[ARABNEWS] Egypt's prosecutor has referred a female writer to trial for allegedly insulting Islam by criticizing the slaughter of animals during a major religious festival, a judicial official said on Saturday.
"Happy massacre," Fatima Naoot wrote on her Facebook page in October during Eid Al-Adha.
Animals are slaughtered during Eid to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to fulfil God's command to sacrifice his own son, although in the end God provided him with a sheep.
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[Libya Herald] UNSMIL has released a report detailing ongoing human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses and violations of international law, reporting that the armed conflict in many areas across the country is causing hundreds of deaths, mass displacement and a humanitarian crisis in many areas.
The comprehensive report provided a history of the festivities which began in May in Benghazi and which since spread across the country, with armed conflicts taking place in Tripoli
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[Libya Herald] Nuri Abu Sahmain, president of the continuing General National Congress and recognised as Libya's commander-in-chief by Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... , has ordered an inquiry into yesterday's slaying of 14 guards at Sirte's Al-Khaleej (Gulf) Power Station according to Ismail Ashukri, the front man for Operation Sunrise, the Libya Dawn bid to take the eastern oil terminals.
All were members of the same tribe as retired general Khalifa Hafter and were said to have been slain in execution-style killings at the plant east of Sirte they were protecting. No one has grabbed credit, but it is reported locally that the men were targeted after they refused to take part in Operation Sunrise. However,
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accusations of Libya Dawn involvement have failed to find any takers. Such cold-blooded executions are not their method of operation.
"Yarrr! Pure as the driven snow we are"
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12/28/2014 8:17 Comments ||
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[Libya Herald] In a fatwa on government expenses, Sheikh Sadik Al-Ghariani has called on the Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... "government" of Omar Al-Hassi to stop paying salaries to anyone not turning up to work and cut the salaries of higher paid officials. The latter were too high, he said.
In a six-point call, Ghariani this week, sacked as Grand Mufti by the House of Representatives at the beginning of last month but still recognised by Hassi, also claimed that some people on the massive government payroll were being taking more than one salary, that a number of Libyan embassies were involved in corruption and that petrol, foodstuffs and other government-subsidised products were being smuggled out of the country. This was all haram, he said, and the authorities had to put a stop to it and punish those involved.
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More storage tanks were ablaze on Saturday at one of Libya’s main oil terminals after a rocket attack by militiamen, officials said as the UN denounced attacks on oil installations.
The rocket was fired on Thursday by militiamen from Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn). One oil tank was hit, said the region’s security spokesman Ali Al Hassi, before the fire spread on Friday to two other full tanks at Al Sidra terminal.
"What happened?"
"Uh... had a slight weapons malfunction. But, uh, everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?"
On Saturday the flames engulfed another two storage tanks at Al Sidra, which is in the eastern region known as the “oil crescent” and home to other key terminals, he said.
"We're sending a squad up."
"Uh, uh, negative. We had a reactor leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak... very dangerous."
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement on Saturday that it “strongly condemns” attacks on Libya’s oil installations.
"Who is this? What's your operating number?"
[ BOOM! ]
"Boring conversation anyway."
“The mission warns of the environmental and economic consequences as a result of this violence and destruction in the oil crescent area, and urges the forces on the ground to cooperate in order to allow the fire crews to extinguish the blaze,” it said.
Hassi said the national fire department refused to extinguish the fires, prompting volunteer firefighters to come forward to fight the flames with the help of oil installation guards.
“They are doing their best to extinguish the fire and are working under difficult conditions,” Hassi said.
A technician for Waha, the company responsible for running Al Sidra, said there are 19 storage tanks at the terminal with a total capacity of 6.2 million barrels of oil. The source, who declined to be named, estimated the amount of crude lost to the fire so far at more than 1.6 million barrels.
In its statement, UNSMIL called attacks on oil installations a “clear violation” of UN Security Council resolutions on Libya.
“Libyan oil belongs to all the Libyan people and is the country’s economic lifeline,” it said, urging all sides to “desist from any action that endangers this strategic national asset”.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2014 00:00 ||
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Memo to UN ninnies standing around in Libya:
Those knuckle dragging Islamic fanatics are not going to pay ANY attention to a UN resolution.
