Venezuela's Hugo Chavez suffers new complications, prompting doubts that he will survive

Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte and Oliver Stone's Star & Stripes in front of their homes will fly at half-staff?

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez's new complications after cancer surgery prompted his closest allies to call for Venezuelans to pray for him on Monday, presenting an increasingly bleak outlook and prompting growing speculation about whether the ailing leader has much longer to live.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked weary and spoke with a solemn expression as he announced in a televised address from Havana on Sunday that Chavez now confronts "new complications" due to a respiratory infection nearly three weeks after his operation. He described Chavez's condition as delicate.

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Video: Hypocrite celebrities and their anti gun agenda

Pakistan: 9 Taliban found shot dead, dumped on road in North Waziristan

It appears to be a case of jihadis vs. jihadis.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani intelligence officials say they have found the bodies of nine militants dumped in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Three intelligence officials say the nine people were shot several times in the head and chest. Their bodies were found Monday off a road in Pir Kili village. They said the dead men were linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

North Waziristan is a hub of militant activity near the Afghan border.

The militants' bodies were found one day after 21 tribal police personnel who had been abducted were found dead in another tribal region.

The incidents illustrate the conflicts among warring factions and militants that plague Pakistan.

Report: Al-Qaeda carves out its own country in Mali

MOPTI, Mali (AP) – Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic fighters are burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become Al Qaeda's new country.

They have used the bulldozers, earth movers and Caterpillar machines left behind by fleeing construction crews to dig what residents and local officials describe as an elaborate network of tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts. In just one case, inside a cave large enough to drive trucks into, they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.

Northern Mali is now the biggest territory held by Al Qaeda and its allies. And as the world hesitates, delaying a military intervention, the extremists who seized control of the area earlier this year are preparing for a war they boast will be worse than the decade-old struggle in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaeda never owned Afghanistan," said former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler, a Canadian kidnapped and held for 130 days by Al Qaeda's local chapter, whose fighters now control the main cities in the north. "They do own northern Mali."

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Bonn: Student's Tongue Cut in Possible Muslim Attack

An Indian man in Bonn claims to have been attacked and had his tongue lacerated by Islamists. He told police that a pair of perpetrators demanded that he convert to Islam before the assault. Police believe his story to be credible.

(Spiegel) Police in Bonn are investigating a possible attack on a 24-year-old Indian man who claims to have been the victim of an assault by two Islamists on Christmas Eve. The man, a university student had to be treated at a local hospital for a lacerated tongue following the attack.

According to the victim, he was approached by two men who asked him what his religion was before demanding that he convert to Islam. Otherwise, the men said, he was an infidel and his tongue would have to be cut out. Then, as the man tried to walk away, the two assailants attacked him from behind, the victim told police. A passerby happened across the bleeding victim and called an ambulance. He was treated at the hospital and then released.

Police investigators believe the man's story to be credible and also believe that the incident could indeed have been the work of Islamists. He described the perpetrators as having long beards but no moustaches, a style often preferred by Salafists. There were, however, no witnesses to the attack and police are currently searching for suspects.

It is not the first time this year that Bonn has hit the headlines as a result of possible Islamist activity. In May, a Salafist was arrested after stabbing two police officers during a counter-demonstration against a display of Muhammad caricatures by a local right-wing populist party. Earlier this month, another member of the orthodox Muslim group threatened to take a hostage in order to force the perpetrator's release from prison.

Also in Dember, a bag full of explosives was found on a platform in Bonn's main train station in an apparent attempted bomb attack. While no charges have been filed in that case, clues reportedly lead to the Salafist community.

Muslims bomb an Egyptian-run Coptic church in Libya, killing 2

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Egypt's Foreign Ministry says an explosion at an Egyptian Coptic church in Libya's third largest city, Misrata, has killed two people and wounded two others.

The statement by the Foreign Ministry says Sunday's explosion killed two Egyptian citizens working at the church in preparation for traditional New Year's Eve mass.

Egypt's ambassador visited the church in the coastal city after the attack and urged Libyan security forces to ensure the property is guarded.

A Libyan security official says the deadly attack was caused by a bomb made from an explosive material that typically requires a detonator. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident is still under investigation.

Tens of thousands of Egyptian workers have returned to work in Libya following last year's civil war, despite security dangers.

Masked gunmen fire on protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square; US Embassy van attacked

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security officials say masked gunmen drove into Cairo's Tahrir Square and opened fired on an anti-government sit-in, seriously wounding two activists.

They said the four gunmen also vandalized vehicles in the area, including those of the U.S. Embassy, early Monday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The U.S. Embassy, which is off Tahrir Square, said vandals attacked an Embassy van, slashing its tires and breaking a window. It warned U.S. citizens in a warden message against going to the square in downtown Cairo, where New Year's celebrations are planned later. The square was the center of Egypt's uprising two years ago.

The sit-in was to protest against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's moves to pass a disputed constitution.

Iraq: 23 killed in a wave of bomb attacks across the country

BAGHDAD (AP) — Insurgents launched a wave of attacks across Iraq on Monday, primarily targeting Shiite communities and pilgrims and killing at least 23 people, officials said.

The attacks appeared aimed at undermining security and confidence in the government by fomenting sectarian conflict. Overall violence has dropped since the nation neared a civil war several years ago, but attacks of a sectarian nature come almost daily, and government forces seem powerless to prevent them.

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Hardcore leftist couple arrested in Manhattan with explosive substance, weapons and "The Terrorist Encyclopedia"

(NYP) The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend — a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist — have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.

Morgan Gliedman — who is nine-months pregnant — and her baby daddy, Aaron Greene, 31, also had instructions on making bombs, including a stack of papers with a cover sheet titled, “The Terrorist Encyclopedia,’’ sources told The Post yesterday.

People who know Greene say his political views are “extreme,” the sources said.

Cops found the stash in the couple’s West Ninth Street home Saturday when they went there to look for Gliedman, 27, who was wanted for alleged credit-card theft.

A detective discovered a plastic container with seven grams of a white chemical powder called HMTD, which is so powerful, cops evacuated several nearby buildings.

Police also found a flare launcher, which is a commercial replica of a grenade launcher; a modified 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun; ammo; and nine high-capacity rifle magazines, the sources said.

Cops also allegedly uncovered papers about creating homemade booby traps, improvised submachine guns, and various handwritten notebooks containing chemical formulas.

