Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/24/2009 12:07 Comments ||
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#8
I loved Jayne in "Hercules and the Hydra". The special effects of that era were good for its day (though wretched compared to now). Jayne looked so beautiful (she was a brunette in most of the movie).
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/24/2009 12:09 Comments ||
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#9
A woman from an era of biology rather than chemistry and surgery (if not, please don't burst my bubble.)
[Iran Press TV Latest] An Afghan civilian has been killed and another wounded in Western Afghanistan after Spanish troops fired at them, the Spanish military confirmed.
The Spanish defense ministry said the troops opened fire on the two Afghans near Herat Province on Wednesday.
The ministry claimed that its soldiers believed the Afghans wanted to attack their convoy when they did not stop their motorcycle after the first and second warning shots.
It added that Spanish troops followed all the rules of engagement set out by NATO for dealing with such situations.
More than 1,200 Spanish troops are currently serving with NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A surprisingly fair report of the incident, especially considering the source.
You'd think that after 8 years of war the Afghans would have figured out that warning shots from Western troops are something you should stop for, but I guess they're slow learners.
#2
Glenmore, there are differences between being unable to learn, unwilling to learn, and refusing to learn. By the time this little war is over, the majority of those that either are unwilling to learn or refuse to learn won't be around to pass on their backwards genes. Consider it Darwin in action.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/24/2009 13:58 Comments ||
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[Quqnoos] At least five civilians were killed and eight others wounded Wednesday in two separate explosions in southern Afghanistan, officials say.
An explosion occurred in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand Province, killing three civilians and injuring five others, said a spokesman for the provincial government, Daud Ahmadi.
Two other civilians were killed and three more wounded as their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Helmand's neighbouring province of Kandahar, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior.
An Afghan army soldier was among the wounded in the blast in Helmand, a heartland of the Taliban-led insurgency, Mr Ahmad further said.
The Interior Ministry blamed 'enemies', a phrase commonly used to refer to the Taliban insurgents, for carrying out the attacks.
The wounded people have been taken to local hospitals.
No groups, including the Taliban, have made an immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings.
Afghanistan suffers a mounting insurgency as the US and its NATO allies have pledged to dispatch an extra 37,000 troops to overcome the insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Afghanistan still has a half-million land mines left over from previous wars scattered across its landscape, making it difficult to assign blame where it's due.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/24/2009 14:00 Comments ||
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[Quqnoos] Afghan police gun down an Afghan Senator Wednesday morning in the northern Baghlan province, officials said.
Younos Shirinagha, a member of the Upper House of the parliament from the province of Baghlan, was ambushed Wednesday early morning as he was driving with his guard and driver, police said.
Mr Shirinagha's driver also was killed and one of his friends was wounded, according to the Interior Ministry statement.
Officers were hiding in an area near the provincial capital, Pul-e-Khumri, where they expected militants to transport a Taliban commander wounded in fighting Tuesday, local police said.
That battle left four police officers and four insurgents dead, according to police.
When Shirnagha's vehicle arrived in the area, police shouted for it to stop. When the driver did not stop, a gunfight broke out between police officers and bodyguards protecting Shirinagha.
A senior delegation has been dispatched to the province to probe the killing of the Afghan senator.
The parliamentarian, Shirinagha, was the 11th MP to be killed since Afghanistan's first democratically chosen parliament was elected in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Shirinagha, was the 11th MP to be killed since Afghanistan's first democratically chosen parliament was elected in 2005
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Nations Security Council slapped Wednesday an arms embargo on Eritrea and imposed targeted sanctions on its leaders for allegedly aiding Somali rebels and threatening neighboring Djibouti.
The 15-member body voted overwhelmingly to pass a Ugandan-drafted resolution to ban weapons sales to and from Eritrea and impose travel restrictions on, and freeze the assets of, the country's political and military leadership.
Libya, the lone Arab member of the council and the current chair of the pan-continental African Union (AU) bloc, is the only country that voted against the resolution.
The draft demands that Asmara "cease all efforts to destabilize or overthrow, directly or indirectly" the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia.