Secondly, if you don't have a gun get one, you will need it before you can write another strongly worded letter to whatever nutjob you think is in charge of the Libya Dawn.
Those knuckle heads moved in next door to me when I was in Tripoli in 2013, most of them were fresh faced kids straight from some very elite school somewhere...they looked more like an add for toothpaste than a UN mission...or at least not like any I've seen in 30 years.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/28/2014 22:30 Comments ||
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[ARABNEWS] President of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Abdullatif Al-Asheikh said the organization has come under pressures from faceless myrmidons inside and outside the Haia forcing it to give up plans for development and reform.
He said some people outside the commission are misleading people because they want to continue to use the system for their personal gains, adding that some work through social media and attack the commission by spreading rumors.
Despite the challenges, Al-Asheikh said that the new list of regulations for the Haia will be published soon asserting that it guarantees justice and community service.
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12/28/2014 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] Terrorists are increasingly resorting to the Internet to lure young men to their organizations, sources told local media on Saturday.
They said snuffies do not only offend their home country, but often leave their families behind with little or no ways to sustain themselves.
In some cases, youth choose to escape to places of unrest, breaking the Kingdom's laws, which prevents participation in terrorist organizations in conflict zones, such as Iraq and Syria.
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Josh Stanton at One Free Korea pulls together a variety of sources that paint a grim picture for North Korean hard metal miners both at home and at overseas mines in Malaysia.
If we had a CIA worth anything at all, we'd find ways to help all the Nork overseas miners defect...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2014 00:00 ||
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Yet copper demand has risen … due to a “recent order for copper to produce bronze statues of the son and father Kims all across the country.” Imagine that.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/28/2014 8:20 Comments ||
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Too bad our so-called free press does not report these things in NORK. I guess covering gay football player stories is more important. Not that there's anything wrong with it........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/28/2014 12:35 Comments ||
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Meanwhile,the regime is trying to raise coal production, perhaps to offset its lost iron ore revenue.....
They're lucky Champ has nothing to do with their 'coal mining' economic recovery efforts.
[ARABNEWS] Oil prices remain low at around $60/barrel, compared with a peak of $115 in June.
Oil prices are not expected to recover to $100 levels in the next five years. Therefore, Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela all remain at risk of crisis. This could lead to contagion, weaker currencies and slower growth in a number of developing economies, says a report from QNB Group.
#5
..which means new rounds of politicians pushing dubious science generated by the usual suspects to get the supply reduced and the price up. The rich protecting their rackets hasn't changed much in history, nor the methodologies.
#6
It took six months to go from 115 to wherever it is now. But everyone's sure it's going to stay where it is now for the forseeable future? Bull puckey, I say.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkey has the freest press in the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said Friday, brushing off accusations that media freedoms were being eroded under his rule.
"Nowhere in the world is the press freer than it is in Turkey. I'm very sure of myself when I say this," he said in a televised speech to a conference in Ankara.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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Press is free to say anything he tells them to say. Sort of like the US White House press corps and Obama, except that the Pakistanis had to be coerced.
The Obama administration plans to transfer dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay over the next six months, with as many as five detainees being moved over the next few days, a U.S. official who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity said Friday. The plans are part of the White House’s efforts to reduce the population at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba. Several more transfers are expected for early 2015, CNN reported.
President Obama alluded to the transfers during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, saying, “I’m going to be doing everything I can to close it.”
He just doesn't learn...
We've learnt everything from them we're going to. Next time just dronezap them.
“It is something that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists around the world, the fact that these folks are being held,” Mr. Obama said. “It is contrary to our values and it is wildly expensive. We’re spending millions for each individual there. And we have drawn down the population there significantly.”
Sixty-four of the remaining 132 detainees have been deemed eligible for transfer, CNN reported.
Once a detainee is no longer considered a risk, they are either transferred back to their home country or a third country that is willing to take them. Fifty-four of the 64 eligible detainees are from Yemen, but the U.S. is not willing to send them back to Yemen due to concerns that the government will not be able to prevent them from joining al Qaeda.