The couple’s arrest Saturday was a sharp turn from their privileged backgrounds.

Gliedman, who grew up on Park Avenue, graduated from Dalton in 2002. Her dad, Dr. Paul Gliedman, is director of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Hospital, Brooklyn Division. [...]

Greene attended Harvard as an undergraduate and did his graduate work at the university’s Kennedy School of Government.

He has five prior run-ins with the police, with the charges including, assault, and weapons possession, sources said.

Arab League Chief admits Arabs were never sincere about peace process

(Times of Israel) Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said two decades of talks with Israel have been “a waste of time” and that Palestinians will soon take a new statehood bid to the UN.

“We will return to the UN Security Council,” he said in Ramallah Saturday after meeting Palestinian officials. “Palestine will be cooperating with Arab and EU countries to change the equation (in the peace process) that prevailed over the past 20 years, which was a waste of time.”

The UN General Assembly last month granted Palestine nonmember observer state status. Last year, the Palestinians tried and failed to get full UN member-state status. The Security Council must approve new members, and the United States made clear it would veto any Palestinian attempt. But the veto was not required because the Palestinian Authority could not in any case muster enough votes at the Security Council.

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Mauritania arrests British Muslim trying to join jihad in North Africa

(Daily Mail) A British student is under arrest in North Africa accused of trying to join an Islamic terrorist group threatening to take control over the entire Sahara.

Ahmed Shaheen, 26, from London, was detained on the border between Mauritania and Mali as he tried to cross the Sahara on foot to reach the desert stronghold of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The Islamic militants have established a brutal regime in the ancient desert city of Timbuktu and introduced Shariah law, ordering death-by-stoning and limb amputations as punishments.

Last night the Foreign Office said it was seeking further information about the whereabouts of the Briton.

A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of reports of the detention of a British National in Mauritania and are seeking further information.’

Shaheen, who is described as of Asian origin [usually a euphemism for a Pakistani or Bangladeshi - ed.] and wearing a beard, had been staying with a nomad family in the small oasis town of Walata, some 700 miles from the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, posing as an expert in traditional communities.

He had attended prayers at the ancient mosque but was reported missing when he disappeared, after saying he planned to ‘walk to across the desert to Timbuktu’.

Muslims experiencing an irresistible call to jihad are kind of like Vulcans experiencing the pon far, only evil and bloodthirsty.

He was stopped by nomad tribesmen some 12 miles into the sand on Christmas Day and taken to security services operating in the border area who arrested him.

Shaheen is alleged to have told the Mauritanian Police he was trying to reach Timbuktu, in Mali, on foot, to join the AQIM jihadist struggle.

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Syrian rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs'

(Daily Mail) Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.

The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the ruling regime behaved like bandits.

She said his headless corpse was found by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs. He had recently married and was soon to be a father.

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Egypt: Morsi writes off Assad, says will work with Hezbollah against Israel

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Saturday his country supported the Syrian revolution and that President Bashar al-Asasd's administration had no place in Syria's future.

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(Times of Israel) Egypt’s ambassador to Lebanon said his country will pursue a relationship with Hezbollah, a “real political and military force,” The Daily Star reported Saturday. If implemented, the decision would constitute a dramatic policy shift from that of the former Hosni Mubarak administration. [...]

“In discussions we said we want Hezbollah to remain as a political force in Lebanon acting in the interests of the Lebanese first and not others,” Hamdy continued. “Resistance in the sense of defending Lebanese territory … That’s their primary role. We … think that as a resistance movement they have done a good job defending Lebanese territory, and trying to regain land occupied by Israel is legal and legitimate.”

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Yemen: Al-Qaeda offers bounty for US ambassador

Sadly, it's probably easier than they think. It didn't seem too hard in Libya, and, as it turns out, there are no repercussions.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen has offered to pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa or an American soldier in the country.

An audio produced by the group's media arm, the al-Malahem Foundation, and posted on militant websites Saturday said it offered three kilograms of gold worth $160,000 for killing the ambassador, Gerald Feierstein.

The group said it will pay 5 million Yemeni riyals ($23,000) to anyone who kills an American soldier inside Yemen.

It said the offer is valid for six months.

The bounties were set to "inspire and encourage our Muslim nation for jihad," the statement said.

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US drone kills 3 al-Qaeda men in Yemen, al-Qaeda-linked terrorists protest

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Three al Qaeda militants were killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike in southern Yemen, Yemeni security officials said, the fourth such attack this week and a sign attacks from unmanned aircraft are on the upswing in the country.

The officials said the three men were hit as they were riding in a Land Cruiser in el-Manaseh village on the outskirts of Radda in Bayda province. Dozens of local al Qaeda-linked fighters protested the drone strikes after traditional Islamic Friday prayers.

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Report: 150 Charred Corpses Found in Syrian School, Plus 84 Killed Nationwide

I wonder if any were Palestinians. In other news, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to the Jews: we want you back.

(INN) At least 150 charred corpses were found Saturday in Deir Baalba in Homs, Syria, according to a report by the Shaam Network that was quoted in Al Arabiya.

Earlier Saturday, Syrian regime forces killed 20 people in a town near Aleppo. Eighty other people were killed nationwide, according to opposition Coordination Committees.

Sana Revolution reported that a “massacre” took place in Khamsya, near Aleppo.

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6 killed, 48 wounded in a passenger bus blast in Karachi; 21 missing Pakistani policemen found shot dead

Looks like a banner week for Islam in Pakistan.

KARACHI: At least six people were killed when a loud explosion ripped apart a passenger bus parked outside the gates of Karachi Cantonment Station, the main railway station in the city.

The large blast completely ripped opened the roof of the bus, scheduled to depart for Sargodha, which caught fire following the explosion.

“There are reports of five people being killed in the blast. The injured have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital,” said Ahmed Chinoy, the head of the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).

At least 48 other people were also injured in the blast, with five of them said to be in critical condition, hospital officials said.

“We have received 48 patients, some of which are critical. Six people killed have been shifted to the mortuary,” confirmed Seemi Jamali, a senior doctor at the Jinnah Hospital.

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Twenty-one tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban were found shot dead in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region early Sunday, government officials said.

Officials found the bodies shortly after midnight in the Jabai area of Frontier Region Peshawar after being notified by one policeman who escaped, said Naveed Akbar Khan, a top political official in the area. Another policeman was found seriously wounded, said Khan.