It urges member states to conduct inspections on their territory, including seaports and airports, of "all cargo to and from Somalia and Eritrea" if there is reasonable grounds to believe it contains banned weapons or related material.
And it presses Eritrea to withdraw troops immediately from disputed territories along its frontier with Djibouti and engage in diplomatic efforts leading to "a mutually acceptable" settlement of their long-running border dispute.
The text further calls on all member states, in particular Eritrea, to stop "arming, training and equipping armed groups (including hardline Islamic militants in Somalia) that aim to destabilize the region or incite violence and civil strife in Djibouti."
It directs U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report within 180 days on Asmara's compliance with the provisions of the resolution.
In a letter sent this month to Security Council chair and Burkina Faso counterpart Michel Kafando, Eritrea's U.N. ambassador Araya Desta urged all members, "to use their influence to ensure the rejection of this draft resolution in its entirety."
He accused Washington of being, "the main architect of this resolution," which he said, "has no factual or legal justifications.
"The U.N. Security Council cannot penalize Eritrea for its views simply because (Asmara) does not toe or conform to Washington's policy choices and preferences," Desta charged.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Smooth move, idiots. It's only about 10 years too late. Eritrea has been stirring every "armed conflict" in East Africa since its independence from Ethiopia, and it has long fingers in Yemen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/24/2009 14:04 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Sudan's parliament on Tuesday passed a long-awaited bill setting out the conditions in which a
" What happened today is the worst violation against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and from today we will not participate in parliamentary sessions until this matter is resolved "
Yasser Arman, SPLM
January 2011 referendum on independence for the country's oil-producing south would be considered to be valid.
MPs from the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and other southern parties withdrew from the parliamentary session in protest at a clause that would allow diaspora southerners to cast absentee ballots.
According to the bill, 60 percent of the southern Sudanese electorate will have to turn out to make the referendum legitimate. South Sudan will split away from the north if more than half of voters choose independence.
SPLM deputy secretary general Yasser Arman called the vote a breach of a 2005 power-sharing accord and threatened a boycott of parliament until the legislation was revisited.
"What happened today is the worst violation against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and from today we will not participate in parliamentary sessions until this matter is resolved," he told a media conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Mauritanian gendarmes on Monday arrested a Mali national for alleged involvement in the abduction of an Italian couple last week near the Malian border, local and international press reported on Tuesday (December 22nd). According to Nouakchott daily ANI, suspect Abderrahmane Ben Meddou confessed that in return for the promise of a large pay-off, he provided information to al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb about the movement of the Italians. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni forces killed at least 30 suspected militants in an airstrike early Thursday on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen, the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources.
The strike appeared to target the home of Anwar al-Aulaqi, the extremist Yemeni American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in the Fort Hood Army base attack in November.
A Yemeni government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Qaeda leaders were believed to be meeting at the house. It was unknown whether Aulaqi was present at the gathering, and, if so, whether he died or escaped, the official said.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/24/2009 09:52 ||
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#1
Grain of salt. This is another "killed 30" report, and so is suspect. That is, a whole slew of different strike reports have all claimed to have "killed 30" enemy, all within the last few weeks, casting the information into doubt.
#2
BBC sez: AFP news agency quoted the security official as saying Saudis and Iranians had been at the suspected al-Qaeda meeting.
"We are still unsure if two of the top leaders have been killed or not," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. "One of them is the Saudi al-Qaeda member Nasser al-Weheshi."
Another official told AFP that the suspected militants had been meeting to plan terror attacks in Yemen, in retaliation for Yemeni military air strikes carried out last week.
Posted by: ed ||
12/24/2009 15:06 Comments ||
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#3
Yemeni authorities say government warplanes have attacked an al-Qaida leadership meeting in the country's east, killing at least 30 militants.
Officials say Yemen's air force>/b> carried out the raid Thursday in the eastern province of Shabwa. They say the militants were planning attacks on economic installations in Yemen.
