“The timing of the leak appeared aimed at intensifying pressure on the White House to disclose more-detailed legal memos that the paper summarizes — and at putting Brennan, Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, on the defensive for his appearance on Capitol Hill”:
“The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution. By killing him they wanted to silence his voice” — Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali:
- Tunisian Opposition Leader Shot Dead (Guardian)
“In 1985, the NYPD agreed to a set of rules … promising to spy only when it had information of criminal activity, and only after it had vetted its surveillance operations with an overseer” and “also forswore the use of infiltrators. But … after Sept. 11, the NYPD” decided they couldn’t “live with that, it’s too restrictive’”:
- Handschu Lawsuit Finds Echoes in NYPD Muslim Spying Program (Huffington Post)
Following its military strike on Syria, Israel takes advantage of Bulgaria’s suspicions (for which no reasons were disclosed) of Hezbollah involvement in last year’s suicide bombing in Burgas to marginalize another Iranian ally:
- Bulgaria Blames Hezbollah for 2012 Bombing, Refueling Terrorist Listing Debate (Christian Science Monitor)
- Netanyahu: Hezbollah Planning ‘Global Terror Attacks’ (BBC)
Ending Animosity between the two countries is a no-brainer for Iran, but Egypt must weight the costs against the benefits …
- Iran’s Ahmadinejad Kissed and Scolded in Egypt (Reuters)
- Iranian Leader Ahmadinejad Targeted with Shoe in Egypt (BBC)
- Ahmadinejad Visits Cairo: How Sect Tempers Islamist Ties Between Egypt, Iran (Christian Science Monitor)
… while back at home Ahmadinejad’s attack on the Larijani clan is followed by the arrest and then release of a close ally:
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Issues Challenge to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Guardian)
- Ally of Iran’s Ahmadinejad Freed from Prison: Official (Reuters)
As with the Egyptian girl “credited with co-founding the April 6 Youth Movement and igniting the Egyptian protests by stating, ‘If you think yourself a man, come with me on 25 January.’ Historically, the Muslimah played the role of protagonist in more than one screenplay of political change” …
- A Tale of Muslim Women Sparking Political Change (Huffington Post)
… while in Kashimir, girls who just wanted to rock refused to be intimidated by the threats of Internet bullies, but they would rather disband than become a political football in the struggle between the quislings and the separatists:
- Muslim Girls Quit Rock Band After National Controversy (NY Times / Int. Herald Tribune)
“Chicago’s Muslim community” exhibits youth, “wealth, growth and political connectedness” and “signs of a kind of Muslim reformation …, not in any single watershed moment but in myriad significant movements that are utterly new”:
- Chicago Is Ground Zero in U.S. Muslim Renaissance (Washington Post)
The racists “”turned on what they believe is ‘their’ team.” Is this Israel’s Jackie Robinson moment?
- Betar Muslim Signings Mark Positive Change (Jerusalem Post)
“[H]uge amounts of American and European money have flowed via contractors into the hands of the insurgency.” As the U.S. Afghanistan, expect much of $10 billion marked for reconstruction and military support to end up in “the hands of Afghan politicians, warlords, and politicians alike”:
- Afghan Corruption, Opium, and the Strange Case of Kam Air (Christian Science Monitor)
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