Topic: Tunisia

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Briefing
Five things to know about Freedom House's latest global rankings

A look at the 2012 Freedom House ranking of 197 countries according to their relative freedom.
6 men alleged to be LulzSec hackers

Tuesday saw the news that the FBI had identified and charged six men allegedly behind the hacktivist group LulzSec. Who are the men that the FBI says are behind LulzSec's mayhem?
International Women's Day: How it's celebrated around the globe

International Women's Day has served for more than a century as a day to honor the achievements of women globally. Here are some ways people are celebrating:
Three factors that will determine Syria’s future

The most realistic scenario in Syria is quagmire: Assad still has loyalty; the opposition is splintered, though protests continue; and the international community is indecisive, including the Arab League. But stalemate could finally prompt foreign intervention and a needed ‘safe zone. Benedetta Berti, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies of Tel Aviv University, lists the three factors that will determine Syria’s future.
Top 4 threats against America: the good and bad news

America’s top spy chiefs and intelligence experts come together every year to share their best guesses about the biggest threats that will face the country in the year ahead. Here are the top four pieces of good and bad news to come out of the annual threat-assessment hearing in Congress Tuesday.

All Content

Myanmar, 'Arab awakening' top US list of progress on human rights

State Department's annual report on human rights around the world also notes the important role that technology, the Internet, and social media play in advancing individual freedoms.
Change Agent
Inshah Malik is trying to rebuild Kashmir with a different weapon – her pen

Young writer Inshah Malik tells the stories of Kashmiri women and the often brutal effects on them from decades of conflict.
Will Netanyahu stay obsessed with Iran or use his new coalition to help Israel?

Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy has been dangerously transfixed on Iran, neglecting the myriad other issues threatening Israel and Middle East stability. The new coalition government sets up a rare opportunity to reshape Israel’s domestic institutions and strengthen its regional standing.
Latin America Monitor
Press freedom falls in Latin America, French journalist missing in Colombia

Freedom of the press is under threat in much of the Americas, according to a Freedom House report.
Briefing
Five things to know about Freedom House's latest global rankings

A look at the 2012 Freedom House ranking of 197 countries according to their relative freedom.
Arab Spring: now begins the education of Islamist politicians

In Tunisia and Egypt, Islamists are being elected into office to take on the daunting policy problems of their neglected societies. But Islamists, too, will be chucked out of office if they can’t deliver the goods. And they know it.
Backchannels
One year after Osama bin Laden's killing, Al Qaeda is in tatters

While his murderous ideology persists in pockets of the Middle East and beyond, Al Qaeda as it was understood after Sept. 11 has failed.
Greek 'island of the blind'? More like 'island of welfare cheats'

On a Greek island, at least 600 are suspected of falsely claiming to be blind to get disability money. It's part of the rampant fraud that prompted Athens to halt payments to 200,000 last week.
Backchannels
Reform and rumblings in Jordan

The Hashemite Kingdom has weathered the past year of regional political upheaval surprisingly well. But the resignation of the prime minister is a reminder of unmet demands for change.
Keep Calm
Good Reads: On America's limits, Middle Eastern feminism, Indian authors

Some of the best long-form journalism this week deals with America's foreign policy limitations, sexual politics in the Middle East, African stereotypes, and an Indian publishing boom.
One dead, three wounded in separate Damascus attacks Tuesday

A car bomb wounded three early Tuesday near the Old City part of the Syrian capital. Meanwhile, a Syrian agent was found dead in another Damascus neighborhood.
Focus
Bahrain F1 race: How a Sunni backlash kept an uprising at bay

The Formula One race in Bahrain today has put the spotlight back on an uprising here that has faltered due to sectarian distrust.
Tunisia debate turns personal: 'Pray more and turn down that Metallica'

Tensions between Tunisia's secularists and newly empowered Islamists are playing between brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, as the country drafts a new constitution.
Backchannels
When Assange meets Nasrallah, you learn the most about Assange (+video)

Julian Assange, the embattled Wikileaks leader, started his new chat show with an interview of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Syrian activists to rebels: Give us our revolution back

Many of the activists who began the uprising in Syria more than a year ago feel their peaceful push for change has been hijacked by the rebel Free Syrian Army. They're meeting in Cairo today.
Change Agent
Three ways Africans are making cheap do-it-yourself electricity

In countries like Kenya and Tanzania, most people lack access to electricity. Wind turbines made from local scrap and a 'Netflix' model for distributing batteries may be solutions.
A Romney-Rubio ticket? Not if Hispanics don't see themselves as Hispanic.

A Romney-Rubio presidential ticket may play well to the notion of a "Hispanic vote." But a Pew poll shows why that idea falls flat.
Hitched to Qatar's rising star, Al Jazeera takes a bumpy ride skyward

Al Jazeera's relationship with Qatar's emir, who founded the channel in 1996, has drawn more criticism as Qatar takes an increasingly prominent role in the region.
Terrorism & Security
France arrests 10 suspected militants in latest post-Toulouse raids

While President Nicolas Sarkozy denies the crackdown on alleged Islamist militants in France has anything to do with last month's shootings in Toulouse, today's raids were the second series since the incident. 
The real victory in the Myanmar election

The Myanmar election produced more than a small victory for Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. It also firmed up the moral legitimacy of those seeking freedom in Burma.
Real triumph of Arab League summit: That it happened at all

The Arab League took little action to address Syria crisis, deferring to UN. But the summit, held in a renovated marble palace with gold-encrusted dates for dessert, still marked a triumph for host Iraq.
Arab leaders stay away from Baghdad summit

The turnout in Iraq by regional leaders wasn't very high for Thursday's meeting. But those who did show up appealed to the Syrian government to stop the violence.
Tiny Qatar's outsized role

This week, Iraq takes over the Arab League presidency from Qatar, which has ruffled feathers with its surge in leadership. A Russian official famously told Qatar, 'Go back to your size.'
Islam's defining moment with democracy

Islamist parties now dominate the constitution-writing process in post-revolution Egypt and Tunisia. If they can make Islam compatible with democracy, they will give hope to others in the Middle East still struggling in the unfinished Arab Spring.
Syrian opposition cautiously welcomes UN cease-fire plan

But for more support from the West, the Syrian opposition needs to overcome divisions and squabbling that were on full display at a major Istanbul meeting today.