#6
I forgot to engage the cynical button on the key board with the above posting....I did want to add that it would be awfully convenient to eliminate a possible key witness (al-Awlaki) that could expose more of the extensive radical exchanges between Hasan and al-Awlaki under the eyes of investigators. Maybe this was witness tampering at the highest order.
#8
#6 I forgot to engage the cynical button on the key board with the above postingwas witness tampering at the highest order. Posted by: HammerHead
Not "cynical" at all HammerHead, just a connecting of the dots.
Is there ANYONE out there who still believes the FBI's failure to recognize the Hasan threat was due to the oversight of a careless GG-13 intelligence analyst?
I suppose we could interview US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi.......oh wait, his home was just targeted by a US air strike and he along with a couple dozen of his closest friends were killed?
Hopefully the Secretary of State will send a team to Sanaa to retrieve....boxes, e-mails, computers, personal gifts, etc. Local law enforcement, step out of the way, and no photos please.
#9
Besoeker...don't think anyone really believes that...the cogitation at DIA and the FBI must have been to be dismissive that a Maj. and Phd could be a threat. That is an intelligence failure, like 9/11...where no one imagined that a few guys with box cutters could pull off the attack of the century rivaling Dec 7th, 1941 in the loss of lives. After 9/11 Mueller sent out an edict that the "FBI must think outside the box." Doesn't seem that it sunk in.
#10
I must respectfully disagree Hammerhead. The amounts and frequency of USD this fellow was wiring to his middle east pals, along with his communications and lifestyle, would have rung bells up and down the US Intelligence chain of command. This one would have been too sweet, too cut and dried to ignore. For phuechs sake, the bastard held a security clearance! In fact, the monitoring of Hasan was being handled, not by the local FBI office Waco or their representative at Fort Hood's CID office, but by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The significance and failures of 9/11 would have dictated that this receive top, high-level intelligence community monitoring and reporting. I'll never believe differently. The piece of human fecal matter was being monitored for his placement and access to AQ, and he blew up on those monitoring him.
#12
FYI: Excerpts of Hasan's emails to al-alwaki: :
Question: "What is your connection with Nidal Hasan, and when did it begin?"
Answer: "Nidal Hasan prayed at my mosque when I was imam at the Dar Al-Hijra mosque."
Q: "When was your first meeting?"
A: "About nine years ago, when I was imam of the Dar Al-Hijra mosque in the capital Washington, a mosque which is one of the biggest Islamic centers in America."
Q: "[There are] reports that there was more than that."
A: "Brother Nidal used to contact me via email last year, until the middle of this year."
Q: "When did the correspondence with Nidal begin?"
A: "I got the first message from Nidal on December 17, 2008."
Q: "Who initiated the correspondence, you or him?"
A: "He initiated the correspondence with me."
Q: "What did the correspondence contain?"
A: "He was asking about killing American soldiers and officers. [He asked] whether this is a religiously legitimate act or not."
Q: "So he asked you that question about a year before the operation was carried out?"
A: "Yes. And I wondered how the American security agencies, who claim to be able to read car license plate numbers from space, everywhere in the world, I wondered how [they did not reveal this]."
Q: "What did Nidal want from you in his messages?"
A: "Naturally, as I told you, the first message was asking for an edict regarding the [possibility] of a Muslim soldier killing his colleagues who serve with him in the American army. In other messages, Nidal was clarifying his position regarding the killing of Israeli civilians. He was in support of this, and in his messages he mentioned the religious justifications for targeting the Jews with missiles. Then there were some messages in which he asked for a way through which he could transfer some funds to us [and by this] participate in charitable activities."
Q: "There are other indications to your connections with Nidal, one of which is that you blessed what he did three days after he did it."
A: "My support to the operation was because the operation that brother Nidal carried out was a courageous one, and I endeavored to explain my position regarding what happened because many Islamic organizations and preachers in the West condemned the operation. So it was necessary for me [to raise] a voice that is [myself] connected to the Muslims in America and the West, while at the same time is independent and explains the truth regarding what Nidal did, especially since the media tried to connect him to me from the very beginning."
