Fifteen killed in northern Mexican bar shootout

CIUDAD JUAREZ (Reuters) - Fifteen people were killed and at least one seriously wounded in a suspected drug-related shootout on Friday in a bar in northern Mexico, a region that has been brutalized by fighting between criminal gangs.

On Friday night, armed men entered the bar in Chihuahua, capital of Chihuahua state, and opened fire on various people inside suspected of involvement in drug dealing, the local attorney general's office said in a statement on Saturday.

A local press association said two men killed in the attack were journalists, adding to the tally of media casualties from Mexico's rampant gang violence.

The attorney general's office also said two other people were shot dead in a separate bar attack in the city, bringing Friday's death toll to 17.

More...

Israeli security forces avert major terror attack in Judea

(JPost) Border Police officers averted a major terror attack in the West Bank on Saturday after stopping two Palestinian men acting suspiciously, and discovering powerful explosives in their possession, as well as knives and a gun.

The incident occurred near Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank, near a hitchhikers post used by many Israelis on Saturday night.

Security forces suspect that the post was the intended target of the attack.

"Our fighters noticed two men in their 20s acting strangely," a Border Police spokesman said. "They looked under pressure in the presence of security personnel," he added.

The suspicious conduct by the Palestinians prompted Border Police to initiate a search of them and their bags. The officers uncovered a small arsenal of powerful explosives.

Four pipe bombs, two knives, and a home-made gun were seized in the search.

A Judea and Samaria Traffic Police patrol car then joined the scene, and placed the suspects under arrest.

During initial questioning, each suspect blamed the other. Both men are from the Balata region of Nablus. The suspects were taken away for questioning, and are refusing to cooperate.

Border Police then dispatched a bomb squad unit, which defused pipe bombs.

Cat for Obama

Friday Sermon Comedy Gold: "Jordanian Army Is Invincible, Will Shatter Israel's Might"

From MEMRI:

Ghaleb Rabab'a: The [Jordanian] army is invincible. Its units are filled with people who pray, with imams, and with people who memorized the Koran. This army will never be defeated, Allah willing. Jerusalem will be regained, Allah willing, by these modest and pure hands, which hold the Koran high and recite it day and night.

This is an army that bows before none but Allah. Today, we must take pride in our country and its army, which descends from the Prophet Muhammad. Indeed, my brothers in faith, things happen, but the arrogance of the Jews will be defeated, Allah willing.

[…]

This army, my brothers in faith, will shatter the might of Israel, Allah willing, just as the might of the Crusaders and the Byzantines was shattered at Hittin, at Yarmouk, Al-Qadisiyya, 'Ain Jalut, Mu'ta, and Al-Karamah. [Israel's might] will be shattered by the will of Allah.

[…]

Allah will not leave for long the first direction of prayer for the Islamic nation in the hands of the slayers of the prophets.

[…]

#OWS Celebrates Holocaust Day w/ Anti-Semetic Cartoons

Read about it at The Jawa Report.

Al-Jazeera TV Host: A Gazillion Times More Syrians than Palestinians Have Been Killed

From MEMRI:

Faysal Al-Qassem: How do you account for this denial? The Syrian media give you the impression that nothing is happening there. The Syrian people are concerned only with barbeques, and they all hang out in the parks. Today, Syrian TV has run programs on the massacre of Deir Yassin in Palestine, at a time when the Syrian people is being massacred in Idlib, in Deir Al-Zour, in Homs, and in Hama. By God, how can you make a mockery of the people this way? Is this the time to be talking about the massacres in Palestine, when the Syrian people is being massacred in all the towns…

Salem Zahran: No, Dr. Faysal…

Faysal Al-Qassem: How do you respond to this denial? Go ahead.

Salem Zahran: First of all, it's beneath your dignity not to talk about Deir Yassin…

Faysal Al-Qassem: Just answer the question, don't give me a lesson in morals. I'm asking you a question, so answer it!

Salem Zahran: Just a moment…

Firstly, it's an honor for Syria and its media to deal with the Deir Yassin massacre…

Faysal Al-Qassem: What about the massacres of Deir Al-Zour, Hama, and Idlib? Thousands are being massacred on a daily basis. Who are you kidding?

Salem Zahran: The Deir Yassin massacre is part of our history and heritage. Palestinian blood is our blood.

