Eid al-Fitr date confusion (coverage of Media) - August 30

STORY by Elizabeth Flock (Washingtonpost dot-com reporter) - August 29 edition

Depending on where Muslims are around the world, the sighting of a sliver of the new moon at sunset that signals it is Eid al-Fitr — the day the month-long Ramadan fast can be broken — could happen Tuesday or Wednesday, spreading confusion over the day on which Eid really falls.
Eid’s date was never a problem in the past. But increasing global connectivity has made the difference in sighting times evident around the world (according to Wall Street Journal postings).
This year, followers in North America, Europe and the Middle East will see the moon and argue Eid falls on Tuesday, while India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia will see it and argue for Wednesday. Many others are just confused.
To make it easier, many countries follow the lead of Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. The Saudi Supreme Court, however, has not yet decided whether Eid is on Tuesday or Wednesday this year.
There are others among the 1.2 billion people celebrating Eid that will use science to inform their decision.  At midnight, official astronomical committees will scan the sky for the elusive sliver of moon. A group of scholars called the Fiqh Council of North America will lobby for using precise astronomical data to mark Eid’s start. The Islamic Crescents’ Observation Project, which shares global moon sighting data, will show that the moon is going to be sighted in South America first, an observance not likely to be taken kindly by Saudi Arabia.
Muslims’s five daily prayer were once dependent on the sightings of the sun, but have now become standardized, with prayer times published by local Islamic authorities. But the Wall Street Journal writes that around the world, there’s a feeling that a holiday as important as Eid, “should be celebrated by all on one day.”