In the wake of Friday’s Iranian Presidential election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (hater of neckties and basic logic) claimed victory, reports of voter fraud are thick in the air and protests which broke out over the weekend have reportedly turned lethal. Follow inside for news resources.

I’m not uploading it here because it is quite wide and best seen in its natural environment, but the BBC has an excellent flow chart and accompanying information detailing how Iran is ruled. The chart is in honor of today’s elections and shows which positions are elected and unelected and who, like the Guardian Council, bridge the gap.

I have to admit I’ve never been much of a fan of reality TV; this can probably be put down to the fact that, after spending a few years in politics, watching a pack of attention-starved sociopaths stab each other in the back for the sake of more camera time kind of loses its novelty value.
But I do love me some Britain’s Got Talent.

An Air France flight that took off from Rio de Janeiro this morning has disappeared during its path to Paris. There are 228 passengers on board. The plane was reporting electrical malfunctions before it disappeared off radars. Brazil has sent out two air force squads to search. Friends or relatives of those on the plane can call these hotline numbers for more information: 0800 800 812 (France) or +33 157021055 (International).

South Ossetia is holding its first election since the Georgia-Russia skirmish of August ‘08. Elections always run a high risk of corruption and misfire but South Ossetia’s elections are extra special in that the only countries that recognize them as being valid are Russia and Nicaragua. As far as anyone else is concerned, South Ossetia belongs to Georgia.

The crux of the Daily Telegraph story discussing the torture pictures was the content confirmation by Major General Antonia Taguba. But Salon’s Mark Benjamin spoke to Taguba and got some clarification

The idea that torture is a valid and effective way of extracting reliable information would be laughable on its face if so many people didn’t believe it was true. Sgwhiteinfla — standing in for Spencer Ackerman — points to Senate testimony given by former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan that highlighted a more effective technique that also didn’t break any human rights laws.

Robert Gibbs was asked yesterday about the photographs from the Daily Telegraph story. He took the opportunity to work in a juvenile slam against the British press system:

Last month, the Obama administration agreed to release a “substantial number” of photographs from U.S. facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was to be the first time any images were released since the infamous leak of Abu Gharib photos during the Bush years. But that offer was quickly retracted. Robert Gibbs said that “nothing is added” by the release of “sensationalistic” pictures.In seeming contradiction, President Obama released a statement the next day emphasising that the photos “are not particularly sensational, especially when compared to the painful images we remember from Abu Ghraib”.

Earlier this month, the UK charity Women’s Aid released a domestic violence PSA starring Keira Knightley. The ad, intended to be shown in theaters and on television, features Knightley leaving a film set and coming home to an abusive partner. She walks into the apartment, finds a broken mirror and offers her partner a towel for his injured hand. He throws it in her face.