Iran

The protests against the disputed election have spread to New Zealand. For some Iranians Twitter has been their way around the unprecedented clampdown on the Internet and cellphones. Helpful people keep publishing proxy servers and the like there not blocked by the authorities.

There appears to be some bending by the regime:

Meanwhile, Iran’s top legislative body said it was ready to carry out a partial recount of votes.

The offer by the Guardian Council for a targeted tally – from specific voting sites where fraud has been alleged – is the first direct action by authorities to address claims of irregularities by opponents of Ahmadinejad.

Any recount must allow for independent verification. Also the chain of custody of the ballot papers is crucial – there must be a way to verify they are the correct ballot papers for that area, and that they represent the full sample.