Faysal Al-Qassem: What about the Deir Al-Zour massacre?

Salem Zahran: Don't interrupt me.

Faysal Al-Qassem: What about the massacres of Deir Al-Zour and Idlib? People are being salvaged from the rubble, and you direct your camera at Deir Yassin?!

Salem Zahran: When you're done, let me know.

Faysal Al-Qassem: Go ahead.

Salem Zahran: First of all, Palestinian blood is our blood.

Faysal Al-Qassem: It's the same old record: "Palestinian blood." What about the Syrian blood?

Salem Zahran: You should not disparage our history, our heritage, and our culture. We've lived for Palestine, and we will die for Palestine.

Faysal Al-Qassem: And you are also "peddling" the Palestinian cause.

Salem Zahran: Don't interrupt me or I won't talk.

Faysal Al-Qassem: Is this the time to be talking about Palestine? A gazillion times more Syrians than Palestinians have been killed.

Salem Zahran: You make tens of thousands of dollars in Doha, so you don't care about Palestine. But for us, Palestine is the frontier, the land of return, the main cause. All the rest are trivial details…

Faysal Al-Qassem: Right, hundreds of thousands dead and homeless are trivial…

Salem Zahran: Palestine is the main cause, and the Syrian media should be commended for mentioning Palestine. We will not make Palestine disappear for the sake of anything else. Dr. Faysal, I didn't think you would fall into such errors…

Faysal Al-Qassem: Call me a traitor and a collaborator. Anyone who doesn't believe your lies is a collaborator.

[…]

UN Vehicles Participate in Iran's Army Day Parade

From MEMRI:

Reporter: We can see the parade of the army's vehicles and equipment.

An anti-tank missile is now passing by.

Announcer: These are Mercedes-Benz cars... These are UN Toyotas. These Toyotas belong to the 16th UN armored battalion. They are involved in peacekeeping throughout the region...

Reporter: These vehicles are used for peacekeeping. They belong to the UN. They are passing by on the Army Day of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Announcer: ... they have great mobility in the battlefield, and great maneuvering capabilities.

We are now seeing UN Benz 2631 trucks passing by.

[...]

Egyptian Cleric Issues Fatwa: People Must Vote for the Salafi Candidate

From MEMRI:

Sheik Hassan Abu Al-Ashbal: The winds of Islam have begun to blow lately in the countries of Islam, after a long period of atheism and heresy. Yes, dear brothers, the city of 'Adh was destroyed by the dabour wind - that western wind blowing from the countries of the infidels, the countries of Europe and the US.

Allah will destroy them and support you against them, but you must support Allah, His Messenger, and His religion.

[...]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Hazem Abu Ismail's mother was American. Let's not even say that she was Egyptian and then became American. Let's go all the way and say that she was born and bred in America. What's wrong with that? Is that a sin? By no means. Allah differentiates between people by their piety. "The most honored among you in Allah's eyes are the most pious."

It is not a sin, especially since we know from Egyptian history that Egypt was never ruled by an Egyptian, loyal to Egypt. Ever since the Islamic conquest in 21 AH (642 CE) to our very day, Egypt has never been ruled by an Egyptian.

Gamal Abd Al-Nasser? His father was a Jew, who sold leathers in front of the Sayyid Badawi Mosque in Tanta. Sadat's mother was a Negro from South Sudan. Hosni Mubarak, his wife, his children, and his grandchildren are all British citizens.

[...]

I am responsible for what I say. I hereby issue a fatwa that people must vote for Hazem Sallah Abu Ismail and that it is forbidden - let me repeat it, forbidden - to vote for anyone else. Why? Because the shari'a is mandatory. We don't have any choice in that matter. I know of nobody else who takes it upon himself to implement the shari'a.

[...]

Iraq: At least 36 killed, 150 wounded by more than 20 bombs across the country

Iraqi security personnel inspect the site of a car bomb attack in the city of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, April 19, 2012. [...] (Reuters Pictures)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 20 bombs hit cities and towns across Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 36 and wounding more than 100, police and hospital sources said, raising fears of sectarian strife in a country keen to show it can now maintain security.

In Baghdad, three car bombs, two roadside bombs and one suicide car bomb hit mainly Shi'ite areas in what looked like coordinated attacks, killing 15 people and wounding 61, the sources said.

