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Islamist Rebel Threat Pressures Somalia’s Neighbors Kenya and Ethiopia

If there was any doubt as to the character of the state that threatens to emerge in Somalia should Islamist rebels overthrow the embattled government, it was dispelled on June 22, when a militia court sentenced four men accused of stealing three mobile phones and two AK-47s to the amputation of their right hands and left legs. The sentence, whose execution was postponed after the al-Shabaab court decided the hot weather might cause the four men to bleed to death, was condemned as “cruel, inhuman and degrading” by Amnesty International

Iranian women stand up in defiance, flout rules

A young Iranian woman named Neda is gunned down in one of the most iconic images of the last week. Another walks down the street, defiantly showing off her hair and body in a revealing dress. And still another woman says she’s not scared of paramilitary forces — no matter how many times she gets beaten.

Kenya rejects call for military help in Somalia

Somalia’s transitional government has the right to request military help from its neighbors against armed militants, the African Union said Monday, but Kenya was quick to reject the idea of sending troops and suggested the AU should spearhead such a move. Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Adan Madowe on Saturday called on Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen to send in their military forces to help government troops stop hardline Islamist militants from taking over. “Militants are wrestling the power from the government and so we call for military help from neighboring countries,” the speaker said at a news conference in Mogadishu.

In Iran Crisis, Paris Exile Group Plays Disputed Role

As millions of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran over the past week to protest the presidential-election results, exiled opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran saw its moment. “This uprising is the result of 30 years of murder, oppression and corruption by an Iranian regime we’ve dedicated our entire lives to fighting,” Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of foreign affairs for the Paris-based group told TIME. “Even if protesters aren’t calling for [the NCRI] to take power, it’s only natural that, given our organization’s experience, our clandestine networks are playing an important role informing and assisting the Iranian people to achieve its desire of regime change.” Authorities in Tehran claim that isn’t the half of it.

Shah’s Son Backs Iranian Protesters

Thirty years after his father was overthrown by a popular uprising, the former crown prince of Iran has a unique perspective on the demonstrations gripping Iran these days. On Monday, at a Washington press conference, Reza Pahlavi, the onetime heir to the peacock throne, condemned Iran’s controversial presidential election of June 12 as “an ugly moment of disrespect for both God and man” and called on the Tehran regime to allow for “freedom, democracy, human rights [and] the right to choose.” Pahlavi believes that the situation in Iran has eroded dramatically, charging that the issues go “well beyond election.

Feared Basij militia has deep history in Iranian conflict

They may wear a uniform, or ordinary street clothes. Their numbers are unclear.

Foreclosure Prevention: New Program Shows Big Jump

The government finally seems to be making progress in its efforts to stem the foreclosure crisis. Housing and Urban Development officials say lenders extended loan-modification offers to 40,000 borrowers who were struggling to pay their mortgage in the second week of June. That is nearly triple the weekly average of about 15,000 workouts that loan servicers had extended in the prior 10 weeks since the government’s latest foreclosure-prevention plan was announced.

UK lawmakers elect new speaker after expenses anger

British lawmakers Monday elected a new Speaker of the House of Commons Monday after scandal forced the previous speaker to resign last month.

Is India Living Up to Its Post-Mumbai Promises?

The terrorist attack on Mumbai last November, captured live on television throughout India and around the globe, was not the city’s first encounter with violence or terrorism. It was, however, a rude awakening for a city known for its high-glam Bollywood industry and for a nation that rightly takes pride in being the world’s largest democracy

Iranian forces ready to clear country of ‘hooligans’

Iranian protesters who "disturb the peace and stand up to security forces" will be considered a threat to the regime and will be met with a strong response, the country’s Revolutionary Guard warned Monday. “The guardians of the Islamic revolution and the courageous Basiji together with the security forces following the orders of the supreme leader and following him unquestioningly, are determined to act strongly to return peace and tranquility to society ..