The EU is happy with the interim agreement to go into effect on January 20, but can Obama prevent legislators intent on war from derailing the process?
- Iran to Implement Nuclear Deal as Obama Repeats Congress Sanctions Plea (Guardian)
- Khamenei’s Little Helpers in the Senate (Roll Call)
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Support for Iran Sanctions Bill Nears Filibuster-proof Majority (Washington Post)
The Muslim Brotherhood’s threatened boycott lends credence to expectations of an easy passage for the proposed entrenchment of military power, a conundrum explained by anecdotal testimony of the Egyptians, who feel isolated, despair of politics, or long for a pharoah,
- Egyptians Set to Vote on Army-backed Post-Mursi Constitution (Reuters)
- A Muslim Sister Determined to Struggle On (Christian Science Monitor)
- A Revolutionary Activist Isolated, but Still Committed (Christian Science Monitor)
- He Bled for Egypt’s Revolution. Now He Says ‘It’s Over’Â (Christian Science Monitor)
- Mubarak Opponent Turned Coup Supporter (Christian Science Monitor)
- After Three Years of Turmoil an Egyptian Says ‘General Sisi for President’Â (Christian Science Monitor)
He was responsible for more civilian deaths that Osama bin Ladin, but he is given a hero’s funeral:
- Ariel Sharon: Peacemaker, Hero… and Butcher (Independent)
One legislator, convinced Israel is not racist enough, wants to further divide the second class citizen into subclasses:
- Are Israel’s Christians Arab? New Legislation Set to Distinguish Muslim, Christian Arab Populations (Christian Post)
Syria‘s government and the opposition have agreed to consider opening humanitarian access in the run-up to a peace conference that would bring the sides together for the first time …
… but the “fratricidal fighting erupted several weeks before a much-anticipated detente scheduled for 22 January in Geneva, adding another layer of complexity to a war that long ago ceased to have two clear-cut protagonists”:
“Libya has been struggling to assert itself over up to 1,700 different armed militias, each with their own goals, following Col Gaddafi’s death” but this “is the first assassination of a member of Libya’s transitional government”:
Uh, oh. We’ve heard this song before:
- US Sends Handful of Military Advisers to Somalia (Christian Science Monitor)
We would normally ignore this story as the vengeful act of a man driven to madness by trauma, but his savagery was made possible by “a crowd of about 20 Christian youths who forced the bus driver to stop and dragged” the victim out to batter and stab him and set him on fire simply because he looked like a Muslim:
“In her appeal to Mr Karzai last week, the child said: “I won’t go back there. God didn’t make me to become a suicide bomber…. The president has condemned the Taliban over the incident, but the group has denied any involvement in the alleged plot”:
