Bahrain 1st-Hand: Zainab Alkhawaja "The Day I Was Shot by Police"

Last Thursday prominent activist Zainab Alkhawaja was struck in the leg by a tear gas canister fired by riot police as protesters gathered in Buri.

Last night she wrote on the experience on Twitter:

As soon as I can walk on my crutches, I will be participating in a protest, alongside all the protesters I am so proud of #Bahrain

— angry arabiya (@angryarabiya) July 2, 2012

riot police who attack us might see me on crutches, another protester with an injured eye, and the 3rd with pellets in his face... #Bahrain

— angry arabiya (@angryarabiya) July 2, 2012

..... but they'll also see the determination in our eyes #Bahrain

— angry arabiya (@angryarabiya) July 2, 2012

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The Latest from Iran (2 July): Winners and Losers in the Economic Crisis

See also Iran Feature: A Cleric's Best-Selling DVD Guide "Lovemaking is Like Jihad"
The Latest from Iran (1 July): The European Union Cuts Off Imports of Tehran's Oil

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2010 GMT: Diplomacy Watch. ISNA highlights an interview with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who declares, “The other side has no choice but to come to an agreement with Iran. Otherwise, instead of interaction, the next option will be confrontation, and I don’t believe that any rational mind is after confrontation given the latest developments in the region.”

Salehi urged Iranians to be confident, "We have been subjected to sanctions for the past 33 years “come in addition to previous ones, and it isn’t a problem....[We must] show national unity and have resistance and patience against these sanctions because one has to pay the costs for preserving one’s independence."

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Transition Plan Going Nowhere?

Two insurgents try to destroy a regime armoured vehicle with an RPG in Deir Ez Zor Province in Syria

See also Sudan Video Feature: Will the Protests Spread?
Syria Snap Analysis: As The World Talked in Geneva, The People Were Blown Apart in Zamalka
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: World Powers Agree to Disagree

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2202 GMT: Syria. At least 114 people were killed today, according to the activist network LCCS:

34 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs, 27 martyrs in Hama, 23 martyrs in Homs, 13 martyrs in Deir Ezzor, 6 martyrs in Idlib, 4 martyrs in Aleppo, 4 martyrs in Daraa, 2 martyrs in Damascus and 1 martyr in Lattakia.

The dramatic violence continues, and it is not isolated to a single region. The daily death toll appears to consistently stay above 100, just another sign of how quickly things are deteriorating in Syria.

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Iran Feature: A Cleric's Best-Selling DVD Guide "Lovemaking is Like Jihad" (Valinejad)

“Love” may be one of the most heavily used words in Persian literature. Famous poets Rumi, Hafez, and Sa’adi obsessed about “eshq” centuries ago, though their words most often referred to divine and spiritual emotions.

Discussion of physical love was another matter. As in many cultures, it was long a taboo subject, and the advent of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution did little to change that. The trend for decades has, in fact, been evident in annual police crackdowns that target women showing too much hair, or boy-girl handholding in the streets.

So it might be a surprise that one of the hottest-selling DVDs in Tehran --- at least at souvenir stores that cater for Shiite religious pilgrims to the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine, south of the capital --- is one that seems to encourage something of a sexual revolution, Shiite-style.

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Sudan Video Feature: Will the Protests Spread? (Al Jazeera English)

Sparked by Government austerity measures, protests were renewed in Sudan against the Bashir regime on 15 June. In an episode of Inside Story broadcast last Friday, Al Jazeera English talks to two analysts --- one from Sudan and one from Britain --- and a member of the opposition Democratic Union Party about the future of the demonstrations.

Syria: A Note on the Local Coordination Committees

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC) is an activist network operating both inside and outside of Syria. They claim to use stringent verification processes to ensure that a member of the LCC can vouch for any information posted either on their Facebook page or their website. The LCC also cooperates with an independent organization to populate database of those killed in the Syrian conflict, which can be seen at the website for the Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria.

The LCC's casualty figures are often a mix of insurgents and civilians, and never include regime casualties. Syrian State Media has stopped reporting regime casualty figures.

Also see our description of the Local Coordination Committees and how we utilize their reports in the Columbia Journalism Review.

EA on the Road: Hanging Out with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic

Today I will be at the Mostly Jazz and Soul Festival --- strictly as an audience member --- where George Clinton and Funkadelic are headlining.

EA staff are also taking a well-earned break, so Live Coverage will be paused from Sunday afternoon until Monday morning. In the meantime, we thank readers for bringing in latest news and ideas through our Comments sections on the pages.

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: World Powers Agree to Disagree

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1635 GMT: Sudan. A Presidential assistant has set out the cause of protests that revived in the country two weeks ago. While others have cited the Government's austerity measures, Nafie Ali Nafie said, "Zionist institutions inside the United States and elsewhere... are exploiting the latest economic decisions to destabilize the security and political situation."

Nafie said the government had evidence of collusion between rebel groups in Darfur, politicians in the newly-independent South Sudan, and Zionist institutions in the US to sabotage Sudan. He did not present the evidence.

1435 GMT: Mali. Members of the Salafist Ansar Dine group, armed with guns and pick-axes, have continued to destroy ancient mausoleums in Timbuktu, the second day of attacks on the UNESCO heritage sites.

Ansar Dine group backs strict Islamic law and considers the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam to be idolatrous.

Residents say the group has threatened to destroy all of the 16 main mausoleums of saints in Timbuktu.

"We are subject to religion and not to international opinion. Building on graves is contrary to Islam. We are destroying the mausoleums because it is ordained by our religion," Oumar Ould Hamaha said.

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To Lift the Spirits: Dancing with Matt Again (Even in North Korea)

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In 2008, just before the launch of EA WorldView, I discovered Matt Harding, a young man from Seattle, Washington, who decided to film himself dancing with people around the world. In the middle of the tragedy of the Israeli war in Gaza in January 2009, I needed an alternative to the images of destruction so I posted his first video:

For me, that video was a life-affirming moment which has lasted. Harding followed up, "Where the Hell is Matt?" with sequels, including one in Gaza. Then this week, as we covered the bloodshed in Syria, I came across his latest film, complete with this recollection from Harding about one special location where he danced....

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The Latest from Iran (1 July): The European Union Cuts Off Imports of Tehran's Oil

1535 GMT: Correction of the Day. I am not sure we can take credit for this but, hours after we noted Press TV's use of a conspracy-theory "analyst" to proclaim "US Seeks War with Russia", the Iran State website has downgraded the crisis: "West Seeks Tussle with Russia over Syria"

1445 GMT: A Revolutionary Guards commander has announced plans for a new missile exercise, Great Prophet 7, from Monday to Wednesday.

The Commander of the Aerospace Division, Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said, “By firing missiles into these simulated bases (of regional forces), our commanders will assess the precision and the effectiveness of the warheads installed on the missiles.”

The commander said the message for the “regional and transregional countries seeking adventurism is that the Islamic Republic is determined to resist their bullying and will give a crushing and decisive response to any potential act of mischief. In case of any potential incident, Iran's surface-to-surface missiles will descend upon them like bolts of thunder.”

1245 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who earlier said Zionists are behind the US and European Union's economic restrictions, has tried to rally Iranians: “Today, we are facing the heaviest of sanctions and we ask people to help officials in this battle."

Rahimi said the “dastardly sanctions” might cause “occasional confusion” in the market, but assured that the Iranian nation would not be stopped.

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