“The deal pledges Afghanistan to fight corruption, improve efficiency and protect human rights, including women’s rights…. The United States promises to seek annual funding to train and equip the Afghan armed forces but gives no dollar figure.”:
- Afghanistan Security Deal Obama Signed Has Holes (AP / abc News)
“In the backchannel talks, Hamas is seeking assurances that European countries will recognize the outcome of future Palestinian elections…. ‘They have to accept the Palestinian democracy,’ [Hamas official Osama] Hamdan said of the international community”:
- Hamas Says It’s Holding Talks with 5 EU Countries (AP / Times-Standard)
In “clashes outside the Ministry of Defense as thugs armed with guns and knives sparked a melee that left at least 11 people dead and dozens injured. A small group of Islamist protesters demanding the reinstatement of salafi sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail into the presidential race were attacked by a group of armed young men in civilian dress”:
- Egypt Political Chaos Threatening to Foment Actual Chaos (Christian Science Monitor)
Backing off from uits attack on freedom of religion, the NTC takes aim at freedom of speech instead, announcing that public “praise of Gaddafi or his regime will now be an offence”:
“Following the Arab uprisings, there has been significant improvement in the traditionally repressive Middle East region, and some sharp deterioration in the Americas”:
- Five Things to Know About Freedom House’s Latest Global Rankings (Christian Science Monitor)
The magazine’s young editor “had to give up a university education” because she chose to cover her hair, but says, “Now there is normalization, an improvement. Now our veiled comrades can enter university and have more professional opportunitiesâ€:
- Turkish Beauty Mag Ties Muslim Veil to Glamour (Daily Star)
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mahdi Akhondzade dares to say that Israel’s nuclear stockpile is a greater threat to peace that Iran’s nuclear power program:
- Iran: Israeli Nukes Greatest Threat to Peace (AP / abc News)
Egypt’s Muslim “Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia share Sunni Muslim values,” but the former’s embrace of democracy is perceived as a threat by the latter:
Concerned that “reneging on oaths, and perfidy” (not civilian deaths) was giving al-Qaeda a bad name, Bin Ladin complained that the would-be Times Square bomber attempted his terrorist “act after swearing a loyalty oath to the United States as a newly naturalized citizen,” and he wrote “that it is not permissible to tell such a lie to the enemy”:
- Bin Laden’s Last Stand: In Final Months, Terrorist Leader Worried About His Legacy (Washington Post with Foreign Policy)
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