These photos seem to prove that a pro-coup newspaper digitally removed bloodstains from the image of a protestor shot dead by soldiers. Read more...

A demonstration of farmers and unionists ended in 11 arrests on Sunday. Jordan and Israel might have signed a peace agreement in 1994, but these Jordanians take no heed of it in their protest over fruit and vegetable imports from the Jewish state. Read more...

So brutal was the post-election crackdown that anti-Ahmadinejad protesters no longer dare to organise outdoor demonstrations. They have not given up the fight, however. One of our Observers in the country, Sara, took part in "operation blackout" on Tuesday. Armed with an iron and hair strengtheners, she tried, along with many others, to cut the president's televised speech with an electricity blackout. Read more...

Three minutes of sickeningly kitsch video is North Korea's way of advertising their home-brewed lager. In the land where advertising has been, until now, non-existent, is Kim Jong-il edging North Korea slowly towards capitalism? Read more and see the ad...

Counterfeit iPhones have become so sophisticated that from looks alone you can barely tell them apart from their genuine counterparts. You might be disappointed to unwrap one after an eBay purchase. Or not — as a counterfeit mobile specialist tells us, the rip-offs have many accessories that Apple itself hasn’t got round to adding to the real thing, and the fakes cost around three times less. Read more and see the video...

Clotilde Reiss, a young French woman who taught French at the University of Isfahan, was stopped by the police in Tehran on July 1. A close friend of hers responds to accusations calling Reiss a spy. Marina El Khoury graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politique in Lille the same year as Clotilde Reiss. The 23-year-old Lebanese woman has set up a Facebook group asking for her friend’s release. Read more...

140 people have been reported killed in clashes between Chinese police and protesters from the Uighur Muslim ethnic minority in the north-western region of Xinjang yesterday. Like each time this kind of unrest occurs in the country, two versions have emerged: the state television shows only images of Han victims, while on the Internet the story is one of a bloody crackdown against the Uighur people. Read more..

One of our Observers in Japan, Lee Chapman, photographed this motorbike, complete with Swastika-shaped spokes, outside a Harley Davidson shop in Tokyo. Depending on how you look at it, it could represent the ancient Buddhist symbol for universal harmony, the infamous emblem of Nazi Germany, or, as Lee tells us, simply being "cool". Read more...

The Basij militia has been blamed for extreme brutality in the violent aftermath of the contested June 12 election in Iran. A Basij commander who volunteers for one of the Tehran branch of the militia, describes his account of one the bloodiest clashes, on June 20. Read more...

Cheating is as old as exams themselves. In China however, cheating involves a cunning blend of technology, innovation, and acting. Rubbers with miniature screens, rulers with inbuilt cameras, earpieces... we're a long way from cheat sheets and writing on the inside of your pencil case. Read more...

One of our Observers from the Comoros Islands tells us about his experiences as a frequent flyer with Yemenia Airlines — the company whose plane crashed en route to the Comoran capital on Monday morning. Read his account...

Niger President Mamdou Tandja dissolved the country's constitutional court on Tuesday, removing yet another obstacle to his plans to stand once more for the presidency, in defiance of a constitutional ban.

Two months earlier, Niger's government granted French state-owned nuclear giant Areva a crucial uranium contract. Coincidental timing? Although France has condemned Tandja's actions, a specialist on the subject tells us that there's still cause for concern.

UPDATE (3 July 09 - 11am Paris time): Areva has responded to Daniel's comment. Read the statement.

Violent clashes continue in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military coup on Sunday. An amateur video, filmed on Monday, appears to show a presidential supporter run over by a military vehicle. Watch the video...

This video was posted online on Tuesday afternoon. Despite there being no protestor in sight, Tehran riot police storm a small street, indiscriminately vandalising private property. Watch the video...

Walking the streets of Mexico City, you might bump into what looks like Michael Jackson. Don't panic, he hasn't risen from the grave. It's just Victor Jackson, an MJ impersonator for the past 30 years. Here's his reaction to the King of Pop's death. Read more...