars. They buy cars across the Persian Gulf, then sell them at home at the unofficial exchange rate of 37,000 rials.

Click to read more ...

Syria 1st-Hand: The Gazans Who Fight with the Insurgency (al-Ghoul)

Rally in northern Gaza for the Syrian opposition, January 2013

---

On leaving the house of the Salafist leader, who insisted on remaining anonymous, I was able to get an interview with the families of two Salafists who had participated in the battle in Syria, and who were declared dead by al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra on the Internet.

When I reached the house of the deceased Muhammad Qunayta, his brother refused to talk to me, despite having earlier confirmed the meeting.

However, the women poured their hearts out to me, expressing their sorrow for the sudden and tragic death of their son.

The sister of the deceased said, “Before he traveled, he was watching several videos from Syria and bitterly crying for the souls of children, women and wounded people. Then, he told us he was going to Turkey for trade purposes. We found out later that he went to Syria to carry out a martyrdom there.” She added that her brother’s conscience pushed him to fight in Syria. In his last days, he used to repeat, “My conscience cannot rest with all this injustice in Syria.”

Click to read more ...

Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The New Coalition Government

---

0555 GMT: Israel. After seven weeks of negotiations following the 22 January election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally confirmed a new Government on Friday.

Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu bloc, which led the January poll but suffered a drop in its vote from the last ballot, reached agreement with the Yesh Atid Party --- the surprise emerging force in the election --- and the new Jewish Home Party, led by American-born high-tech entrepreneur Naftali Bennett.

The small centrist party of former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will also be in the coalition. For the first time in a decade, ultra-orthodox parties are excluded.

Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid was named Minister of Finance, while Bennett will be Minister of Trade. Likud-Beitenu retains control of the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

Iran Live Coverage: "The Freest Elections in the World"

0615 GMT: The Battle Within. US National Public Radio features an audio report on the political in-fighting, noting protests, claims of corruption, and tension over forthcoming Presidential elections. EA WorldView makes an appearance:

While Ahmadinejad is [in office], he can be blamed for the economic difficulties. He can be blamed for escalating inflation. He can be blamed for the 70 percent drop in the value of the currency. Now, Ahmadinejad's going to be gone in June. Who is the Supreme Leader's firewall then? Who does he blame if there is no improvement in the economy?

Click to read more ...

Iran Live Coverage: Getting Over-Excited About a US Drone

See also Iran Special: How Western Media Missed The Important Story from Israel
Thursday's Iran Live Coverage: The Clerics Vs. Ahmadinejad

---

2035 GMT: Media Watch. Reader Arshama (see Comments) brings the story that Serat News, reportedly close to the Basij militia, is on-line again after being blocked by the Filtering Commission today.

Farda News claimed that the filtering occurred after Serat ran a story about a "certain political group". Reportedly the site posted a video linking the pro-Ahmadinejad group that interrupted Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani's speech, in Qom on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, to the hard-line Constancy Front.

The offending article has now disappeared.

Click to read more ...