Two car bombs and three roadside bombs aimed at police and army patrols in the northern oil city of Kirkuk killed eight people and wounded 26, police and hospital sources said.

"I was trying to stop traffic to let a police patrol pass. When it passed, a car bomb exploded and I fell on the ground and police took me to the hospital," a policeman wounded in the face and chest told Reuters as doctors tended his wounds. He declined to be named.

It was Iraq's bloodiest day since Al Qaeda's affiliate in the country, the Islamic State of Iraq group, killed at least 52 people with a series of 30 blasts on March 20.

More...

House clears highway bill with Keystone pipeline mandate, thwarts Obama with impressive bipartisan majority

(The Hill) Defying a White House veto threat, the House on Wednesday passed legislation that extends transportation program funding through September and mandates construction of a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

All but 14 Republicans, with support from 69 Democrats, voted 293-127 for legislation that falls far short of Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) earlier plan to move a sweeping five-year, $260 billion package.

But Boehner’s retreat serves two crucial tactical and political purposes for the Speaker. It sets up talks with the Senate on the highway bill and keeps the Keystone pipeline — a centerpiece of GOP attacks on White House energy policy — front and center ahead of the November election.

Republican leaders hailed the bipartisan vote as a rebuke of President Obama. Two senior Democrat leaders, Reps. James Clyburn (S.C.) and John Larson (Conn.), approved the measure.

“The House is on record again in support of the Keystone XL energy pipeline — a project President Obama blocked, personally lobbied against, then tried to take credit for, and now says he’ll veto,” Boehner said in a statement. “There’s no telling where the president stands from one day to the next on Keystone, but he knows the pipeline has broad and bipartisan support in Congress and among the American people.”

More...

Video: Hitler Finds Out Obama Ate His Dog

Obama halo pics are back!

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on job creation at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, April 18, 2012. Obama is in Ohio for an event on jobs and the economy, before going to Michigan for election fundraisers. (Reuters Pictures)

Yemen air strike sends 6 al-Qaeda terrorists to the big mosque in the sky

Feel-good story of the day.

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemeni warplanes killed at least six militants linked to al Qaeda on Wednesday, the government said as it pressed ahead with an offensive against insurgents in the south.

Since the outbreak of anti-government protests that unseated former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, security has deteriorated in Yemen, particularly in the south, where the army is struggling to control Islamist fighters.

The defense ministry said it launched an air strike on a group of militants near the southern city of Lawdar, killing six.

More...

UN FAIL: Gunfire and diplomatic wrangling over Syria monitoring mission

BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Gunfire and protests near a team of U.N. observers in Syria and diplomatic wrangling over the scope of their mission underlined the precarious prospects for a week-old truce which has so far failed to halt a year of bloodshed.

Then do they keep calling it a truce?

Shooting erupted on Wednesday close to an advance party of military personnel from the United Nations who had been swarmed by protesters denouncing President Bashar al-Assad in the town of Erbin, on the northeastern outskirts of the capital Damascus.

There were no reports of casualties. But scenes of monitors' vehicles stuck in a crowd and men running away while gunfire rattled in the air were an ominous echo of an earlier monitoring mission, by the Arab League, which collapsed in January.

In other words, déjà vu.

The United States said the incident - and sustained shelling by the Syrian army of the city of Homs - raised questions about whether observers could actually monitor any truce and pledged to step up pressure on Assad at a meeting in Paris on Thursday.

More...

Questions, eh?

US Embassy warns Boko Haram plans attacks on Nigerian capital

ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States has warned its citizens living in Nigeria that Islamist sect Boko Haram is planning attacks on the capital Abuja, including major hotels there.

Boko Haram, which wants sharia, Islamic law, more widely applied across Africa's most populous nation, has killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks this year.

"The U.S. Embassy has received information that Boko Haram may be planning attacks in Abuja, Nigeria, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners," an emergency message on its website said on Wednesday.

"The Nigerian government is aware of the threat and is actively implementing security measures."

The U.S. authorities issued a similar warning in November, naming the Hilton, Sheraton and Nicon Luxury as Abuja hotels that could be targets for Boko Haram, but it later retracted it.

Nigerian authorities said then that high profile hotels were always a possible target but security was tight and people should not live in fear. However, occupancy at those hotels dipped after the last U.S. warning.