The 23 policemen went missing before dawn Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two posts in Frontier Region Peshawar. Two policemen were also killed in the attacks.

Militants lined the policemen up on a cricket pitch late Saturday night and gunned them down, said another local official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

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Nigeria: Boko Haram kills at least 15 men, women and children by tying them up and slitting their throats, while chanting "Allahu Akbar!"

Hey, did you hear that Islam is a Religion of Peace™?

(AP) Gunmen suspected to belong to a radical Islamist sect attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, tying up men, women and children before slitting their throats, killing at least 15 in the troubled region's latest attack, witnesses said Saturday.

The assault happened early Friday morning in the village of Musari on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram first launched its guerrilla campaign of shootings and car bombings against Nigeria's weak central government. The gunmen shouted religious slogans and later ordered those there to be gathered up into a group, said Mshelia Inusa, a primary school teacher in the village.

"We heard some people chanting, 'God is great, God is great' amid sounds of banging on doors of houses at about 1 a.m.," the teacher said. "A voice was heard ordering people to be slaughtered and also voices of children were heard screaming."

Inusa said he and others later saw corpses with their hands tied behind their backs and their throats cut.

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Report: Senior Hamas operative killed in Syria

I've developed a strong appreciation for jihadis killing jihadis, whatever their reasons may be.

(Ynet) News outlets affiliated with Hamas reported Saturday that a commander in Hamas' military wing has been killed in Syria.

According to the report, Muhammad Ahmad Qanitah, 30, was killed Thursday while the rebels were attempting to take control of Idlib.

Apparently, he was on the rebel side. Some Hamas members fight on the Syrian side and some fight on the rebel side.

Activists also said a Palestinian fighter who had been a prominent figure in the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was killed in Aleppo province on Friday.

Mohammed Qanita was killed in fighting around Aleppo airport where he had been helping to train Arab and Muslim fighters, a rebel said.

A Hamas source in Gaza said Qanita had left the Qassam Brigade of Hamas and joined a jihadi group before leaving for Syria to fight there.

The exiled leadership of Hamas was based in Damascus until earlier this year, when officials from the Sunni Islamist movement, which sympathises with the uprising against Assad, quietly pulled out.

The 1,000 lb gorilla that is Islam

The Arab Middle East will never climb from its self-imposed hellhole until it throws the 1,000 lb gorilla commonly known as Islam off its back. Islam allows Arabs to blame all their troubles on Christians and Jews, represented by the United States and Israel respectively. Islam disables its adherents from the necessity of self-introspection and examination in order to overcome barriers. It is truly the evil religion.

Dagestan: Russian police free child hostage, kill seven Muslim terrorists

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed seven militants and freed a 6-year-old girl taken hostage in the restive Dagestan region of Russia's volatile North Caucasus on Saturday, a national anti-terrorism committee official told Interfax news agency.

The incident took place in an apartment building in the provincial capital of Makhachkala, according to the Interfax report. The militants broke through a wall, entered an apartment and took the girl hostage, according to the report.

"However, as a result of coordinated and professional actions of the special forces, the child was set free and the remaining bandits were neutralized," an anti-terrorism committee representative was quoted as saying.

The Interfax report identified the leader of the militants involved in the incident as Gadzhimurat Dolgatov and said he was among the seven killed. The report said those killed had previously served sentences for crimes including murder, extortion, theft and robbery.

During the incident, the militants opened fire and threw a grenade at the special forces personnel while trying to flee, but no security forces were hurt, Interfax reported.

Rebels who say they are fighting for an Islamic state in the strip of North Caucasus provinces often target police and security forces as well as government officials and mainstream Muslim leaders in attacks.

Rights activists say the insurgency is also driven by poverty and anger at the heavy-handed tactics of the Russian security forces.

Egyptian Cleric Threatens Egypt's Copts with Genocide

Wagdi Ghoneim

(Gatestone Institute) Islamic leaders continue to portray the popular protests against President Morsi and his recently passed Sharia-heavy constitution as products of Egypt's Christians. Recently, Muslim Brotherhood leader Safwat Hegazy said in an open rally, as captured on video:

A message to the church of Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church — by Allah, and again, by Allah — if you conspire and unite with the remnants [opposition] to bring Morsi down, that will be another matter…. our red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Muhammad Morsi. Whoever splashes water on it, we will splash blood on him."

More recently, Dr. Wagdi Ghoneim — who earlier praised Allah for the death of the late Coptic Pope Shenouda, cursing him to hell and damnation on video — made another video, entitled, "A Notice and Warning to the Crusaders in Egypt," a reference to the nation's Copts, which he began by saying, "You are playing with fire in Egypt, I swear, the first people to be burned by the fire are you [Copts]." The video was made in the context of the Tahrir protests against Morsi: Islamic leaders, such as Hegazy and Ghoneim, seek to portray the Copts as dominant elements in those protests; according to them, no real Muslim would participate. Ghoneim even went on to say that most of the people at the protests were Copts, "and we know you hid your [wrist] crosses by lowering your sleeves."

The heart of Ghoneim's message was genocidal: "The day Egyptians — and I don't even mean the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafis, regular Egyptians — feel that you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the earth. I'm warning you now: do not play with fire!"

Along with trying to incite Egypt's Muslims against the Copts, and threatening them with annihilation, Ghoneim made other telling assertions, including:

Addressing the Christians of Egypt as "Crusaders," once again showing Islam's simplistic, black-and-white vision, which clumps all Christians — of all nations, past and present, regardless of historical context and denomination — as one, in accordance with an Islamic tradition that states "All infidels are one religion."

Comparing Christian Copts to animals: "Respect yourselves and live with us and we will protect you... Why?... because Allah has forbidden me to be cruel to animals. I'm not trying to compare you to animals … but if I am not cruel to animals or plants, shall I be cruel to a soul created by Allah? You are an infidel in Allah's sight — and it is for him to judge you. However, when you live in my country, it is forbidden for me to be unjust to you — but that doesn't mean we are equal. No, oh no."

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Turkish officials: 2 Syrian generals defect

The regime is crumbling.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials at Turkey's Foreign Ministry say two Syrian air force generals have defected and crossed the border.

The defection comes as rebels besiege the military air base of Mannagh near the Turkish border.

The officials said Friday the two generals were "regional Syrian Air Force commanders" and are now in a camp where army defectors stay in Turkey.

They refused to give the generals' identities or say how they escaped from Syria. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to talk to the press.

The defection comes days after the commander of Syria's military police Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal defected to Turkey.