Q: "Why did you bless Nidal Hasan's act?"
A: "Because Nidal's target was a military target inside America, and there is no question about this. Then, also, those members of the military [i.e. the victims] were not regular soldiers; rather they were prepared and preparing themselves to go to battle and to kill downtrodden Muslims and to commit crimes in Afghanistan."....
#13
I guess the obvious question is...was the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and US Intelligence monitoring this e-mail traffic and exchanges prior to November 4, 2009? If they in fact were, then we have a very, very real problem.
#16
Whether they were, or were not, we still have a very very real problem. Lots of carnage coming this way. It might just be the trigger that topples our corrupt government. Necessary, but a hard way to go. Sad that we have been reduced like this.
#18
For me, I'm glad he's dead and a merry Christmas to all those that suffered from his influence. If this strike was to cover their mistakes in DC we will know when the US strikes stop. This guy deserved to die a long long time ago, I for on see it as an early Christmas present.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/24/2009 18:01 Comments ||
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#19
Whoa there! Yemen has aircraft and pilots that can hit a house/compound in most remote Yemen? At 0430?? Uh-huh. LOL!
The real question is: USAF, USN, CIA or an evil Zionist plot?
I dunno about all that. For starters we have a remote location, a time of day when very few civilians would be roaming about, a lot of dead miscreants with no harm to the good guys, i think maybe the RAB is setting up an airwing and were on a TAD/ TDY trip....
just a thought.
[Iran TV Press latest]Houthi fighters have managed to repulse Saudi Arabian forces trying to infiltrate into the province of Sa'ada in northern Yemen, killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers in a battle in the border region.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Yemen's Shia Houthis said they pushed back Saudi troops from Al-Muannaq village in northern Yemen on the border with Saudi Arabia and also destroyed eight Saudi tanks.
The Houthi fighters say Saudi forces had fired 256 missiles and carried out air strikes against the Sa'ada region.
The statement also said that Saudi Apache helicopter gunships launched two air strikes on the city of Dahyan on Tuesday as Riyadh continues its air raids against the mountainous regions of northern Yemen. It added that Saudi ground forces used heavy machine guns during the operation.
The Saudi army also shelled Al-Malaheet and the villages adjacent to it, which caused many civilian deaths.
Seventy-three Saudis have been killed and 26 have gone missing since fighting broke out between Saudi forces and the Houthi fighters on November 3.
The number of wounded Saudi troops has reached 470, with 60 still hospitalized.
The conflict between the central government in Sana'a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the Houthi movement.
The Houthis say their civil rights have been violated and they are suffering political, economic, and religious marginalization due to the policy of the Yemeni government, which they have also accused of widespread corruption.
The Saudi air force has further complicated the conflict by launching its own operations against Shia resistance fighters.
Houthi fighters say that Riyadh pounds their positions, and Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, the Saudis are using prohibited weapons, including white phosphorous bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen.
The US military is also continuing its air raids on Yemen's regions of Amran, Hajjah, and Sa'ada, which have suffered much due to the joint Saudi-Yemeni government offensive against the Houthi fighters.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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The Taliban blew up a girls' school in Pakistan's Khyber district, where troops are fighting against militants in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.
Militants detonated explosives overnight at the government-run school in Bazgarah town, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Peshawar, capital of the violence-plagued North West Frontier Province.
"The building had 21 rooms. All have been completely demolished," local administration chief Shafeerullah Wazir told AFP by telephone.
There were no casualties because the property was empty at the time.
"Taliban and their local allies are responsible. They are destroying educational institutions to avenge the military operation against their hideouts in the area," said Wazir.
"This was the ninth educational institution blown up in Khyber over the past six weeks," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
After all, thats what real brave men do right? Blow up other peoples little girls and schools? Does that make you a Man?
you are as sick as the day you were conceived of bad seed. The seed planted by the jealous one that may never advance.
This branch is evil to the root and must be culled.
One or two girls schools blow up every week. Do you not think finding that evil root may lead you to the first trunk? They are not even close to pros.
[Dawn] 'Thousands of Taliban fighters' have been sent to Afghanistan to join the war against US-led Nato troops, according to the South Waziristan chief of Taliban, Waliur Rehman.
Talking to reporters in the Shaktoi area, he said the move was consistent with Taliban strategy of 'waging a guerilla war' against Pakistani forces and a small number of 'our fighters are sufficient to engage the troops in Waziristan'.
Wali, who was accompanied by Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq and a number armed guards, said the move was a response to the US troop surge. 'More reinforcements can be sent to strengthen the Afghan Taliban.' He said that Taliban were 'still strong' in South Waziristan despite the 'tactical withdrawal'.
Troops, he said, controlled only areas near roads but the rest of South Wazristan is still under Taliban. The real war will be fought ... in the rough terrain and thick forests of Waziristan'.
He denied security forces' claim that over 600 militants had been killed and said Taliban had lost 'less than 20 fighters ... since the launch of the military offensive on Oct 17 this year'.
He said that Hakimullah Mehsud, the central leader of Taliban, was safe and 'guiding his men in Waziristan'.
According to him, they would stop attacking military forces only if Pakistan severed ties with the US and ended its support.
Mr Wali claimed his group had 2,500 trained suicide bombers and a lot of them being trained at secret locations. 'They are waiting for Taliban chief's order to strike anywhere in the country.'
Denying that Taliban carried out suicide attacks in mosques and markets, he said that their targets were security forces and government installations.
He claimed that 'Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is safe and alive and was in constant touch with his followers', but said he had never met him in person, He rejectd claims that Taliban were Indian agents and said that the TTP would continue its jihad (Holy war) against America and also India.'
AP adds: A US military spokesman in Afghanistan, called Wali's comments 'rhetoric' that were not to be believed.
'We have not noticed any significant movement of insurgents in the border area.' Ishtiaq Ahmad, a professor of international relations at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, said the comments were an attempt to worsen the already tense relationship between the US and Pakistan.
'When the US expects Pakistan to synchronise its own counter-terrorism policy with troop surge ... the militants issue these statements in an attempt to create problems in this relationship,' said Prof Ahmad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Bring em on, the Marines need target practice before we go at it with Iran.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/24/2009 12:53 Comments ||
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A bomb explosion targeting Shia worshipers has left at least three people killed in Iraq, while four police officers have been killed in a shootout.
At least 3 people have lost their lives and 28 others sustained injuries, when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated in eastern Baghdad, targeting a number of Shia worshippers who were on their way to the city of Karbala to commemorate Ashura.
Ashura, which is on Sunday, marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. Iraq has beefed up security measures in Karbala ahead of the event.
On April 14, 2007, a car bomb exploded about 200 meters (600 ft) away from Imam Hussein's shrine, killing 47 and wounding over 150.
Meanwhile, unidentified armed men attacked a police checkpoint in Karit region of Abu Ghraib district, western Baghdad, killing four police officers, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.
The gunmen aboard a vehicle fled the scene after the fatal shootout.
Iraq has been witnessing violence-related incidents nearly on a daily basis since the US-led invasion of the oil-rich country in March 2003.
The ongoing sporadic attacks in the war-battered country have shaped a setback to the efforts of the central government in Baghdad to restore normalcy ahead of the country's general elections next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I see it's Ashura bombing season again. "Peace on earth, goodwill toward men" is unislamic.
Posted by: ed ||
12/24/2009 15:14 Comments ||
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[Dawn] With Christmas just around the corner, a bomb attack on a church in the Iraqi city of Mosul killed a passerby and wounded six others in the sixth attack on Christians there in less than a month, police and a witness said.
'Around 11 am (0800 GMT), a handcart used to carry flour, left across the street from the Syrian Orthodox church of St Thomas, exploded and caused damage' to the building, witness Hamis Paulos said.
'A passerby was killed and six others wounded' in the attack, a police officer said.
Father Faez Wadiha, whose own Syrian Orthodox Parish of the Very Pure Virgin was attacked a week ago, said 'words cannot describe what has happened.
'This is certainly a Christmas present for Mosul,' he said with irony, 'a message of congratulations why we are celebrating a feast of love and peace.'
'But we will pray in the streets, in homes, in shops. God is everywhere, not just in churches.'
Father Wadiha's parish operates a school adjacent to the church, in central Mosul, and a bomb exploded there on December 15, killing an eight-day old girl and wounding 40 people, including five students.
A second bomb struck the Syrian Catholic Church of the Annunciation in the north of the city, without causing any casualties.
On November 26, a church and a convent were bombed, with both targets severely damaged but without any casualties, religious leaders said.
One of the attacks hit the St Theresa Convent of Dominican nuns in the western Jadida (New Mosul) district, said the chief representative of the Dominican order in Iraq, Father Yousif Thomas Mirkis.
'These attacks are aimed at forcing Christians to leave the country,' he told AFP, noting that the bomb had been placed inside the convent grounds and caused damage to the building.
Another bomb struck the Church of St Ephrem in the same Mosul district, causing major damage to the Chaldean place of worship, Patriarchal Vicar George Basman said.
And last week, a 30-year-old Christian, Zeid Majid Yussef, was gunned down as he walked from his parked car to his home.
Last year, thousands of Christians fled Mosul in the face of violence that claimed the lives of 40 members of the community.
Since the US-led invasion of 2003, hundreds of Iraqi Christians have been killed and several churches attacked.
Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq at the time of the invasion, but their number has since shrunk by a third or more as members of the community have fled abroad, according to Christian leaders.
Although violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq compared to last year, attacks remain common in Mosul and the capital Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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23 December 2009 BAGHDAD Bombs targeted Iraqi Christians and Shiite Muslims Wednesday, killing at least seven people and wounding about three dozen before coinciding religious observances that will take place under heavy guard. Insurgents have routinely targeted Shiites and Christians in an attempt to undermine the countrys security gains and its Shiite-dominated government. Security forces in recent days have been concerned that the Shiite holy observances known as Ashoura and Christmas gatherings would be targeted by large-scale attacks.
Ashoura marks the seventh-century death of the Prophet Muhammads grandson Hussein.
In the first of Wednesdays attacks, a bomb targeted a historic church in the northern city of Mosul a day before Christmas Eve services, killing two people and wounding five.
Instead of performing Christmas Mass in this church, we will be busy removing rubble and debris, Hazim Ragheed, a priest at the church, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The bomb was hidden under sacks of baking flour in a handcart left 15 yards (meters) from the Mar Toma Church, or the Church of St. Thomas, a police officer said. The officer said the two men killed were Muslims and that five other people were injured. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.
The blast damaged the wooden doors, windows, some furniture and one of the walls of the church, which is more than 1,200 years old, Ragheed said. Services will be moved out of the church, but Ragheed did not say where they would be held.
We demand that the government put an end to these repeated attacks, Ragheed said.
The blast occurred in an area where streets have been closed to cars and trucks to protect Mosuls dwindling Christian population.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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An Israeli father of seven was shot dead in an apparent terror attack in the West Bank on Thursday afternoon, while driving along Route 57, between the northern West Bank settlements of Shavei Shomron and Einav.
Rabbi Meir Chai, 40, lived in Shavei Shomron for the last 14 years, and teaches at the Talmud Torah School. His seven children range from two months-old to 18 year-old. That what happens when you remove checkpoints---to "ease the lives of Palestinians". Which it does---since Palestinians live to kill Jews.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanese authorities have arrested a man suspected of opening fire on a Syrian bus in Lebanon this week and killing a 17-year-old passenger, an army officer said late on Tuesday.
The man had "confessed under interrogation that he had personal motivations" for Monday's attack, an army spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Investigators were looking into the suspect's nationality and background, he said, adding he doubted the shooting was "a terrorist act."
The bus carrying Syrian laborers was shot at as it travelled near an army checkpoint along the main highway between Syria and northern Lebanon. A 17-year-old laborer died and three other people were wounded by glass.