The embassy did not name specific targets this time. The Hilton in Abuja said it always took security seriously.

More...

Pic of the day

Appeals court upholds Arizona's voter ID requirement

PHOENIX (AP) – An appeals court upheld a requirement in a 2004 Arizona law that voters show identification before they can cast ballots, saying that there wasn't evidence that the mandate disparately affected Latinos as the challengers had alleged.

A 12-member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling Tuesday that there was evidence Arizona has racially polarized voting and a history of discrimination against Latinos, but concluded that no proof was offered to show that the ID requirement gave Latinos fewer opportunities to vote.

But... and it's a big BUT:

The court, however, found that the federal National Voter Registration Act trumps another section of the Arizona law that requires people to prove their citizenship in order to vote.

That federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but it doesn't require them to show proof as Arizona's law does.

More...

British authorities rearrest hate preacher Abu Qatada, restart deportation procedures

(Telegraph) Hate preacher Abu Qatada can be deported to Jordan after the Government received assurances from the Jordanian government about his treatment, Home Secretary Theresa May said today.

Qatada, who was re-arrested at him home this morning, will now face being put on an aeroplane to face trial in his home country, pending an appeal.

It is understood the government aims to deport him by April 30, although Mrs May warned the process could take some months.

She said: "I believe the assurances and the information we have gathered will mean that we can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good."

The decision comes after years of attempts to enable legal deportation to Jordan, which were blocked by the European Court of Human Rights over fears of torture.

Qatada, 52, who was once described by a judge as “Bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe” has been living in the UK since 1993 when he arrived with a forged passport.

The radical Muslim preacher was imprisoned in 2001, but freed on bail in 2005. In 2008, appeal court judges halted his deportation and he was returned to prison for breaching bail conditions.

Earlier this year, the European court blocked his deportation to Jordan because of the risk of him being put on trial based on evidence obtained under torture.

Now, after meeting with the Jordanian government, Mrs May said she had received three key assurance that she believes will override this decision.

More...

Nah, don't worry about it, just send him to Jordan, he'll be OK.

Iraq: Al-Qaeda terrorist blows up his house, killing himsel and his family during raid

"Work accident"? Or "martyrdom"?

BAQOUBA, Iraq: An alleged Al-Qaeda member blew up his house in Iraq’s Diyala province during a raid Monday, killing himself and four family members, while five people died in other attacks, security sources said.Just before Iraqi soldiers entered the home “of an Al-Qaeda member in Saadiyah, he blew up the house and killed himself, his wife, and three children,” who were between 5 and 15 years old, Iraqi army First Lieutenant Abbas al-Tamimi said.

The suspected Al-Qaeda member, Hussein Abdul-Sattar, destroyed the house northeast of Baqouba, the capital of Diyala in central Iraq, about noon (0900 GMT), Tamimi said.

Iraqi army Major Ahmad al-Juburi confirmed that “the terrorist was killed with his family, which consisted of his wife and his children.”

Juburi said that no soldiers were wounded as they had not yet entered the garden of the house when it was blown up.

Gunmen meanwhile shot dead five people in two other attacks Monday.

In the deadliest attack, gunmen killed four young people who worked in a date palm orchard in Rashidiya, northeast of Baghdad, and then fled, an Interior Ministry official said.

Three other people were wounded in the attack, the official said on condition of anonymity.

An official in the Sheikh Dari hospital in the area confirmed the toll.

Meanwhile, a policeman who was riding a motorcycle was shot dead in Tuz Khormatu, 175 kilometers north of Baghdad, a police colonel said.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from a peak of 2006 and 2007.

Israel: Pro-Palestinian Flytilla activist shows true colors, draws swastika on Ben Gurion Airport wall

(Ynet) A swastika was found drawn on the wall of a holding facility for illegal aliens at Ben Gurion Airport, where several foreign pro-Palestinian activists who arrived in Israel as part of the "Welcome to Palestine" fly-in protest were held.

The activist responsible for the drawing was deported back to his country of origin on Monday. "This was the gift the 'peace activists' left Israel," a source at the Immigration Authority said.

The swastika was discovered by the detention facility employees after two foreign activists – citizens of France and Spain - were removed from the building.

The Immigration Authority said that a photograph of the defiled holding facility wall will be distributed to foreign media by the Foreign Ministry.

More...