Al-Shallal is among the most senior members of Assad's military to defect.

Dozens of Syrian generals have defected since the country's crisis began in March 2011.

Hamas says genocide of Jewish state is non-negotiable condition for unifying with Fatah

(Algemeiner) A Senior Hamas official said that his organization wants reconciliation efforts with the PLO to be based on the Palestinian Arab demand for a right of return, a demand that if implemented would effectively bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state, as well the absence of recognition of Israel’s right to exist.

Ahmed Bahar made the statements Thursday, according to Ma’an News Agency.

“We want a real unity among the Palestinian people in order to stand in a row in front of the Israeli occupation and prevent it from carrying out its settlement projects and Judaization of Jerusalem,” Bahar said, according to a translation.

Since the end of the recent conflict in November between Israel and terrorists in Gaza, Hamas and the PA have made no secret of their interest in reconciling after their acrimonious split in 2007. Recent polls have shown support for the reconciliation process, as well as for Hamas’s leadership, has grown in recent months.

Bahar also stressed his mantra that resistance was the only path, saying that a return to negotiations would be futile as attempts at talks in the past twenty years “did not achieve anything.”

Bahar also boasted that Israel has been unable to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza, or even weaken the “resistance” against the Jewish state.

US drone airstrike in Yemen kills 2 al-Qaeda terrorists

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say a U.S. drone airstrike has killed two Al Qaeda militants in a southern town. They said one was a midlevel Al Qaeda Yemeni operative who escaped a U.S. drone attack 10 years ago. The other was said to be a Jordanian.

The officials said Monday's airstrike on Radda in Bayda province also critically injured three militants.

The Yemeni militant, Abdel-Raouf Naseeb, escaped death in the first recorded drone attack in Yemen, on Nov. 3, 2002. That strike killed Abu Ali al-Harithi, suspected of masterminding the October 2000 attack against the USS Cole warship in a Yemen port.

A member of the Naseeb family confirmed his death to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing government reprisal.

The security officials also requested anonymity according to regulations.

Congress extends foreign surveillance law

Washington (AP) – Congress has voted to renew the government's authority to monitor electronic communications of foreigners abroad.

It's a classified program to identify terrorists and spies without getting court orders for each intercept. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act program was on the brink of expiring by year's end.

But the Senate on Friday approved a five-year extension by a 73-23 vote and sent the bill to President Obama, who is expected to sign it.

Lawmakers rejected arguments from an unusual combination of Democratic liberals and ideological Republican conservatives. They demanded to know about any Americans whose communications were swept up in the foreign intercepts.

The intelligence community and leaders of the Senate's intelligence committee say the information is classified and oppose the disclosure.

Sheriff Arpaio sending armed posse to protect schools

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that he plans to deploy his armed volunteer posse to protect Valley schools from the kind of violence that happened in the Connecticut shooting tragedy. Arpaio believes having armed law officers around schools will deter would-be criminals from trying anything violent and, possibly, stop them if they do. “I have the authority to mobilize private citizens and fight crime in this county,” Arpaio said. Arpaio first started using his posse to protect malls during the holiday shopping season in 1993 in response to violent incidents in prior years. Since then he said malls where his posse members are on patrol have had zero violent re-occurrences and patrols by his all-volunteer squad during the 2012 shopping season netted a record 31 arrests. Arpaio said since the program has worked so well in malls he believes it will work just as well protecting schools. More...

There was a time when the Greeks destroyed Troy, Persia, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Babylon...

There was a time when the Greeks destroyed Troy, Persia, Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Babylon...

It is now the turn of the European Union.

Mexican government urges US court to block part of Arizona immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants

Seriously? WTF?

PHOENIX (AP) - The Mexican government has urged a U.S. court to stop Arizona from enforcing a minor section of the state's 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants.

Lawyers representing Mexico asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Wednesday to uphold a lower-court ruling that blocked police from enforcing the ban. Mexico argued the ban harms diplomatic relations between the United States, undermines the U.S.'s ability to speak to a foreign country with one voice and encourages the marginalization of Mexicans and people who appear to be from Latin America.

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Unreal.

CAIR outraged that jihad preaching Saudi cleric banned from entering US to attend Islamist conference in Chicago

This alone is the reason CAIR should be treated as a terror organization.

(IPT) The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) vows to complain to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials after they blocked a radical Saudi cleric from entering the country this week to attend a national Islamist conference in Chicago.

Sheikh Ayed al-Qarni was scheduled to speak twice during the Muslim American-Society (MAS)/Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) national convention Dec. 22-25. But a statement released during the convention expressed "the unpleasant and saddening news" that al-Qarni had been removed from his flight from Saudi Arabia despite having a visa from the U.S. embassy, and that he appears to be on the U.S. "no-fly list." Al-Qarni is described as "one of our great speakers" and as someone known "for his logical discourse and balanced views, he promotes understanding and collaboration between all people, regardless of their faith, background, or language."

Al-Qarni has advocated jihad in the past and his preaching on the subject has been described as influential among al-Qaida followers.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad told an Arabic news outlet that he would protest al-Qarni's exclusion with DHS and State Department officials. "We defend all Muslims who are subject to arbitrary measure, and by this logic, we will act but not formally plead, unless we obtain authorization from him."

It's an ironic protest to make in light of a public relations campaign orchestrated by CAIR's Chicago chapter. "MyJihad" aims to show non-Muslims that the term jihad is more about peaceful, personal attempts at overcoming challenges than about calls for violence and terror.

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Prominent U.S. Imam: New Caliphate Should Wage Jihad Against Non-Muslim States

(RadicalIslam.org) Imam Zaid Shakir, one of the founders of America’s first Muslim college, preached in 1992 that a new Caliphate (an Islamic state ruling the world by Sharia) should be created that will wage jihad and “use…weaponry against the enemies of Islam,” audio posted on YouTube on December 18 shows.

The sermon, titled "Failure of the Muslim Political Order," laments that there is not a single Islamic State that will “undertake the jihad” on behalf of Muslims. Shakir points to the violence in Somalia at that time as something Muslims should intervene to stop. If the Ottoman Empire was still around, he says, the “massacres” of Muslims would be “unthought-of” (8:30 minutes into the recording).

Shakir criticizes the Muslim world for not having a country equivalent to Israel, which he says dispatches the Mossad intelligence service around the world to protect and avenge Jewish lives. “Jews know, you kick my cat, we gonna blow up your dog, an eye for a head, or a whole body,” he says (10:20).

“As Muslims, we have more weaponry than any other group on earth,” Shakir says, mentioning huge U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (10:59).

“Is there a political will to use that weaponry against the enemies of Islam? There’s no political will. That is what we mean by the breakdown of the Islamic political authority,” Imam Shakir states.

They [the political rulers of an Islamic country] can be tyrants, they can be corrupt, but what is the task?... to determine if this state is still pursuing an Islamic policy … The internal task is to maintain order … and externally they undertake the jihad [emphasis added]. There’s no Muslim country on the face of the Earth that meets the task, that passes the test.” (11:46)

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CAIR Teams Up with Banned Anti-Semitic Muslim Preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Mohammed Movie

(RadicalIslam.org) CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, who bills themselves as the voice of American Muslims, has joined forces with an extremist and virulent anti-Semitic Islamist preacher in announcing a movie to be made about  Mohammed.

Nihad Awad, co-founder and executive director of CAIR, and Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader, shared the stage at a recent news conference in Qatar where the announced the project was announced.

Qaradawi, who has been banned in the U.S., Britain and France for his hate-filled rhetoric, is one of the most popular Islamic preacher in the world and considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qaradawi is on record as having said, “Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers….”

Qaradawi added, “I’d like to say that the only thing I hope for is that as my life approaches its end, Allah will give me an opportunity to go to the land of Jihad and resistance, even if in a wheelchair. I will shoot Allah’s enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus, I will seal my life with martyrdom.”

Qarawadi’s extremism led the United States, Britian and France to ban him from entering their countries.

Awad, himself, is on record as supporting Hamas. During a March 1994 symposium at Barry University, Awad declared, "I am in support of the Hamas movement." His organization, CAIR, has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest ever terror-funding trial in U.S. history.

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Judge Rules Against Police Officer Who Refused to Attend Islamic Proselytizing Event

Police Officer Paul Fields viewed the directive to attend an Islamic proselytizing event as "an unlawful order, as it is in direct conflict with my personal religious convictions, as well as to be conscience shocking."

(RadicalIslam.org) An Oklahoma federal judge ruled December 13, 2012 that the City of Tulsa and two of its senior police officials, Chief of Police Chuck Jordan and Deputy Chief of Police Daryl Webster, did not violate the constitutional rights of Captain Paul Fields, a Tulsa Police officer who was summarily punished for refusing to attend a mandated Islamic proselytizing event held at a local mosque.

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DOJ Forces Mega-Mosque on Norwalk, CT Community

(RadicalIslam.org) The Al-Madany Islamic Center of Norwalk in Connecticut wasn’t ready to give up when its proposal for a 27,000 square foot facility was turned down by the zoning commission over matters completely unrelated to religion. The Islamic Center sued, asserting—as you might have guessed—it was religious discrimination. The cry of “Islamophobia” got the Justice Department on its side, and the zoning commission suddenly changed its mind after a closed session.

The current Islamic Center was established in 1999 and serves 100 families. Feeling that more space was needed, the Center purchased the property in 2008 and made the $3.5 million proposal in the spring of 2010. It calls for a facility with an 80 foot minaret to serve as a community center and mosque, including eight classrooms, two libraries, three offices, a kitchen, a gymnasium and other rooms. It has a capacity for 1,000 people.

The proposal was rejected in June. The officials and residents that opposed it never referenced Islam and repeatedly emphasized that religion had nothing to do with it.

Mayor Richard Moccia said, “It was not based on any religious bias.” Commissioner Adam Blank said community centers are not allowed in triple AAA residential zones. Additionally, he said, parking was only allocated for the prayer hall that is 3,000 square feet, leaving the rest without parking.

Isabelle Harqgrove of “the “Keep 127 Fillow Street Residential” was concerned about increased traffic and its potential to “fundamentally alter the character of this quiet, New England neighborhood.” Local resident Brian Dough complained at a public hearing about the already heavy traffic in the morning.

“I don’t want to live near a Wal-Mart or a 27,000 square foot building, and I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood does. There’s no room, and this is huge,” he said.
Israel Herskowitz of the Stonegate Condominium Association that opposes the project said, “The reason why it was rejected is it’s too big a development for too small a property … That would be the same if it was a church, or it was a synagogue.”

The Center rebutted by presenting a traffic study that projected that only 100 people and 50 cars would arrive for Friday prayer services. It also offered to help reduce traffic on special holidays by holding two services and hiring a police officer to direct traffic. The zoning commission chairman was skeptical of the traffic study because it didn’t include the rear building. The Center claims that it will not use both buildings at the same time.

When the zoning commission ruled against the Center, the Center responded with a lawsuit, accusing it of anti-Muslim bias. Even one supporter of the Center’s proposal, Rabbi Jon Fish of Congregation Beth El, felt it was a dirty tactic.

“We all have problems with parking and space. It’s clear that the people who are concerned for their neighborhood are also good Americans, who also care a great deal about the diversity of our community. No one should be cast as a bigot,” he said.

Nonetheless, the “Islamophobia” accusation got the Justice Department to start an investigation. On November 29, the zoning commission had a private meeting and approved the proposal “subject to an agreement depending on the terms of a final settlement.”

Herskowitz decried the “backroom politics” that left him and other residents out of the process. “We don’t know what’s in this proposed settlement. It’s frustrating,” he said. His group has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out.

All the Center had to do was claim discrimination for the Justice Department to intimidate local officials on its behalf. If a church didn’t get what it wanted from a zoning commission and accused it of “Christophobia,” would the Justice Department have intervened?

Few words are as powerful as “Islamophobia.” It preys upon the emotions of Americans disgusted by genuine acts of anti-Muslim bigotry. It tempts the politicians concerned about their public image. For Islamists uncomfortable with legitimate questions, it moves the conversation to victimization. And, as we now know, it compels the Justice Department to help get your mosque approved.

Michael Moore’s America

(WT) Michael Moore despises his own country. Following the Newtown, Conn., shooting, the far-left filmmaker tweeted that he was not surprised by what had happened. The reason? “It’s who we are, plain and simple,” he wrote in the Dec. 16 message. “I hate to say it, but killing is our way.” Anti-American sentiments of this sort are what have made Mr. Moore a hero to the left and a very wealthy man.

Take “Fahrenheit 9/11,” his 2004 documentary blasting the George W. Bush administration, which grossed more than $222 million worldwide. Audiences didn’t flock to this flick for an accurate portrayal of the war in Iraq. The film’s trailer showed then-Rep. Mark Kennedy, Minnesota Republican, appearing to dodge a question about whether he would send his own family members to serve in the war he voted to support. Mr. Kennedy complained that his response about how two of his nephews actually were serving overseas was a detail left on the cutting-room floor.

In a 2009 interview, Sean Hannity experienced Mr. Moore’s blame-America-first impulse when the Fox News Channel host asked the movie mogul why he would defend homicidal socialist Fidel Castro. “What about the murder that’s been done in our name in the last decade?” Mr. Moore replied. The same year, Mr. Moore told Jimmy Kimmel that he shared “a bottle-and-a-half of tequila” with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, to whom he claimed to provide public relations advice. Mr. Chavez denied this ever happened; perhaps even dictators have their standards.

If only Hollywood could say the same. From its inception, the United States has been the world’s leading force for human freedom and economic prosperity. The Constitution is the greatest political document ever devised, enshrining a form of government that guards against arbitrary authoritarian rule and centralized statism. Our founding principles are the reason America is the greatest democracy in history. It also is why Americans have stood repeatedly on the side of human decency and civilization. In particular, the United States led the struggle against totalitarianism — helping defeat the Axis powers and, later, the Soviet Union. National socialism and communism were responsible for the slaughter of more than 100 million innocent victims. For this alone, Americans should take great pride in their country.

The United States — like any other nation or people — has its flaws. What distinguishes it, however, is its remarkable ability to self-correct, constantly striving to live up to its founding ideals. It is a beacon of liberty in a mostly dark world. Turning the camera lens on the real and imagined flaws may win applause and red-carpet invitations in Tinseltown, but it’s not America’s way.

In this holiday season, we should be grateful for the freedoms and opportunities the United States continues to offer. Mr. Moore’s assertions to the contrary, we are still the last, best hope of man on earth.

State's Benghazi baloney: State Department's officials get off free on Benghazi

(NYP) Many Americans were incensed last week when four mid-level State Department officials appeared to take the full fall for the Sept. 11-anniversary terrorist strike in Benghazi and were forced to resign.

Boy, were they wrong.

It’s not that senior officials have finally ’fessed up and taken their punishment.

Rather, it turns out that no one has truly been punished at all — and certainly no one’s been fired.

As The Post’s Josh Margolin reported yesterday, “The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon.”

That’s true even for Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security and the senior-most of the four.

An official State Department report on the attack, which took the lives of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, singled out Boswell for censure over the “systemic failures and leadership deficiencies” in Foggy Bottom.

State Department spokewoman Toria Nuland said last week that Boswell resigned as assistant secretary.

But Margolin reports that Boswell is merely “switching desks” and that he “gave up only the presidential appointment as assistant secretary, not his other portfolios.”

That’s not even a slap on the wrist for the man the State Department insists is ultimately responsible for the “grossly inadequate” security measures in Libya that made Ambassador Stevens easy prey.

But none of this is truly surprising, given how duplicitous the State Department has been during every moment of the Benghazi affair.

First it lied about the presence of a group of “protesters” outside the Benghazi consulate on 9/11; its own review has shown that to be a falsehood.

Then it lied and blamed the terrorist attack on an obscure California filmmaker who put a shoddy, anti-Islamic video on YouTube — and who is now sitting in federal lock-up despite having no connection to the day’s events.

But this lie was the pettiest of all — assuring the public that it was holding its own people accountable for what went wrong.

What’s the truth?

Boswell still has a job, and the other three officials are on administrative leave; they’re expected to be back in Foggy Bottom soon.

Which means they’re basically on an extended Christmas vacation right now.

And it means that the only State Department official who lost his job due to Benghazi was Ambassador Stevens.

They're safe because they're progressives. Ideology before competence. That's how Obama got re-elected.

Abu Dhabi hosts annual camel beauty contest

Syria: Assad forces use phosphorus bombs

(Ynet) Syrian opposition forces claim that during recent fighting near Damascus Syria's army used phosphorus bombs against the rebels, according to a report by the Arabic language Sky News.

In a video uploaded by the rebels a fire is seen erupting as a result of the bombs, which are deemed illegal by international law.

Turkey: Assad is seeking asylum in Venezuela

(Ynet) Turkey has confirmed that Syria's beleaguered president Bashar Assad has asked Venezuela for asylum for his family as opposition forces continue to make military gains on the ground, Turkish daily Zaman reported Wednesday.

According to the report, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry informed Turkish diplomats that claims that Assad sent a letter requesting asylum to the leader of the Latin American country, Hugo Chavez, are true.

Turkey's Akşam daily reported Wednesday that Turkish officials in Caracas visited the Foreign Ministry and inquired about the letter. The Venezuelan officials confirmed the letter but declined to give details on its content.

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Iranians ban planes landing or taking off during the call to prayer

(Tehran) Muslims the world over have a penchant for banning things which they just don't agree to. Be it football, TV, music, bras, tomatoes, samosas, foreign aid, shaking hands, school bells, condoms, phone ring tones, teaching English, New Year, Valentines Day, Christmas and the rest, Muslims the world over sure let you know if they don't like something.

Well, after banning almost anything and everything in Iran, the mad mullahs there have decided to find something new to find fault with, and, guess what, they did. Which is why as of today, planes landing and taking off during the call to prayer (5 tines a day) are to be banned.

I do wonder just how they are going to come up with something to follow this edict.

Member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad: Half of the People Who Voted for the Constitution Are Illiterate

From MEMRI:

Nabil Naeem: In the constitution referendum, 36% voted “no,” and 64% voted “yes.” In my view, the 36% are more significant than the 64%, because 100% of them are educated. On the other hand, half of the 64% who voted “yes” are illiterate. With all due respect, you cannot compare the opinion of a judge to that of someone who cannot read or write.

Why Arabs Hate And Kill Palestinians

By Khaled Abu Toameh at Gatestone Institute

The Arab League did not hold an emergency meeting to discuss what Palestinians describe as "massacres " against the refugees in a Syrian camp, home to more than 50,000 people. Those who meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries should not be surprised when bombs start falling on their homes. Palestinians are not always innocent victims. They bring tragedy on themselves and then want to blame everyone else but themselves.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds others injured since the beginning of the crisis in Syria nearly two years ago.

