“There were indications that the government had taken on more than it could handle by outlawing the Brotherhood and anyone associated with it, including a network of social service organizations and charities that provide services to millions of Egyptians” …
…and now “one student has been killed and dozens injured after police in Cairo opened fire on students protesting against the military government”:
“Parliament President Mustapha Ben Jaafar said Saturday the ruling Islamist party, which had wanted a pure parliamentary system, agreed instead to give more powers to a president, including the power to dissolve the legislature”:
- Tunisian Parties Reach Compromise on Constitution (AP / abc News)
With divisions apparent within the population and within the police over the corruption scandal, the army says it will stay out while the EU calls for more transparency:
- Turkish Protesters Clash with Police as Supporters Cheer Erdogan (Reuters)
- Turkish Army Says It Will Not Get Involved in Political Corruption Scandal (Guardian)
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EU Voices Concern over Turkish Graft Scandal (AP / abc News)
“Chatah was the latest of more than a dozen Hariri allies to be assassinated since 2005. But given that he was a moderate politician rather than a security official, his killing sends a far more potent message to the region at large”:
- Powerful Explosion Rocks Downtown Beirut; Former Ambassador to U.S., 4 Others Killed (Washington Post)
“The war had been brought to life in the US by broadcast evangelicals such as Billy Graham, who cast it as a heroic battle by Christian and African underdogs against a more powerful Muslim and Arab foe. The fact that religious and geographical lines were never remotely this clear and clean-cut was routinely ignored”:
With the U.S. courts split over the constitutionality of the mass government surveillance program, a Supreme Court hearing seems increasingly likely:
Signs of the continuing deterioration of the situation in Libya since the murder of Gaddafi now include government detention of American military personnel and the drive-by shooting of a Libyan major:
- U.S. Military Personnel Released After Being Held by Libya Government (Reuters)
- Drive-by Shooting in Eastern Libya Kills Officer (AP / abc News)
Sectarian persecution continues to accelerate as Arab governments crackdown on the opposition:
- Bahrain Shia Opposition Leader Ali Salman ‘Arrested (BBC)
- Six Iraqis Killed During Arrest of Sunni Protest Leader (Guardian)
“Former cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan has called for the clinic attacks to stop as he battles to halt the spread of the disease”, but the ghost of the American abuse of the program in its hunt for Usama bin Ladin continues to give credibility to those who “consider such campaigns a cover for spying”:
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