No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings of government buildings in Damascus that have killed 27, but the escalating instability is having global consequences from “rekindling US-Russia rivalry in the Middle East” to “jeopardizing the Iran-led ‘axis of resistance’ to Western interests in the region”:
- Syria Crisis Causes Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’ to Fray (Christian Science Monitor)
The parliament has given itself half of the seats on the panel that will write the new constitution and will appoint the other half from outsiders “likely to be legal experts, academics and Muslim and Christian scholars”:
- Egypt’s Islamist-dominated Parliament to Play Pivotal Role in Drafting New Constitution (AP / Washington Post with Foreign Policy)
“For the first time in the history of the cathedral, it is packed with all types of Islamist leaders in Egypt…. “They all agree … on the stability of this country and in loving it, and working for it and to work with the Copts as one hand for the sake of Egypt” — Coptic Pope Shenouda III at his last Christmas service:
- To Egypt’s Christians, Pope Was Seen as Protector (AP / abc News)
The disasters in Afghanistan continue …
- Turkish Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Comes at Tough Time for NATO Forces (Christian Science Monitor)
- Neighbors Say Afghan Attack Suspect Was Family Man (AP / NPR)
- Shooting Spree Hastens Decline to Win Over Afghans (AP / abc News)
- NATO’s Afghan Strategy Tested as Taliban Talks Derail, Karzai Demands Troop Pullback (Christian Science Monitor)
… and although “very few believe Karzai when he says it’s time for the US to go, this may be the last straw for Afghanistan. The world has seen this type of thing before”:
- Afghan President Karzai’s Angry Ultimatums Have Parallels in Post-colonial Africa (Christian Science Monitor)
The confusion in Moroccan law between rape (a crime of aggression under Islamic law) with consensual pre-marital sex (which can be resolved by the marriage of the consenting adults) leads to a tragic death:
- Morocco Suicide Victim Fell Prey to Society, Laws (AP / abc News)
A photographic exhibit shows why “Albania is the only European country that had a post-war Jewish population greater than its pre-war population” with stories and photographs depicting Albanians who sheltered and hid Jews, in accordance with the Muslim teachings of Besa, or moral code of honor” to keep one’s word and be someone to whom others can entrust their lives and the lives of their families:
- When the Muslims Saved the Jews (Charlotte Observer)
“[T]he announcement appears to have taken everyone by surprise, including the US”:
In announcing his support for Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh’s candidacy in he upcoming presidential election, “Hassan Gouda, a key figure in the Muslim Brotherhood,” has flagrantly defied the Muslim Brotherhood’s pledge to expel “anyone who supported Aboul-Fotouh,” himself expelled for running:
