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20 Civilians, 6 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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Special Kim Jong Il Commemorative Good Morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 10:40 || Comments || Link || [336133 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like it
Posted by: Frank G || 12/19/2011 11:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Is the Fat Lady too hoarse to continue?

Firing missiles must be the Nork equivalent of gun sex.
Posted by: Spot || 12/19/2011 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  "He has shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the choir invisible! This is an EX-dictator!"
Posted by: mojo || 12/19/2011 11:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting to see how they'll support Sonny or not. Will all the generals get on TV and kiss his ring, or something?
Posted by: gromky || 12/19/2011 11:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Kim Jong-ill-Stable.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/19/2011 12:53 Comments || Top||

#6  I put the Classic Fat Lady on the KCNA announcement.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 12:58 Comments || Top||

#7  watch the funeral

the order of who does what will show who is in charge
Posted by: Lord Garth || 12/19/2011 13:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Not to mention who still has a heartbeat Garth...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/19/2011 14:19 Comments || Top||

#9  FREEREPUBLIC > "NORTH KOREA" COULD IT SPLIT INTO TWO SEPARATE PARTS?

and

* SAME > NORTH KOREA: PROFILE OF A NEW LEADER EMERGES [MORE MERCILESS + UNPREDICTABLE THAN HIS FATHER].

US believes that Jong-un was a violent, sadistic youth.

Read, DON'T CELEBRATE YET, AMERICA - YOU MAY END UP WISHING JONG-IL WAS STILL ALIVE???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/19/2011 23:54 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Jennifer Beals aka Alexandra "Alex" Owens in "Flashdance" aka Rachel in "Vampire's Kiss" aka Daphne Monet in "Devil in a Blue Dress" aka Bette Porter in "The L Word (TV Series 2004– )" aka Claudia in "The Book of Eli (2010)" aka Teresa Colvin in "The Chicago Code (TV Series 2011)" aka Melanie in "A Night for Dying Tigers (2010)" (age 48)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/19/2011 1:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 12/18

Lynn Bari aka Michaela Villegas in "The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944)" aka Nurse Elaine Jordan in "Shock (1946)" aka Christine Faber in "The Amazing Mr. X (1948)" aka Marie Dubon in "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness (1939)" aka Penny Kendall in "Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)" aka Ann Carver in "Return of the Cisco Kid (1939)" aka Barbara Hunter in "Hotel for Women (1939)" aka Carol Northrup in "Free, Blonde and 21 (1940)" (Died in 1989 at age 75)



Lose Lips Sink Ships
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/19/2011 1:35 Comments || Top||

#3  How about a Special Edition for the departure of the Dear Leader?
Posted by: Bobby || 12/19/2011 7:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Good idea.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 10:41 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Suicide bombers kill themselves, nobody else
A pair of suicide bombers on motorcycles attacked a market in southern Afghanistan on Monday killing themselves but not causing any other deaths, according to news reports.

A Taliban spokesman said his group carried out the attacks the southern province of Nimroz near a police, but provided no further information, according to the AFP news agency.

According to the Afghan Interior Ministry, the attacks happened at 8:50 am local time in the Haji Zahid market of Dilaram district.

"Fortunately nobody was killed or injured," the Interior Ministry said in the AFP report.

On Sunday, 18 civilians and two police were injured when a man threw grenades at a police pickup truck in a market in Khost in eastern Afghanistan
Posted by: tipper || 12/19/2011 07:31 || Comments || Link || [336153 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is kind of poetic.

Like it says in the parody of the suicide-bomber training video "watch this closely, I'm only going to do this once".

Posted by: Incredulous || 12/19/2011 18:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Adios, losers. You will not be missed.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 12/19/2011 20:55 Comments || Top||


20 Injured in Grenade Attack in Southeast Afghanistan
[An Nahar] At least 20 people were maimed when a man threw grenades at a police vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, an official said. Grenade attacks are relatively uncommon in Afghanistan but it was the second time in less than 48 hours that police have been targeted in such a way.

The attacker threw at least two grenades at a police pickup truck in a crowded market in Khost city before fleeing the area, Khost provincial police front man Mir Akbar Mangal told Agence La Belle France Presse

"Twenty people, including several police, were maimed in the attack. No one has been killed," he said, adding that police were hunting the attacker.

Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
, which borders the Pakistain tribal areas, is a stronghold of the al-Qaeda- and Taliban-linked Haqqani cut-thoat group.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban have said they were behind a grenade attack on a cop shoppe in Kabul on Friday night.

Police said nobody was injured after a man lobbed at least one grenade at a district cop shoppe in the west of the capital.

The forces of Evil who have been fighting NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
-led foreign troops and Afghan government forces for a decade use roadside and suicide bombs more frequently than grenades.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Oh dear, whatever will happen if these barbarians ever figure out they can use grenades instead of boom vests?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 12/19/2011 12:06 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali journalist killed by man in soldier uniform
[Pak Daily Times] MOGADISHU: A journalist with a Somali television channel was rubbed out in the capital on Sunday by a man wearing a government soldier's uniform, witnesses said. Abdisalan Sheikh Hasan worked for the Horn Cable TV channel, colleagues and locals said. "A government soldier in uniform with an AK47 ordered us to stop our car and, without further questions, he opened fire direct to my colleague," Zakariye Abdulahi, who also works for the television channel, told news hounds.

"We rushed him to the hospital, but he died in the operating room -- I could not identify (the killer), but he was among government troops in the capital." Government spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Tenth attack on Sinai pipeline supplying gas to Israel this year
[Al Ahram] Egypt's gas pipeline, which supplies gas to Israel, has been blown up for the tenth time this year. Saboteurs attacked the pipeline near the El-Sabeel Station in El Arish at dawn on Sunday. The last attack took place on 28 November, only hours before the first phase of the parliamentary elections were set to begin. The pipeline carries gas through the Sinai and on to Jordan and Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


Hundreds march to Cabinet headquarters to stop clashes between military and protesters
[Al Ahram] Thousands march towards Cabinet headquarters to call for an end to the violence that erupted in front of Egypt's Cabinet headquarters near Tahrir.

Friday morning, festivities ensued at Cabinet headquarters in Cairo where protesters had been staging a sit-in calling for newly-appointed Prime Minister El-Ganzouri to resign or be removed because he was appointed by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Political figures announced this Sunday morning that they are working on an truce between protesters and the army forces to end the bloodshed that has thus far left 10 dead.

MP Amr Hamzawy, MP Mustafa Al-Naggar as well other new and potential members of parliament including, potential MP Ziad Eleimy and Wael Ghoneim, are among those brokering the deal.

MP Amr Hamzawy called for SCAF to stop their violent attacks and for an immediate investigation to point out the perpetrators. He also called on all the elected members of parliament and prominent Egyptian figures for a national initiative towards peaceful protests.

Political analyst and former military advisory council member, Moatez Abdel Fatah announced that he would be at Omar Makram Mosque at 12 noon to meet with youth in the square in an attempt to calm things down. He argues a truce would not mean protesters should give up their rights, but rather that they need down time to plan the next step.

Abdel Fatah requested that around 100 youth meet him at the mosque to talk about a truce. Influential activist, Wael Ghoneim - the ex-Google exec who ran a Facebook page that made the initial call for mass demonstrations, which eventually became Egypt's revolution - is already in the mosque.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths...
festivities between protesters and army forces and thugs continue for the third day in row at the Cabinet headquarters. Protesters have reported that the central security forces have appeared at Sheikh Rihan Street at the ministry of interior for the first time since the festivities at Mohamed Mahmoud, where both sides hurled rocks and glass at each other.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:


Where are the culprits? Muslim Brotherhood member asks SCAF
[Al Ahram] Senior Moslem BrĂĽderbund figure Mohamed El-Beltagy said Sunday that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is obliged to arrest those responsible for recent festivities that have overshadowed Egypt's first post-Mubarak elections.

Ten were killed and hundreds injured when the Army tried to disperse a sit-in in front of the Cabinet building on Qasr El-Aini Street, downtown Cairo, early Friday.

A battle of wills is ongoing in the street, a short distance away from Tahrir Square, with no signs of the confrontation abating on either side. The fresh festivities followed similar events in the nearby Mohamed Mahmoud Street last month, which left more than 40 dead and thousands injured as pressure mounted on the SCAF to cede power, which it promised to do by June 2012.

"The question that should be answered is: Who killed the deaders in Maspero, Mohamed Mahmoud and in front of the Cabinet?" El-Beltagy, secretary-general of the Moslem BrĂĽderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said on his Facebook page.

"Where are the accused in all those incidents? We will no longer accept talk about hidden hands.

"The Egyptian intelligence, national security apparatus and the Public Prosecution should clear themselves by capturing those responsible for the killings, or otherwise hand in their resignation for their failure to fulfil their duty towards the country."

The FJP had earlier issued a statement to condemn attacks on protesters, calling on SCAF to "launch an immediate investigation into the incident and stop the violent crackdown."
"They're killing us! Make them stop!"

This article starring:
Mohamed El-Beltagy
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:


Azhar cleric shot dead while supporting protesters, says his widow
[Al Ahram] The widow of senior Al-Azhar holy man Emad Effat, who was killed this weekend in festivities between security forces and anti-government protesters, appeared in a YouTube video on Sunday in which she said her husband had been protesting outside the Cabinet building in downtown Cairo when he was shot in the chest by military personnel attempting to break up the ongoing sit-in by force. Her testimony included a refutation of rumours claiming that Dar Al-Ifta, in which he worked on religious edicts, had said Effat had not taken part in the protest but rather was killed while passing through the area.

Nashwa Abdel-Tawab, Effat's widow and Ahram Weekly journalist, said in the video that her husband had been participating in popular demonstrations since Egypt's January uprising.

"During sit-ins at Tahrir Square, he would go to work in the morning and spend the night in the square," Abdel-Tawab recalled of her husband. "He wasn't able to join the Cabinet sit-in, but when he saw [the violence], he couldn't just stand and watch people dying, so he went down to the protest."

"He didn't advocate violence," she added. "He was there to show solidarity with the protesters."

Effat, senior clerk at Al-Azhar's influential Dar Al-Ifta religious authority, died on Friday of a gunshot wound sustained when military police attempted to violently dispersed the sit-in.

Effat's funeral was held on Saturday in the presence of thousands of mourners, including Al-Azhar officials, political activists and Coptic-Christian figures, including prominent Coptic priest Felopateer Gamil and members of the "Maspero Youth" Coptic activist group.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt Army refers 164 suspects to public prosecution for inciting Cairo violence
[Al Ahram] The Egyptian Army on Sunday referred suspects to the public prosecution on charges of inciting the festivities between the military and protesters on Qasr El-Aini Street, which have left 10 dead since Friday morning.
The suspects include nine women, according to the state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
MENA.

They face charges of setting a number of buildings on fire, assaulting military and police personnel, and throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

More than 500 protesters have been injured after the Army clamped down on a sit-in outside the Cabinet offices off Qasr El-Aini Street early Friday, a short distance from Tahrir Square.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It seems as though a vast majority of the Egyptian public supports the military crackdown. These agitators are mainly supported by outside money and radical Islamists parties.
The majority of sane Egyptians want these agitators removed and want life to settle back to normal without extreme Islam taking control. The military clamping down is the firewall of last resort.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 12/19/2011 0:44 Comments || Top||

#2  And have live footage of the Tahir mess. The tear gas is expired, but the rounds are non-lethal.
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2011 1:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Miss me yet? Husni.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2011 1:44 Comments || Top||

#4  p.s. At least they're not killing Copts & burning their churches.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2011 1:47 Comments || Top||

#5  At least not yet.
Posted by: Rob06 || 12/19/2011 12:33 Comments || Top||

#6  There aren't all that many left to attack these days.
Posted by: lotp || 12/19/2011 18:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram confirms its bombmakers killed selves; not to worry, plenty more where they came from
The Boko Haram sect has, yesterday, confirmed that three of its members were killed by their own bombs in Saturday's explosion in Shuwari, Maiduguri.
Red-green color blindness strikes again...
"We have hundreds of members that are willing to sacrifice their lives in this crusade; the unfortunate incident of Saturday will not discourage us; if anything, it will encourage us to strategise and diversify our techniques because we are not afraid of death," Qaqa said.
Now, that is a helpful attitude to have while dealing with home-cooking explosives.
Posted by: gromky || 12/19/2011 06:45 || Comments || Link || [336144 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They haven't done much since 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', way back when.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/19/2011 8:21 Comments || Top||


Nigerian police arrest Boko Haram leader after deadly gun battle
Nigerian police forces arrested one of the leaders of Islamist militant group Boko Haram after a shoot-out in the northern city of Kano. The leader, Mohammad Hamza Aliyu, was detained while he was attempting to flee the city following armed clashes outside of his residence.

Ibrahim Idrees, chief of the Kano state police said, at least police officers and four terrorists militants were killed during the armed clashes
Posted by: ryuge || 12/19/2011 05:32 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does he know enough to make the pliers and soldering iron interview worthwhile, or should his be a "straight to head on a stick in the town square" release?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/19/2011 6:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Murcek,

There is a protocol in Nigeria.

First its the pliers, red hot for maximum traction, then its the soldering iron and THEN and only then is it the head on the stick in the town square.

They never go straight to the head on the stick in the town square. The whole concept is they torture EVERYONE they catch and then decide whether to go to the expense of finding a suitable stick and sharpen it or just let the maimed soul limp off into the jungle.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 12/19/2011 12:17 Comments || Top||


Arabia
2 Troops, 6 Qaida Militants Killed in S. Yemen Clashes
[An Nahar] Fighting between al-Qaeda-linked snuffies and government forces in southern Yemen killed two soldiers and six Islamists on Sunday, military and local officials said.

Yemen's army has for months been battling fighters from the Islamist group Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), trying to retake control of Zinjibar, capital of the restive Abyan province.

"Two soldiers were killed and 12 others were maimed in battles" between the army and gunnies on the eastern outskirts of Zinjibar, where the military managed to gain ground early on Sunday, an army official said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony...
six of the Death Eaters, including an Afghan, were also killed in the festivities, a local official in the adjacent town of Jaar -- an al-Qaeda stronghold -- told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Yemeni government forces have been backed by tribal fighters and sometimes supported by U.S. drone strikes in their fight against the Partisans of Sharia, which has controlled most of Zinjibar since May.

Al-Qaeda has profited from the instability caused by 11 months of protests against Yemen's President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, strengthening its positions across the south of the country.

Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Bahraini regime forces attack mourners
[Iran Press TV] Bahraini regime forces have attacked thousands of mourners attending the funeral ceremony of an elderly man in a village near the capital Manama, Press TV reports.

Saudi-backed regime forces attacked the gathering on Sunday.

The mourners rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the Bahraini regime and called for "the downfall of the ruling Al Khalifa family."

Earlier in the day, 73-year-old Ali Ali-Ahmad was killed after he was targeted by tear gas in an attack by regime forces on a demonstration in the village.

Bahraini regime forces continue the deadly crackdown on demonstrations across the country.

Teenage Ali al-Kassab was killed after he was run over by a police car in the northern village of Abu Saiba on Thursday.

Regime troops also attacked anti-government demonstrators in the eastern village of Tubli on Saturday.

Dozens of people have been killed and thousands more have been incarcerated or fired from their jobs in Bahrain since the beginning of the uprising in February.

The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) issued a report on November 23, saying that the Manama regime had used "excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees," in efforts to crush demonstrations in the country.

On Thursday, security forces incarcerated Zainab al-Khawaja, a high-profile Bahraini human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
activist, during a protest in Manama.

Bahraini anti-regime protesters have expressed their determination to struggle for "the cause of the deaders of the revolution" despite a decision by King Hamad
...King of Bahrain (since 14 February 2002), having previously been its emir (from 6 March 1999). He is a Sunni, while the rest of Bahrain is predominantly Shiite...
bin Isa Al Khalifa to "invite all parties, including those in opposition, to post an adviser in his office to monitor the reconciliation and reform process."
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:


Yemeni warlord backs peace deal; 10 terrorists killed
[Pak Daily Times] A dissident army general said on Sunday he backed a peace accord signed last month, lending support to efforts to pull Yemen from the brink of civil war, as officials said ten cut-throats died in attacks by government forces in the south.

General Ali Mohsen's announcement came one day after both his forces, and troops loyal to outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, began withdrawing from the capital Sanaa as part of the Gulf-brokered peace deal.

"We are ready to support the Gulf initiative, which was bolstered by Security Council resolution 2014," Mohsen told news hounds at a news conference in Sanaa, referring to the resolution adopted by the UN body in October endorsing the Gulf peace proposal. He was speaking before a meeting with representatives of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, the Gulf Cooperative Council and the five permanent members of the United Nations
...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country...
Security Council, as part of efforts to win support from factions excluded from the peace accord signed in Soddy Arabia last month. The diplomats had earlier met separatist leaders in Aden and UN envoy Jamal Benomar visited sock puppets of the Medes and the Persians in Saada province in northern Yemen. Last month, Saleh signed the accord to transfer his powers to his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ushering in an opposition-led Yemeni government to lead the country to early presidential elections in February 2012.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
And so it begins: N. Korea test fires short-range missile
AFP - North Korea test-fired a short-range missile off its east coast on Monday, the same day it announced the death of leader Kim Jong-Il, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying the missile launch was unrelated to the announcement that Kim had died Saturday of a heart attack.

"North Korea test-fired a short-range missile this morning... it has been closed monitored by our military authorities," the official was quoted by Yonhap as saying.

Seoul's defence ministry declined to confirm the report.

The missile is believed to have a range of about 120 kilometres (72 miles), he said, adding the North was apparently trying to improve the weapon.

North Korea has been testing its new KN-06 missile, a modified version of the KN-01 and KN-02 ground-to-ground missiles, Yonhap said.

The communist country has frequently conducted short-range missile tests in recent years. South Korean officials say they are part of routine exercises but the tests are sometimes timed to coincide with periods of tension.

South Korea put its military on alert as the North's state television announced at noon that the 69-year-old leader had died.
Posted by: || 12/19/2011 09:29 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


And so it begins: N. Korea test fires short-range missile
AFP - North Korea test-fired a short-range missile off its east coast on Monday, the same day it announced the death of leader Kim Dear Leader Jong-Il
... hereditary dictator of North Korea. His definition of reunification isn't the same as the definition in Seoul...
, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying the missile launch was unrelated to the announcement that Kim had died Saturday of a heart attack.

"North Korea test-fired a short-range missile this morning... it has been closed monitored by our military authorities," the official was quoted by Yonhap as saying.

Seoul's defence ministry declined to confirm the report.

The missile is believed to have a range of about 120 kilometres (72 miles), he said, adding the North was apparently trying to improve the weapon.

North Korea has been testing its new KN-06 missile, a modified version of the KN-01 and KN-02 ground-to-ground missiles, Yonhap said.

The communist country has frequently conducted short-range missile tests in recent years. South Korean officials say they are part of routine exercises but the tests are sometimes timed to coincide with periods of tension.

South Korea put its military on alert as the North's state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
announced at noon that the 69-year-old leader had died.
Posted by: || 12/19/2011 09:29 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "In honor of his death, we fired an impotent short-range pointless missile"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/19/2011 9:42 Comments || Top||

#2  It's their East Asian Ghetto version of fireworks. They should try Tijuana bottle rockets, they're cheaper.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 12/19/2011 13:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Perhaps more ominously, GUAM PDN + VARIOUS NET are running photos where Big Daddy Kimmie seemingly glares unhappily or gawkingly [angrily?] in the direction of Sonny-Boy Jong-Un.

Just sayin'.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/19/2011 18:40 Comments || Top||


The official word from KCNA: Kimmie titzup for real
Pyongyang, December 19 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, passed away from a great mental and physical strain at 08:30 December 17, 2011, on train during a field guidance tour.

The WPK Central Committee and Central Military Commission, DPRK National Defence Commission, Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and Cabinet released a notice on Saturday informing the WPK members, servicepersons and all other people of his passing away.
I wonder if they had that notice pre-written? Let the conspiracy theories commence!
Posted by: gromky || 12/19/2011 02:04 || Comments || Link || [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad they laid off the Juche dude a few years go - would have been funny to see his news release. Kinda like The Onion.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/19/2011 13:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like a contest. Wail the Loudest and Win a Free Bowl of Soup...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/19/2011 21:51 Comments || Top||


N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies
Current joke at the Ace of Spades: in honor of the Dear Leader's memory, North Korea will turn off all its lights tonight.
Good night, Dear Leader...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced.

Mr Kim, who has led the Best Korea communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital, the announcement said.

He suffered a stroke in 2008 and was absent from public view for months.
He died arone and ronery...
His designated successor is believed to be his third son, Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be in his late 20s.
New boss, old boss, etc.
The BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says Mr Kim's death will cause huge shock waves across North Korea.
She had to go all the way to SKor to figure that out?
The announcement came in an emotional statement read out on national television.
Bwwwwa haa haa haa haa, oh- *sniff*
The announcer, wearing black, said he had died of physical and mental over-work.
Harvesting grass for his people to eat...
South Korea says its military has been put on alert following the announcement and its National Security Council is convening for an emergency meeting, Yonhap news agency reports.
Posted by: Free Radical || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK, what's next - Who will be Fearless Leader?
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/19/2011 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  More from HuffPost.
Posted by: tipper || 12/19/2011 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Kim Jong Un is the real question mark. At 29, he is not as integrated into the power hierarchy as his father was (Kim Jong Il was in his 50's when he took power). This raises the question: will he feel the need to demonstrate his power so that he can get "credibility" with the old guard, by way of shelling an island, or sinking another patrol boat, or something worse? That's the big concern.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/19/2011 1:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Top 10 Crazy Facts About Kim Jong Il
Posted by: tipper || 12/19/2011 2:29 Comments || Top||

#5  He's moved on from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-dead.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 12/19/2011 4:46 Comments || Top||

#6  It's unfortunate that he didn't die swinging from a lamp-post like he deserved. Still, a dead tyrant is a good tyrant.
Posted by: Mike || 12/19/2011 6:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Be a laugh if they ate him.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/19/2011 7:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Soylent Red?
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/19/2011 8:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Good riddance
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/19/2011 9:51 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm distressed over the hundreds of Kimmie jokes I've saved up for a special occasion that I can't use anymore.

Did he really wear 4-inch platform shoes?

Even at $700 a bottle, $800,000 a year for cognac is a lot of boozing it up. You don't suppose some of his problems were alcoholism related dementia or just plain nuttiness? AND if he drank that much they won't have to embalm him.

Is it possible that a revolution could occur in the vacuum and we can be rid of this cancerous blot on civilization?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 12/19/2011 12:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Obviously the escape hatch on the tiny rocket-ship didn't work. (Kudo's to those who get that)
Posted by: Charles || 12/19/2011 14:12 Comments || Top||


ROK military declares emergency alert after Kimmie's death
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Monday placed all military units on emergency alert following the news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death.

The JCS said it called an emergency meeting of officials handling crisis management and operations just after noon Monday, after the North Korean media reported Kim's death. The JCS said it has increased its monitoring activities along the border along with the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. No unusual activity had been observed from the North, officials said.

Officials said they may raise the "Defcon," a five-stage combat alert level, from its current level of four to three.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Would now be a good time to put a whoopee-cushion on Junior's chair at the table?
Posted by: gorb || 12/19/2011 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: gromky || 12/19/2011 3:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Sucks for our troops over there. I've spent a holiday on alert, overseas. Its truly sucks.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/19/2011 13:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Right over the Christmas holiday. Cheez, Kimmie could have been more considerate and died ten years ago...
Posted by: Steve White || 12/19/2011 14:45 Comments || Top||

#5  The ROKS should stay on heightened mil alert for a protractive time, given all the uncertainty surrounding Jong-un's personal ability to lead + survive ...

PLUS

* DEFENCE>PK/FORUMS CHINA MOVES TO ENSURE [post-Kimmie] STABILITY IN NORTH KOREA.

ARTIC > PROFESSOR OF NE ASIA STUDIES XU WENJI OF JILN UNIVERSITY = Kimmie's death puts the pressure on CHINA to assume the heavier responsibility vee the CLOSE SINO-DPRK RELATIONSHIP TO ENSURE NATIONAL + PENINSULAR STABILITY.

* SAME > NORTH KOREA: CHINESE LEADERS BRACE FOR HANDOVER TURMOIL AFTER DEATH OF ALLY "DEAR LEADER".

* SAME > CHINA WARY OF NORTH KOREA'S ECONOMIC WOES [moreso now that Kimmie is gone].

On a separate note, Kim Jong-un's photo reminds me of my nephew from my older brother's second marriage, my older brother per se as a very young kid + infant, + espec my paternal grandfather.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/19/2011 20:56 Comments || Top||


Kim Reported D-E-A-D
Posted by: Hellfish || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
ASI dies in terrorist attack
[Pak Daily Times] MARDAN: An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was killed in a terrorist attack on Saturday, police sources said.

They said that a police mobile of the Rustam cop shoppe of the Charguli checkpost was doing a routine patrol, when seven unidentified gunnies hidden in a sugarcane field opened fired on the mobile van on Gujrat Road near the Kandarkas village.

As a result, ASI Maraj Khan, in-charge of the checkpost, driver Muhammad Hussain, and constables Shahzeb and Asif were seriously injured. They were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, from where ASI Maraj Khan was referred to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar where he died late at night due to the seriousness of his injuries, while the condition of the constables and driver was declared stable.

The funeral prayers of the late ASI were offered at police line Mardan. DIG, DPO, commissioner and other high-ups of Mardan district attended the funeral. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Landai Shah village area of the Katlang tehsil. Local police, on the complaint of driver Muhammad Hussain, registered an FIR against the seven unidentified gunnies.

The driver also informed that a grenade was also thrown at the police mobile.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: TTP


17 terrorists killed in Orakzai air assault
[Pak Daily Times] At least 17 beturbanned goons have been reported killed in an air assault on their secret hideouts in Orakzai Agency,
... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
the media reported on Sunday.

According to reports, the security agencies launched a robust attack with jet fighters on their hideouts in Jawaki and Samaa areas of Orakzai Agency on Sunday afternoon.

Three secret hideouts were demolished and 17 beturbanned goons killed in Sunday's lethal air assault of the security agencies.

Orakzai is the only tribal agency of the country which does not border Afghanistan. The security forces of Pakistain have been battling beturbanned goons in the tribal region since 2008.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Nephew of militant commander killed in Khyber Agency
[Pak Daily Times] JAMRUD: A nephew of a key commander of the Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) was killed in mysterious circumstances in a remote valley of the Khyber Agency in the wee hours on Sunday. Sources said that Imran Khan,
...not the same guy as the ex-cricket player, now demagoguing politician...
nephew of LeI senior commander Sabeel Afridi, was roaming outside his house in Tirah Valley when a bullet hit him in the head, killing him on the spot. It wasn't immediately known who fired the gunshot and why. The possibility of sniper fire has not be ruled out.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Two target killers held, 14 suspects detained
[Pak Daily Times] Sharafi Goth police claimed to have incarcerated two men allegedly involved in various cases of murders while at least 14 suspects were apprehended from Orangi Town in a house-to-house search operation on Sunday. A heavy contingent of police conducted a raid in Orangi Town's Qasba Colony and Pirabad areas and jugged several suspects. According to police officials, they launched a targeted operation after receiving information about the presence of criminals in the locality. During the operation, the law enforcers jugged about one-and-a-half-dozen suspects. Police officials said that the apprehended suspects were involved in various cases of crime while police also recovered about 12 pistols from their possessions. Cases against most of the detainees were registered while other detainees were still being interrogated. Separately, two suspected targeted killers were apprehended by the Sharafi Goth police. According to police officials, the accused, Shahid Anwar and Asghar confessed that they were contractual hit mans who had killed several people in different parts of the city including Orangi Town and Shah Faisal Colony. Police officials said that the suspects were also involved in bank robberies and other heinous crime, adding that the police have seized narcotics from their possession. Further investigation was in progress.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Girls' school blown up in Jamrud
[Pak Daily Times] Unidentified Death Eaters razed to ground a state-run girls' high school on Saturday night by detonating kaboom they planted in the building in Ghundi area of Jamrud tehsil. The total number of destroyed schools in Khyber Agency has reached to 61 with the latest blast. Khyber Agency Education Officer Hashim Khan Afridi said that an bomb planted in the school went off at 1:30am. Resultantly, four classrooms and a veranda of the school were completely destroyed while the rest of the classrooms and other structure of the building was partially damaged. School watchman Baz Muhammad Sikandarkhel said that he was standing at the main gate of the school when he heard a huge kaboom followed by smoke and dust. He said that his house, situated inside the school compound, was also damaged in the blast in which his two sons were also slightly injured. Meanwhile an Afghan national was kidnapped from Khyber area while he was travelling to Afghanistan in a coach on Sunday. The kidnappers reportedly left behind their car in Sheikhwal area of Khyber from where they took away the victim by foot across the mountain, Khasadar sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Last US troops leave Iraq, ending war
[Al Ahram] The last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and left a country still grappling with political uncertainty.

The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
to oust dictator Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing orcs, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in the Arab region.

The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armoured vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert through the night along an empty highway and across the Kuwaiti border.

Honking their horns, the last batch of around 25 American military trucks and tractor trailers carrying Bradley fighting vehicles crossed the border early on Sunday, their crews waving at fellow troops along the route.

"I just can't wait to call my wife and kids and let them know I am safe," Rodolfo Ruiz said as the border came into sight. Soon afterwards, he told his men the mission was over, "Hey guys, you made it."
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The war is now beginning and we may be back.
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2011 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  That's one way to state it. Another way to look at it, is through historical perspective: Reagan's Lebanese adventure created Hezbollah. Bush's Iraq adventure bids fair to make Iran a regional superpower. The big boys in DC play, and we in Israel are stuck with the results.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2011 1:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Wait!!!

The war ended in 2004. We've been fighting terrorists and crazed jihadi nutjobs ever since.

To have a war you have to have an opposing regime...oh wait, I forgot about Iran.

So the war with Iran is over?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 12/19/2011 12:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Grom, bullshit. Stop blaming American - or would you rather we cut your puny ass completely off the US Taxpayer's money line that keeps you afloat? Were there no US aid, you and all those around you would have been under Arab knives long ago.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/19/2011 13:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Why I'm saying dear Spook is that every time USA becomes active in ME, Israel's (and USA) problems increase. This is, probably, due to the fact that diverse US administrations are advised by people like you.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2011 13:58 Comments || Top||

#6  I dunno - Israel seemed pretty happy to let Syria run Lebanon for a long time.

Hesb'allah kind of grew then.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/19/2011 22:06 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas senior got lost in the tunnels
The news appeared in Maariv's Hebrew weekend edition on Friday Dec 16.

Maariv, using Palestinian Pal Press as their source, tells that Tahr Atwa, a senior Hamas functionary and a part-time commander in Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades left Gaza five days ago to cross to Egypt, using the underground tunnels system. Recently his family received an anonymous phone call from Israel. The caller who presented himself as an intelligence officer, told the family that Mr Atwa is in Israel and recommended that they get a lawyer.

It was nothing, of course, for our operative to get into the location where Mr Atwa is kept. During the whole interview Mr Atwa was seething with rage, mostly directed at Fathi Hammad, Interior Minister of Gaza (and a part-time commander in Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades)."Zionist lover, imperialist infidel lackey dog, the son of a thousand" were the mildest terms used by Mr Atwa to characterize Mr Hammad.

"I kept telling this ...[omitted] that the ...[omitted] tunnels have become a ...[omitted] maze and a man can easily get lost. We have to have a clear set of signposts put into the tunnels. The no good ...[omitted] has never moved his fat unwashed ...[omitted]. When I get, Allah willing, back to Gaza, my people will kill his ass, raze his house and ... [omitted] his wives and children..."

When our operative tried to placate Mr Atwa, telling him that he is, in all probability, not going home anytime soon and that Mr Hammad may expire meanwhile of a natural malady such as an acute lead poisoning, Mr Atwa's rage boiled over and his power of coherent speech was lost.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2011 02:53 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Thai terrorist killed in shootout with security forces
A suspected terrorist militant was killed and another surrendered to security forces which raided a house in Narathiwat province early on Monday morning. The raid was carried out by a 30-strong combined police and military force after a tip-off that two houses in the area were the hideouts of a number of RKK insurgents. The unit first surrounded a house in Buke Nano village. When told to surrender, the terrorists militants opened fire which began a ten minute exchange of fire.

One terrorist militant, identified as Abdulromae Hare, 31, surrendered to the authorities while the others managed to flee through the cordon of the police and soldiers. Abdulromae was wanted for taking part in a raid on a military outpost in Narathiwat and the theft of a number of weapons on Jan 19. Another terrorist militant was found dead in a subsequent search of the house and an AK47 rifle was found with his body. He was identified as Ruslan Maneng, 30.

In a search of the second house at Phong Yuchi village, the government force found that the terrorists militants had fled.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/19/2011 05:17 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Palestinian commander's bodyguard killed in Lebanon
[Al Ahram] The bodyguard of a top Paleostinian commander was rubbed out at a refugee camp in southern Leb on Sunday, the second such attack in four days, a camp official said.

On December 14, a bodyguard for Mohammed Abdel Hamid Issa, the head of Paleostinian party Fatah's police force in the the Ain al-Helweh camp was killed by a masked gunman.

Another of Issa's bodyguards, Amer Fustoq, was killed Sunday in an attack that also left three other injured.

"An unknown man fired on Amer Fustoq in a market in the Ain al-Helweh camp and he was maimed", said a camp official who requested anonymity.

Fustoq was taken to a hospital in the coastal city of Sidon, but died from his injuries, according to the same source, who added that three others, including a child, were also injured in the attack.

Leb's state news agency ANI reported that the attack came amid festivities between Fatah and a minor Sunni Islamist group Jund al-Sham, or "Soldiers of Damascus."

Automatic gunfire could still be heard inside the refugee camp and many families were leaving the scene in vehicles, according to an AFP correspondent.

Ain al-Helweh, the largest Paleostinian camp in the country, is home to about 50,000 refugees and is known to harbour beturbanned goons and runaways.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the country's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside to the Paleostinians themselves.

The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Relief and Works Agency for Paleostinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that some 425,000 Paleostinian refugees are living in Leb, a country with a population of four million.

Others, however, estimate the number to be closer to 250,000.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Jund al-Shams

#1  These "refugee camps" are actually real cities with houses, roads shops ...etc. Most of the inhabitants have been living therefor over 50 years on the UN dole. In complete denial of course about where they live. Hard to believe you are in a "refugee camp" for 50+ years. If they call it a city that means they've settled somewhere else other than on Israelis land, which they are not permitted to think.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 12/19/2011 0:40 Comments || Top||



Syrians hold pro-Assad rallies in Paris
Pencilneck: usually you don't get medals like that for doing ophthalmology...
[Iran Press TV] Supporters of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
have taken to the streets of the French Capital Gay Paree to protest the interference of foreign government into Syria's internal affairs.
I'm not quite sure why, but demonstrations in support of fascist dictators fail to ring my chime...
Chanting slogans in support of the Syrian president, the protesters thronged in front of the Saudi and Qatari embassies in the French capital on Saturday and condemned the meddling by foreign states, including Soddy Arabia and Qatar, in Syrian domestic affairs, IRNA reported on Saturday.

The demonstrators said the interference of foreign countries in Syria is in line with the US and Israeli regime's policies, demanding certain countries, including the United States and La Belle France, to stop interfering in Syrian affairs.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow...
French police adopted strict security measures around the Saudi embassy in Gay Paree.

Pro-Syrian government rallies in Gay Paree coincided with similar demonstrations in the Turkish capital on Saturday, where a large crowd of Syrians voiced their support for Assad and his government.

Syrian people have repeatedly expressed solidarity with their government. Press report indicate that during past weeks, millions of people have demonstrated in support of President Bashir al-Assad.

A recent US-backed resolution adopted by the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
against Syria has further enhanced the unity of the Syrian people.

On November 27, the vaporous Arab League approved unprecedented sanctions against Syria, including a freeze on assets possessed by the Syrian government and an embargo on investments for projects in the country.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in favor of Assad. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

Moreover, confessions by captured Syrian armed cut-throats about foreign-sponsored plans to carry out armed activities and killing ordinary people as well as security forces prove that the recent developments in the country aimed at inciting a revolt in the strategic country neighboring the Israeli regime, and bringing to power a US- and Israel-friendly government.
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


20 Civilians, 6 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
[An Nahar] Twenty civilians and six regime soldiers were killed in violence in Syria on Sunday as festivities raged between deserters and regular army troops in centers of protest against the regime, human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
activists said.

Security forces rubbed out 20 civilians across the country, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, reported.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics......
an officer was among six loyalist soldiers killed in festivities with rebel troops in the flashpoint central province of Homs, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said, citing a dissident officer.

"Three armored vehicles were destroyed and those inside were maimed and killed," the Britannia-based watchdog said, adding the heavy exchange of fire in the town of Qusayr led to the "partial destruction of some houses."

In Idlib province, in the northwest near the border with Turkey, a civilian was killed and 29 maimed when security forces shelled and raided the villages of Iblin and Abdita, the Observatory said.

Clashes between deserters and loyalist troops continued for a second straight day in the province. Communications were cut off in the town of Maaret al-Numan where a pro-democracy general strike has lasted a week.

A strike was observed in the majority of villages in Daraa province, south of the capital, where the uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Despoiler of Deraa...
regime erupted in March, the Observatory said.

In the Daraa district of Tafas, troops began removing roadblocks erected by residents during the strike and used cranes to try to open the roads into the villages of Zeizoun and al-Ajami.

Authorities also tossed in the clink two army lieutenants, one in Daraa and one in Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
province, the Observatory added.

Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-12-19
  20 Civilians, 6 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
Sun 2011-12-18
  Kimmie Dead
Sat 2011-12-17
  Australian terror conspirators jailed for 18 years
Fri 2011-12-16
  Syrian Dissidents Declare Creation of 'National Alliance'
Thu 2011-12-15
  U.S. War in Iraq Declared Officially Over
Wed 2011-12-14
  33 Civilians, 7 Regime Troops Killed
Tue 2011-12-13
  Mexican Army bags 11 bad guys in Tamaulipas state
Mon 2011-12-12
  Mysterious explosion kills 7, injures 16 in Iran
Sun 2011-12-11
  Syrian Opposition Reports Deputy Defense Minister Killed
Sat 2011-12-10
  Rival Yemeni forces said to quit streets of Taiz city
Fri 2011-12-09
  Twenty trucks torched in attack at Nato terminal in Quetta
Thu 2011-12-08
  Yemen's unity government announced
Wed 2011-12-07
  New coalition government formed in Yemen
Tue 2011-12-06
  Afghanistan: Kabul shrine attacks 'kills 34'
Mon 2011-12-05
  France Reduces Tehran Embassy Staff after Attack on British Mission

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