In the past two weeks, thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus after Syrian jets bombed their homes, killing dozens of people.

More than 3000 refugees have fled to neighboring Lebanon, where some politicians and cabinet ministers are already calling for closing the border to stop the influx of Palestinians into their country.

The Arab world, meanwhile, has done nothing to help the Palestinians in Syria.

The Arab League did not hold an emergency meeting to discuss what Palestinians described as "massacres" against the refugees in Yarmouk, home to some 50,000 people.

This is not the first time that Palestinians living in Arab countries find themselves caught in conflicts between rival parties. Those who meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries should not be surprised when bombs start falling on their homes.

The Palestinians have a long history of involving themselves in the internal affairs of Arab countries and later complaining when they fall victim to violence. They complain they are being killed but not saying why they keep getting into trouble.

Palestinians are not always innocent victims. They bring tragedy on themselves and then want to blame everyone else but themselves.

In Syria, a Palestinian terrorist group called Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, which is headed by Ahmed Jibril, had been helping the Syrian regime in its attempts to suppress the opposition. Jibril's terrorists are reported to have kidnapped, tortured and murdered hundreds of anti-regime Syrians over the past two years.

The last time an Arab army bombed a Palestinian refugee camp was in Lebanon. In 2007, the Lebanese army destroyed most of the Nahr al-Bared camp after another terrorist group, Fatah al-Islam set up bases there and attacked army checkpoints, killing several soldiers.

In the 70s and 80s, Palestinians played a major role in the Lebanon civil war, which claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.

The Palestinians also payed a price for meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq. After the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, thousands of Palestinians were forced out of Iraq for helping the dictator oppress his people for many years.

After the liberation of Kuwait more than 20 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from the tiny emirate and other Gulf countries. Their crime was that they had supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait -- a country that for many years had provided the PLO with billions of dollars in aid.

Jordan was the first Arab country to punish the Palestinians for meddling in its internal affairs. In 1970, the late King Hussein ordered his army to crush armed Palestinian organizations that had severely undermined his monarchy. The violence resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and ended with the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon.

What happened in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the past few days shows that the Palestinians have not learned from their previous mistakes and are continuing to meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries. That is perhaps why the Arabs are reluctant to help the Palestinians overcome their financial hardships.

Arab League foreign ministers recently promised to provide the Palestinian Authority with $100m. per month to solve its financial crisis. But the Palestinians have not yet seen one dollar from the promised aid. And if they continue to meddle in the internal affairs of their Arab brothers, the only thing they will see is more bombs falling on their homes and thousands of people forced out of their refugee camps.

Democrat-Dominated Senate OKs Warrantless Email Snooping

Remember how Bush was vilified for the Patriot Act? That Act required a warrant.

(Buzzfeed) Legislation sent to President Obama this week quietly removed language in a bill that would have — for the first time — forced law enforcement to obtain a warrant to read Americans' email. Currently, private email that has been stored by a third party for more than 180 days can be accessed by the government without a warrant.

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Iran Pays Russian Women at Its Nuclear Plant to Cover Their Bodies to Comply with Sharia

(Weekly Statndard) Iran is paying Russian women working at a nuclear plant to cover their bodies, so as to comply with sharia dress codes, an Iranian member of parliament told the outlet ISNA.

"Based on contracts signed with female Russian employees at the Bushehr (nuclear) power plant, they receive a hijab payment," said Mehdi Mousavinejad, the MP, according to the AFP newswire.

But Mousavinejad lamented that not all women comply and, moreover, the rules are not properly enforced.

"Unfortunately, they do not properly observe what is (asked of them), which is mentioned in the contracts," he said. "When one party accepts to pay an amount for a commitment, it is important for the other party to fulfil its commitments."

It is not clear how much money these Russian women are being paid to cover up.

"He did not how much money was paid, or how many female technicians are working at the Bushehr nuclear plant," reports AFP.

"Russia took over as the main contractor at Bushehr in the mid-90s, but the plant is yet to be fully operational and connected to Iran's national grid.

"A defining element of Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979, the hijab has translated into women wearing long, loose clothing to conceal their figures."

Report: Benghazi penalties are bogus

(NYP) The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon, The Post has learned.

The highest-ranking official caught up in the scandal, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Boswell, has not “resigned” from government service, as officials said last week. He is just switching desks. And the other three are simply on administrative leave and are expected back.

The four were made out to be sacrificial lambs in the wake of a scathing report issued last week that found that the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, was left vulnerable to attack because of “grossly inadequate” security.

State Department leaders “didn’t come clean about Benghazi and now they’re not coming clean about these staff changes,” a source close to the situation told The Post., adding, the “public would be outraged over this.”

US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 attack, originally blamed on a spontaneous demonstration against a US-made anti-Islam video that got out of hand.

That version was dismissed by an Accountability Review Board headed by retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering.

In response to questions from The Post, the State Department would only reissue the carefully crafted statement put out last week.

Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton “has accepted Eric Boswell’s decision to resign as assistant secretary for diplomatic security, effective immediately.” What Nuland omitted was that Boswell gave up only the presidential appointment as assistant secretary, not his other portfolios.

The other officials — Deputy Assistant Secretaries Charlene Lamb and Raymond Maxwell, and a third who has not been identified — were found to have shown “performance inadequacies” but not “willful misconduct,” Pickering said, so they would not face discipline.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) told The Post this is “yet another ruse about the tragedy of Benghazi.”

“State Department officials proclaimed . . . that heads would roll . . . Now we see that the discipline is a lie and all that has happened is the shuffling of the deck chairs.”

Egypt 2.0: Morsi signs Islamist constitution into law

Civilians rush to withdraw savings from banks after Egyptian president signs bill into law. Obama and Hillary, who made it all possible, now "urge" Morsi to bridge division.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has signed into law a new Islamist-drafted constitution he says will help end political turmoil and allow him to focus on fixing the fragile economy.

Anxiety about the deepening economic crisis has gripped Egypt in past weeks, with many people rushing to take out their savings from banks and the government imposing new restrictions to reduce capital flight.

Results of a national referendum announced on Tuesday showed Egyptians had approved the text with an overwhelming 63.8 percent, paving the way for a parliamentary election in about two months.

The win gives Islamists their third straight electoral victory since veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution, following their earlier wins in parliamentary and presidential elections.

The presidency said Morsi signed a decree enforcing the charter late on Tuesday after the official announcement of the result of a referendum approving the basic law, Egypt's first constitution since Mubarak's overthrow.

The text has sharpened painful divisions in the Arab world's most populous nation and prompted often violent protests on the streets of Cairo.

Opposition groups condemn the new basic law as too Islamist and undemocratic, saying it could allow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking process and leave minority groups without proper legal protection.

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Iranian media report new cyberattack by Stuxnet worm

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.

Tuesday's report by ISNA quotes provincial civil defense chief Ali Akbar Akhavan as saying the virus targeted a power plant and some other industries in Hormozgan province in recent months.

Akhavan says Iranian computer experts were able to "successfully stop" the worm.

Iran has repeatedly claimed defusing cyber worms and malware, including Stuxnet and Flame viruses that targeted the vital oil sector, which provides 80% of the country's foreign revenue.

Tehran has said both worms are part of a secret U.S.-Israeli program that seeks to destabilize Iran's nuclear program.

The West suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

Photos: Troops celebrate Christmas in Afghanistan (2012 edition)

Nigerian Midnight Mass attack kills 6, many missing

(Potiskum) In the Northern Nigerian state of Yobe, armed gunman attacked a church during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and murdered as many people as they could. After venting their blood lust, the followers of the Islamic pedophilic warlord set fire to the church, which they then followed up by setting fire to the houses surrounding the church.

Just another example of the intolerance expressed by Muslims towards anybody who doesn't follow their gay death cult.

Muslim Temple Mount authority reportedly carts off Jewish antiquities to the dump

(Times of Israel) The Muslim authority managing the Temple Mount on Sunday dumped tons of unexamined earth and stones excavated from the holy site into a municipal dump, in violation of a High Court injunction, Maariv reported on Monday.

Israel’s top court in September 2004 prohibited removal of earth from the Temple Mount and ruled that, should it be necessary, the Antiquities Authority must be notified a month in advance so it may examine the earth for artifacts.

Jews regard the Temple Mount as their holiest site, where the First and Second Temple were located. Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary and regard it as their third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. According to the existing arrangement, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, or trust, administers the Temple Mount complex.

Despite the High Court of Justice’s ruling, the Waqf has reportedly removed large piles of dirt from the Temple Mount in recent years and dumped them in the valley east of the Old City walls, provoking an outcry from biblical archaeologists and Jewish groups.

Tzachi Dvira, the archaeologist managing the team that sifts through soil excavated from the Temple Mount, told Maariv that mounds of earth containing historic relics were carted off and dumped on Sunday without notification and before archaeologists could investigate them.

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First Picture of UK's 'Rivet Joint' Aircraft

(UK) When the current British Government decided to cut the very protracted (and expensive) Nimrod program, the world and its oyster had no problem bitching about how the UK had lost one of its most beloved surveillance aircraft (nothing about how it was a very unsafe aircraft).

But what nobody bothered their arse in reporting was how the British Government had decided to replace the Nimrod with the American 'Joint Stars' aircraft. Well, a good year down the line and the first pictures of the RC-135 in UK colours has been aired. And what a good looking plane it is.

Report: Top Palestinian operative killed by rebels in Syria

A jihadist killed by jihadists from the opposing side. A feel-good story of the day.

(Ynet) The Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command announced that its operations commander, Madal Elian, was killed by rebels in Syria, according to the Lebanese news channel LBC.

The group is one of the last Palestinian factions to remain loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

WikiLeaks to release 1 million new documents affecting every country in the world

(CNN) -- WikiLeaks is preparing to release more than a million documents next year, the controversial website's founder said Thursday.

Julian Assange did not provide details about their contents but said they "affect every country in the world."

He spoke from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been holed up for more than six months. Ecuador's government granted him asylum in August, but British authorities have said they will arrest him if he leaves the premises.

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Muslims protest outside St Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Eve

(London) While the liberal media try to spread the message that Islam is a religion of peace willing to cohabit with everybody else, a bunch of Allah's favourite benefit scroungers held a protest outside the seat of the Church of England on Christmas Eve in which to promote the view that Jesus belonged to Islam and that British society was riddled with "sin".

And they wonder why Islam is seen as a gay death cult.

Yemen: 2 al-Qaeda-linked terrorists killed in US airstrike

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say a U.S. drone airstrike has killed two al-Qaida militants in a southern town.

They said one was a midlevel al-Qaida Yemeni operative who escaped a U.S. drone attack 10 years ago. The other was said to be a Jordanian.

The officials said Monday's airstrike on Radda in Bayda province also critically injured three militants.

The Yemeni militant, Abdel-Raouf Naseeb, escaped death in the first recorded drone attack in Yemen, on Nov. 3, 2002. That strike killed Abu Ali al-Harithi, suspected of masterminding the October 2000 attack against the USS Cole warship in a Yemen port.

A member of the Naseeb family confirmed his death to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing government reprisal.

The security officials also requested anonymity according to regulations.

US Army teams going to Africa as terror threat grows

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Army brigade will begin sending small teams into as many as 35 African nations early next year, part of an intensifying Pentagon effort to train countries to battle extremists and give the U.S. a ready and trained force to dispatch to Africa if crises requiring the U.S. military emerge.

The teams will be limited to training and equipping efforts, and will not be permitted to conduct military operations without specific, additional approvals from the secretary of defense.

The sharper focus on Africa by the U.S. comes against a backdrop of widespread insurgent violence across North Africa, and as the African Union and other nations discuss military intervention in northern Mali.

The terror threat from al-Qaida linked groups in Africa has been growing steadily, particularly with the rise of the extremist Islamist sect Boko Haram in Nigeria. Officials also believe that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed the ambassador and three other Americans, may have been carried out by those who had ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

This first-of-its-kind brigade assignment — involving teams from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division — will target countries such as Libya, Sudan, Algeria and Niger, where al-Qaida-linked groups have been active. It also will assist nations like Kenya and Uganda that have been battling al-Shabab militants on the front lines in Somalia.

Gen. Carter Ham, the top U.S. commander in Africa, noted that the brigade has a small drone capability that could be useful in Africa. But he also acknowledged that he would need special permission to tap it for that kind of mission.

"If they want them for (military) operations, the brigade is our first sourcing solution because they're prepared," said Gen. David Rodriguez, the head of U.S. Army Forces Command. "But that has to go back to the secretary of defense to get an execute order."

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Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers

(Telegraph) The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”

It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.”

“Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood,” says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He adds: “The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally.”

The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.

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