Latest Iran, Middle East News & Beyond *******************************
The Los Angeles Times Iran: Internet access, text - messaging service down as 22 Bahman protests approach - -
In the last week, Internet connections across Iran have slowed to a crawl, with sources in Tehran reporting that, when service is available at all, it is so slow that checking e-mail is nearly impossible By Daniel Siegel
The Los Angeles Times Iran: As many as 3 million protesters anticiapated at Thursday rally - -
a source inside Tehran police headquarters told a friend of the Los Angeles Times in Iran that security forces expect as many as 3 million anti-government protesters to descend on the center of the capital during the holiday By
The Los Angeles Times Iran lawyer haunted by young man's execution - -
Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is filled with rage over the treatment of her client, 20-year-old Arash Rahmanipour, who was not defended in court and then was quietly put to death By Ramin Moghadam & Borzou Daragahi
The Los Angeles Times Iran: Opposition & hard - liners get ready for Bahman confrontations - -
"We’ll come on 22 Bahman to show that the green movement is intertwined with national and religious values and it insists on its rightful demands stipulated in the constitution," By
The Washington Post Iran tells IAEA of nuclear plans - -
Iran handed over a letter to the U.N. nuclear agency on Monday informing it about the Islamic republic's plans to start enriching higher-grade atom fuel from Tuesday By
The New York Times The dream of zero - -
Linking the antiproliferation agenda to the dream of universal nuclear abolition, as President Obama seems intent on doing, is a naïve approach a very difficult problem By Ross Douthat
The Los Angeles Times Defying the west, Iran's president orders boost in nuclear enrichment - -
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells his atomic energy chief to increase uranium enrichment from 3.5% to 20% as talks over a nuclear-fuel exchange sputter. Iran's energy chief says it's simply an 'alert By Borzou Daragahi & Julian E. Barnes
The Washington Post Al - Qaeda wounded, dangerous - -
the group has shifted tactics to focus on small-scale operations that are far harder to detect and disrupt, analysts say By Joby Warrick & Peter Finn
The Los Angeles Times Robert Gates says Iran's response to nuclear proposal is disappointing - -
Defense Secretary Gates urges tougher sanctions as Iranian officials offer conflicting messages on the proposed deal to swap uranium for fuel plates By Julian E. Barnes & Julia Damianova
The Los Angeles Times Egypt's copts fearful amid increasing tensions - -
As the majority Muslim nation turns more conservative, the Christian minority, which has lived in relative peace for centuries, faces an uncertain future. Recent killings and riots add to the fear By Jeffrey Fleishman
The Wall Street Journal Mousavi lashes out at Iran's rulers - -
Iran's leading opposition figure lashed out at the country's ruling class, saying that despite the Islamic revolution that toppled the shah 31 years ago, tyranny and dictatorship have survived By Chip Cummins & Farnaz Fassihi
The New York Times Addicted to Haiti - -
America’s cocaine habit could undermine rebuilding efforts in a Haiti where the political narrative since the fall of the Duvaliers closely tracks the rise of drug trafficking By Ben Fountain
The Wall Street Journal Iran may ramp up nuclear program - -
Ahmadinejad ordered Iran's nuclear agency to begin enriching uranium for use in a medical research reactor By Chip Cummins & Peter Spiegel
The New York Times Postcard from Yemen - -
Sana is not Kabul, and Yemen is not Afghanistan — not yet. Yeminis have the resources to save themselves, but they need to be mobilized by better governance By Thomas L. Friedman
The Washington Post A new thaw between India & Pakistan - -
India won't be secure unless Pakistan is, and vice versa. And neither country can be comfortable so long as Afghanistan remains a battleground By David Ignatius
The Guardian The Iranian revolution grinds to a halt on the eve of its anniversary - -
Thirty-one years ago this week, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran after 15 years in exile. The anniversary is usually marked by triumphant rallies. Not this time: protesters are planning mass demonstrations By Robert Tait & Noushin Hoseiny
The New York Post Bibi, not bam, has Iran plan - -
"Furthermore, my military advisers all agree that we do not have sufficient conventional firepower to accomplish the mission. We are compelled to use tactical nuclear weapons. It is the only way we can be sure of success
By Michael Goodwin
The Guardian Will the Taliban buy into surgenomics ? - -
Paying militants to switch sides has had some success in Iraq. Now the US hopes the same tactic will succeed in Afghanistan By James Denselow
The Guardian U.S. dismisses Iranian claims of nuclear agreement - -
Deal to reduce Iran's uranium stockpile in doubt as Tehran accused of stalling for time By David Batty
The Yahoo News Defense chief disputes deal on Iran's nuke program - -
"The reality is they've done nothing to assure the international community" or "to stop their progress toward (building) a nuclear weapon," Gates said By Anne Flaherty
The Washington Post Reverse exodus of migrant worker in Persian Gulf challenges India - -
The great Persian Gulf migration has slowed to a trickle. About 4 million Indian workers have moved to the region since 2003, but the pace dropped off during the 2008 global economic crisis By Emily Wax
The Christian Science Homegrown terrorism a growing concern for U.S. intelligence - -
Homegrown terrorism is a growing threat, US intelligence chief Dennis Blair said this week. But the number of American Muslims engaged in extremist activity remain small and still largely focused overseas By Gordon Lubold
The Times Online Please forgive me, begs British woman facing lashes over 'subversion' in Iran - -
Unidentified woman, 24, facing lashes after apparently pleading guilty to joining protests and consorting with foreigners By Martin Flecher
The Guardian Turkish girl, 16, buried alive for talking to boys - -
Death reopens debate over 'honour' killings in Turkey, which account for half of all the country's murders By Robert Tait
The Wall Street Journal Iraq delays start of parliamentary election campaigns - -
Iraq's electoral commission has delayed by five days the start of campaigning for parliamentary elections so that the nation's high court could rule on whether a decision to ban certain candidates was constitutional By Margret Coker
The Los Angeles Times Exploring Iran via its cinema - -
The UCLA Film & Television Archive's 20th annual celebration of the country's art-house offerings affords what is for many a rare glimpse inside the country's psyche as well as its borders By Susan King
The Wall Street Journal McChrystal sees signs of progress in push to stabilize Afghanistan - -
The head of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan said he no longer believes the battlefield situation there is deteriorating, the first time Gen. Stanley McChrystal has made such a determination By Peter Spiegel
The New York Times Get on with Iraq's election - -
Instead of trying to keep competitors off the ballot, Iraq’s leaders should be debating their country’s serious problems and telling voters how they will fix them By Editorials
The Los Angeles Times Morocco, France: Muslim man denied French citizenship after allegedly forcing wife to wear veil - -
A Moroccan man apparently flunked the morals test in his recent request for French citizenship. He allegedly forced his French wife to wear the full-body Islamic veil, or burka By Alexandra Sandels
The Washington Post U.S. commander in Afghanistan says situation is likely to improve - -
I am prepared to say we are very much engaged, and I'm confident we're going to see serious progress this year By Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post Hitting back hard at the Taliban - -
Revenge on the Taliban, from 10,000 feet By David Ignatius
The Guradian A quick fix for Iraqi's election - -
US intervention in the Iraqi election process is about smooth sailing towards troop withdrawal, not supporting Iraq By Ranj Alaaldin
The Wall Street Journal In Afghanistan surge, U.S. broadcasts targets - -
In Unusual Tactic, Allies in Afghanistan Issue Press Release Describing Next Attack, in Bid to Intimidate the Taliban By Michael M. Phillips
The New York Times The sour notes of Iran's art diplomacy - -
A tour across Europe by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra had the faint echo of an earlier era of cultural diplomacy.
By Michael Kimmelman
The National Review Eye to eye on Iran ? - -
Our partisan Congress has united behind sanctions By Clifford D. May
The Los Angeles Times Iran: Karroubi denounces Guardian Council, calls for big 22 Bahman protests - -
Mehdi Karroubi called for an abolition of the Guardian Council's power to oversee elections, a direct swipe at the conservative body's leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati By
The Washington Post Clinton says no prisoner swap with Iran - -
Secratery Clinton ruled out Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's suggestion that three detained American hikers in Iran be swapped with Iranian citizens held in the United States By Mathew Lee
The Washington Post Iraqi appeals court lifts ban on candidates - -
An Iraqi appeals court on Wednesday overturned an effort to bar hundreds of candidates from Iraq's upcoming national elections By Leila Fadel
The Financial Times U.S. says it cannot force Iran to shun bomb - -
The US said on Tueday that it could not forcibly prevent Iran from developing nuclear arms, but that it still hoped to dissuade Tehran from building a bomb By Daniel Dombey, Najmeh Bozorgmehr & Andrew England
The New Republic Green energy: Have the leader of the Green Movement really sold out ? - -
unfortunately for the government, this simply isn’t true. For one thing, as Mousavi, Khatami, and Karroubi have repeatedly said, they are only the nominal leaders of the movement By Abbas Milani
The Washington Post U.S. solidarity could boost Iran's green revolution - -
the internal nature of a regime eventually determines its external behavior; a government that represses its people is more likely to be aggressive and destabilizing By Michael Gerson
