With the detention of six opposition leaders and a “tear gas and shotgun attack” on “a pro-democracy tent city at Pearl Square on Wednesday in the worst day of violence since activists took to the streets last month,” Obama expresses “deep concern”:
- UN Warns of ‘Shocking’ Abuses in Bahrain (AFP / Sydney Morning Herald)
U.S. is open to a Libyan no-fly zone if it will open the door to expanded military intervention, including, but not limited to “allowing aircraft from the international coalition to bomb Libyan tanks”:
The Palestinian version of the democracy revolt seems to be having a positive effect — but will Israel allow Abbas to go to Gaza?
- Abbas Agrees to Visit Gaza, Talk to Hamas (Christian Science Monitor)
Drone strikes continue to kill civilians:
Indonesian radio stations are intimidated by threats of $16,000 fines into garbling Lady Gaga’s lyrics, but terrorists are emboldened to target an Indonesian popular singer:
- Popular Singer Latest Target in Indonesian Mail Bombings (Canadian Press)
“Since Ivory Coast’s disputed November elections, at least 10 mosques have been attacked by supporters of incumbent [Christian] President Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to cede power to Ouattara, a Muslim”:
He has no way of knowing whether his first letter induced Iran to release the third hiker, but America’s most famous Muslim again asks Khamenei to “show the world the compassion I know you have in your heart”
- Ali Asks Iran to Free US Hikers (AP / Forbes)
“The case highlights the fact that the US is engaged in a covert war in Pakistan – a country it has not declared war against” Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: the Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army:
- Spy Game: The CIA, Pakistan and ‘Blood Money’ (AlJazeera)
The 31-yr.-old graduate student and mother of three gets her apology:
