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MENASource

Dec 3, 2014

Top News: Tunisia’s Parliament Fails to Elect Speaker in Inaugural Session

By MENASource

Tunisia’s new parliament, the Assembly of People’s Representatives, held its first session on Tuesday but failed to elect a speaker and his two deputies after members voted to postpone the election to Thursday.

MENASource

Dec 3, 2014

Top News: Egypt to Criminalize Insulting Jan 25, June 30 Uprisings

By EgyptSource

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has said his office is drafting a law to criminalize insulting the uprisings that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and his Islamist successor Mohammed Morsi last year.

MENASource

Dec 3, 2014

Confrontation Escalates Between Brotherhood and Egypt’s Security

By Khaled Dawoud

When heavily armed police men raided on November 20 the home of Mohamed Ali Bishr, the only prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader left outside prison since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, experts differed on the real reasons behind the move. Many asked whether it marked the end of any possible reconciliation effort between President […]

North Africa
NATO foreign ministers meeting, December 2, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 2, 2014

NATO Releases Details of its New Readiness Action Plan

By NATO

At the NATO Wales Summit in September 2014, Allied leaders approved a Readiness Action Plan to ensure the Alliance is ready to respond swiftly and firmly to new security challenges.

NATO Security & Defense
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at foreign ministers meeting, December 2, 2014

NATOSource

Dec 2, 2014

NATO Struggles to Muster ‘Spearhead Force’ to Counter Russia

By Stephen Fidler, Wall Street Journal

Promised Rapid-Reaction Force Proves Costly, Logistically Difficult for Europe.

NATO Russia

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Top News: Egypt Prosecutor Appeals Mubarak Verdict, Cites Legal Flaws

By EgyptSource

Prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat has ordered an appeal against a court verdict that dropped charges of killing protesters during the 2011 uprising against ousted president Hosni Mubarak, and acquitted him of corruption charges.

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Top News: US Downplays Safe-Zone Proposal As Deliberations With Turkey Continue

By MENASource

The United States on Monday played down the idea of creating a buffer zone along the Syria-Turkish border after a media report cited it as a possible concession to Turkey in return for use of bases to launch attacks on Islamic State militants in Syria.

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

Factbox: Everything You Need to Know About the Mubarak Verdict

By EgyptSource

On November 29, Cairo Criminal Court dropped Hosni Mubarak’s charges relating to the killing of protesters in January 2011. It also found him innocent of corruption and graft charges. Former interior minister Habib al-Adly, and Mubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were also found innocent of charges they faced. Below is a complete breakdown of […]

North Africa

MENASource

Dec 2, 2014

EconSource: Tunisia calls for expansion of economic ties with Iran

By EconSource

The head of the Tunisian Chamber of Commerce called for the expansion of mutual economic and trade cooperation with Iran. He added that Tunisia can act as a gateway for Iran to import and export commodities to and from Africa. An Iran-Tunisia Joint Trade Council would also give an opportunity for the two countries to […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 2, 2014

National Intelligence Council Chairman Calls for More Long-Term Intelligence Work

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Russia’s aggressive posture in its neighborhood is an “interesting inflection point in global politics,” much like the fall of the Soviet Union in December of 1991 and al Qaeda’s attack on the US on September 11, 2001, Gregory F. Treverton, chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, told the Atlantic Council. “The first time around […]

Intelligence National Security