The attack came a day after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri ended a fence-mending visit to Damascus, his first trip to Syria since the 2005 assassination of his father, ex-prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
Saad Hariri and his U.S.-backed allies in Beirut blamed the killing on Syria, which has consistently denied any involvement. The killing prompted the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.
His bloc also rode to victory on an anti-Syrian platform after his father's assassination in 2005.
Hariri was appointed premier in June after his Western-backed bloc defeated a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran in a general election.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Iranian security forces violently suppressed opposition supporters in the city of Isfahan yesterday as tensions increased before nationwide demonstrations planned for this weekend.
Two days after massive demonstrations in the holy city of Qom, clashes erupted in Isfahan, Irans third city, as thousands of mourners gathered for a memorial service for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the oppositions spiritual leader, who died at the weekend. Opposition websites said riot police and Basij militiamen surrounded the Seyed mosque from early in the morning, and then attacked the mourners with batons, teargas and pepper gas.
Many were injured and dozens were arrested, including four journalists and a cleric, Masoud Abid, who was to deliver the sermon. Reformist website Parlemannews reported that more than 50 people were detained.
Montazeri mourners shouted slogans against the top authorities, another website, Rahesabz, reported. They are beating protesters, including women and children, with batons, chains and stones. Farid Salavati, an Isfahan resident who tried to attend the memorial, said that tens of thousands gathered outside the mosque but were savagely attacked by security forces. He saw baton-wielding riot police clubbing people around the head and kicking men and women, injuring dozens. I saw at least two people with blood pouring down their face, he said.
Security forces also sealed off the home of Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, who organised the service and used to lead Friday prayers in Isfahan until he resigned in 2002 in protest at the regimes growing authoritarianism. I tried six different ways to get to the mosque, but they were all blocked, Parlemannews quoted him as saying. Treating people this way at a memor-ial service is deplorable.
Mohammad Khatami, the reformist former President, condemned the violence in Isfahan, which is 200 miles southeast of Tehran: Imam Khomeini [Irans revolutionary leader] believed that the Islamic Republic was based on two pillars freedom and independence.
If these pillars become shaky . . . we will have tyranny again, he said. Calling anyone who raises his voice a traitor, despite him believing in the [Islamic] system, is a major deviation.
Clashes also erupted in nearby Najafabad, Montazeris home town, on Tuesday night and continued yesterday. The situation is tense in the city. People are chanting anti-government slogans, Jaras, another opposition website reported. The regime appears to be moving aggressively against the opposition ahead of the emotionally charged holiday of Ashura this weekend, when millions of Shias take to the streets to mourn the 7th-century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammads grandson, at the hands of the Sunni caliph Yazid.
The so-called Green movement, which has grown adept at hijacking public events that the regime cannot cancel, is planning to turn the day into another massive demonstration. Montazeris death will raise the temperature even further, as Sunday will be the seventh day since his death an important date in Shia mourning ritual.
On Tuesday the regime dismissed Mir Hossein Mousavi, the de facto opposition leader whom Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated in Junes hotly disputed presidential election, from his position as head of Irans Academy of Arts a post he held for ten years. Dariush Ghanbari, a prominent reformist MP, called his dismissal a political decision stemming from electoral grudges, and many of the academys members were said to be threatening to resign.
Hundreds of Basiji were reported to have attacked the offices in Qom of Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei, the reformist cleric who is expected to replace Montazeri as the conscience of the nation and chief clerical scourge of the regime. They broke windows and beat his staff, according to opposition website Norooznews.
Government supporters also staged counter rallies in Qom on Tuesday and yesterday. This is the last time that something like that will happen in Qom. This is not a place for hypocrites, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani told them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Iran TV Press latest]Houthi fighters have managed to repulse Saudi Arabian forces trying to infiltrate into the province of Sa'ada in northern Yemen, killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers in a battle in the border region. 
The Taliban blew up a girls' school in Pakistan's Khyber district, where troops are fighting against militants in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.
Iranian security forces violently suppressed opposition supporters in the city of Isfahan yesterday as tensions increased before nationwide demonstrations planned for this weekend.
