News and Analysis (11/8/14)

How do you transform a peaceful human rights activist into a militant radical? Tell him that democratic elections are the way to advance your agenda and then dissolve the legislature when the elections don’t go your way:

In the U.S., “the judge ruling in the government’s favor criticized its lack of “common sense and compassion” but did not find it illegal …

… in Britain, “leading human rights groups are to boycott the official investigation into the UK’s involvement in torture and rendition in the years after 9/11,” saying they “have lost all trust in the committee’s ability to uncover the truth”:

“Activists have long complained that heavy-handed police tactics after militant attacks, including the mass round-up of suspects, have stoked anger among local Muslims and undermined moderate preachers trying to counter radical ideas” and that police offer insufficient protection”:

“Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, said in Geneva that Rezaian would likely be freed or pardoned in ‘less than a month.’ Inside Iran, Rezaian’s arrest is widely seen as a political move by hardline opponents of President Hassan Rouhani”:

Shot while trying to escape?  “The security cameras clearly show that there was no danger to the lives of the officers. The video shows him running away from the officers; this horrifying incident could have been avoided, but unfortunately they decided to kill him in a cruel way”:

“14,500 Rohingya have sailed from the beaches of Rakhine State to Thailand, with the ultimate goal of reaching Malaysia” and “[t]he crisis has become an embarrassment to the White House” which “considers Myanmar a foreign-policy success story in Asia”:

“Obama’s decision greatly expands the scope of the U.S. campaign and the geographic distribution of American forces, some of whom will head into Iraq’s fiercely contested western Anbar province for the first time to act as advisers” …

… but “he will ask Congress for new authority to combat the Islamic State, replacing the administration’s reliance on laws passed more than a decade ago to justify its current military operations against the militants in Syria and Iraq”:

“In a blow to anti-Islamist factions, Libya’s highest court … ruled that general elections held in June were unconstitutional and that the country’s parliament and government, which resulted from that vote, should be dissolved”, further deepening the country’s political rift:

“The Saudi king’s advisory council — whose suggestions are not binding — has recommended that the government lift its ban on female drivers, a member of the council told The Associated Press Friday. Local media subsequently quoted an official denying the report”:


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