A lawyer warns that the EU terrorism designation of Hezbollah’s military arm is “a real legal mess” and unless removed before implementation “will swamp courtrooms and complicate Middle East-European political and economic relations with challenges from all points on the compass with uncertain outcomesâ€:
Mursi is allowed to meet with Europe’s top diplomat as Egyptian security forces and plainclothes gunmen fire at demonstrators while Brotherhood leaders struggle to keep protests peaceful and the US, unwilling to call a coup a coup, lacks the influence to effectrively press for an inclusive reconciliation:
- In Egypt, EU Chief Meets Morsi: Is There a Solution on the Horizon? (Christian Science Monitor)
- Egypt: Scores Killed as Army Launches Offensive Against Muslim Brotherhood (Guardian)
- Muslim Brotherhood Says ‘We Must Raise the Stakes’ as Clerics Try to Contain Violence (Guardian)
- Losing leverage in Egypt (Washington Post)
“Al Qaeda was conceived in the prisons of Egypt … not the caves of Afghanistan. … Nassir’s torture chambers produced Al Qaeda’s intellectual foundation” and if Egypt persists omits current course it may breed a successor generation even more violent:
- Winning Egypt’s Long War With Extremism  (Huffington Post)
Competition from private Islamic courts that dispatch justice “with an efficiency many say the state can’t match” pose a threat to the  Tunisian state, and i the case of one that operated from a tiny clothing kiosk,  the state responded by bulldozing it:
“Studying in the West doesn’t mean you would make concessions to the West…. What it does mean is that the level of understanding and ability to pick up nuances are much higher. The next step is seeing how much of that can translate into changes at the top with the ruling clerics, where it really counts”:
- Iran President’s Inner Circle Has Western Accent  (AP / abc News)
“[I]n answer to the question everyone had when they saw the video, no, Lauren Green did not feel compelled to grill a Southern Baptist professor about why he felt the need to write a book about Islam. It just never came up, for some reason” …
… and Maureen Dowd continues in the tradition of “the feminist movement’s long history of having white women speak on behalf of black and brown women, without bothering to actually pay attention to the latter group’s unique experiences”:
- Is Huma Abedin’s Muslim Faith Her Fatal Flaw with Anthony Weiner? That’s Not the Islam I Know (Washington Post)
“[T]he security forces were totally unprepared for the raid, despite senior prison officials having received intelligence indicating an attack was likely…. The incident … raises serious questions about state institutions’ capacity to battle a domestic Taliban insurgency that has raged for years and killed tens of thousands”:
- Taliban Attack Frees over 250 Prisoners from Pakistani Jail (Christian Science Monitor)
“Manning has said he leaked the material to expose the U.S military’s “bloodlust” and disregard for human life, and what he considered American diplomatic deceit. He said he chose information he believed would not the harm the US, and he wanted to start a debate on military and foreign policy”:
- Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy (AlJazeera)
