Pursuing an international proposal for a resolution to Syria's crisis, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura met President Assad's officials in Damascus on Friday.
De Mistura saw Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. No details were given of the discussion beyond "preparations for the [international] meeting scheduled on January 25th".
Human Rights Watch has said that the Saudi-led coalition is using cluster bombs in its aerial intervention in Yemen's civil war.
HRW said the cluster munitions were dropped on Yemen's capital Sana'a, controlled by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement, on Wednesday. While saying that it was unclear if civilians had been killed or wounded, the organization asserted that "the deliberate or reckless use of cluster munitions in populated areas amounts to a war crime".
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Thursday's suicide truck bombing on a police training centre in Libya that killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 200.
The bomb, the deadliest since the fall of the Qaddafi regime in October 2011, was detonated at the police training center in the coastal town of Zliten as hundreds of recruits gathered for a morning meeting.
Trying to limit the fallout from last weekend's attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, Iran's clerics suggested on Friday that the "enemy" had staged the protests which burned and ransacked part of the complex.
Later this morning, we will launch a new EA WorldView --- a new logo and a new website which will be reader-friendly, with quick and easy-to-navigate access to our coverage and analysis.
Much of the new EAWV will be familiar. We will have the latest news and interpretations from Syria, Iran, and the Middle East, including the manoevres of those inside and outside the region from Washington to London to Moscow. We will feature Animated Guides and Video Analyses. We will host a vibrant Comments section, bringing in ideas and news from our readers.
At the same time, we will have new features and possibilities. In time, we will expand coverage to other key areas. As well as immediate analysis, we will offer in-depth explanations and forecasts. EA Solutions will provide access to our staff, on a group and a 1-to-1 basis.
Our thanks to all of you for your support over the last 4 1/2 years. We look forward to welcoming you to our new home, as well as seeing you on Twitter.
EA Worldview Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 13:15 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
As part of its daily Iran briefings, EA WorldView will be providing detailed coverage of the Presidential campaign and the election, scheduled for 14 June.
Follow the developments in our Iran Today section, latest analysis. and latest feature on the Presidential debates.
New to the election and/or Iran? Get up to speed with our Animated Guide and our special section, with a description of the process and details of the key factions.
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 8:28 | Joanna Paraszczuk in EA Iran, EA Live, Iran Election 2013, Middle East and Iran 
Ali Larijani & The Supreme Leader --- Credit: Mehr News Fars: Guardian Council May Disqualify Moderate Rouhani
In an indication of growing concern over the campaign of moderate Hassan Rouhani, Fars News --- close to the Revolutionary Guards --- has declared, from an "informed source", that the Guardian Council will discuss the candidacy tomorrow.
The source said the Council will re-examine Rouhani's qualifications, considering charges that he is being supported by leaders of "sedition" and lawlessness.
Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 8:02 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Live, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Turkey: Massive Istanbul Anti-Government Rally as PM Erdogan Addresses Supporters in Ankara
A visual story of the competing rallies for and against the Erdogan Government --- first, Sunday's large gathering in Istanbul's Taksim Square, where mass protests began nine days ago:
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told supporters in Ankara tonight, "How can you attack my police?...We are going to show patience, but patience has a limit as well":
London-based NGO Small Media, a self-described "action lab helping the free flow of information and creative expression in closed societies, with training, technology and research initiatives that focus on Iran", has published a report on the use of social media by Iran's Presidential candidates.
The report, covering 21-27 May, concludes that the "prevailing attitude is quite negative [about the election] among those on Twitter".
Small Media found that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani was the person most "worth following" on Twitter, despite his disqualification by the Guardian Council almost a week earlier.
