News and Analysis (4/4-5/09)

After coming within two votes of conviction (as if in a real-life topical update of “Twelve Angry Men”):

• Megahed Found Not Guilty on Federal Explosives Charges (ABC News)

As Obama further embeds US forces in Afghanistan, Europe seems quietly to seek withdrawal from the area:

• Europeans Offer Few New Troops for Afghanistan (NY Times)

Although “senior U.S. officials have privately mocked and publicly rejected the British decision”,

• Britain Says U.S. Doesn’t Object to Efforts to Engage Hezbollah (LA Times)

Perhaps the study can resolve the discrepancy between  Palestinian (926 civilians killed) and the IDF’s report (295):

• UN Appoints Gaza War Investigator (Al Jazeera)

Can Obama translate his Turkish popularity into improvements in relations with the Muslim Community as a whole?

• Admirers, Hopeful of Change, Await U.S. President in Turkey (Washington Post)

Critics now say the young woman punished without witnesses or evidence on allegations of adultery may have actually been beaten ” refusing to marry a Taliban commander”:

• Video of Taliban Flogging Girl Stirs Anger in Pakistan (LA Times)

Karzai has ordered a review of the new law which poses a seemingly simple question, does the law expand or contract women’s rights?

• Afghan Law on Women Brings Societal Conflict Onto World Stage (Washington Post)

Imran

Minaret of Freedom Institute Program Assistant