Another 20 detainees from Yemen are still considered too dangerous to move, as well as several detainees accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, CNN reported.
Nearly 800 detainees were held at Guantanamo under the George W. Bush administration, which claimed that since they weren’t being held on American soil, detainees could be considered “enemy combatants” and be denied some legal protections. Almost all of the detainees were held without charges.
President Obama pledged to shut down the facility as part of his 2008 campaign, but was heavily opposed by Congress.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/28/2014 00:00 ||
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President Obama pledged to shut down the facility as part of his 2008 campaign, but was heavily opposed by Congress.
Do you suppose he is going to empty Gitmo prisoner- by-prisoner until it's vacant and then try to turn it over to his buddies, the Castro brothers?
[DAWN] UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... is pressing Pakistain to end capital punishment and restore a moratorium on the death penalty the government lifted in terror cases following the Taliban school massacre in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. .
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[DAWN] With the confirmation of four new polio cases, the total number of children hit by the virus in the country reached 295 on Friday. Two cases were reported from Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each from Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Qila Abdullah district in Balochistan, said an official.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAWN] Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged criminal mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, on Friday challenged his detention in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Lakhvi was granted post-arrest bail by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad on December 18. However, a woman is only as old as she admits... the federal government extended his detention in the Adiala Jail under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.
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[Iraq News] The US Senator, John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , has arrived in Baghdad where he is supposed to meet the President of Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iraq News] The Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafary, discussed, in his office in Baghdad with the US Senator John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... and accompanying delegation, the political situation in Iraq and the region.
Statement by Jaafary's office received by IraqiNews.com cited "Both sides also discussed efforts to confront the terrorist ISIL as well as discussing the results of visits done by Iraqi officials for the neighboring countries on the economic, political and humanitarian levels."
According to the statement, Jaafary stressed the necessity to "increase the US logistic support to the Iraqi Armed Forces through armament, training and providing intelligence information to strike the gatherings of the terrorist groups and eliminate their presence in Iraq."
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iraq News] Member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee Mohammed Koun of the Iraqi national Alliance revealed that "The Committee continues working to reveal more corruption files within the establishments of the State."
Speaking to IraqiNews.com, Koun said Saturday "The Parliamentary Integrity Committee continues its observatory role and follow up many corruption files within the State departments."
"Investigation committees are working hard to return stolen funds to the treasury of the State," he added.
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[Iraq News] The Preimer, Haider al-Abadi, stated to the US Senator, John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , that the ISIL were strongy defeated by the Iraqi Security Forces.
A statement by Abadi's office received by IraqiNews.com cited "While meeting McCain, Abadi stated that the ISIL were strongly defeated by the ISF in the battle fields where Iraq needs the support of the international community to eliminate terrorism from Iraq."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Iran is increasing its efforts to “deepen” its terrorist activities in the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet at its weekly meeting on Sunday.
“No less a personage than the Palestinian Authority's ambassador in Tehran said that he is excited by the directives of Iran's ruler [Ali] Khamaeni to send weapons to the West Bank,” Netanyahu said.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinians have uploaded an instructional video on the internet that shows would-be attackers the most lethal ways to stab somebody.
The step-by-step video, titled ?How to stab correctly,? was circulated on YouTube and its links were shared with the Facebook and Twitter groups of Paleostinian organizations and activists in East Jerusalem, the Hebrew news site NRG reported Saturday.
The 72-second clip comes in the wake of a number of stabbing attacks throughout Israel and the West Bank. Most recently, two border copperswere maimed when an assailant attacked them in the Old City of Jerusalem Friday morning.
One policeman, 19, was stabbed in the neck during the attack, which took place after prayers, while the second, 35, was stabbed in the hand while trying to subdue the assailant. Both men were lightly injured and were fully conscious after the incident. They were transferred to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center for treatment.
The video, set to an industrial metal track, depicts two masked men ? one holding a knife and the other playing the victim ? and demonstrates how to achieve maximum damage in target areas such as the neck, abdomen and heart. The video depicts a number of different techniques and situational circumstances, including how a would-be attacker could stab someone and walk away.
The clip comes to with the text ?What are you waiting for / Rise up and stab.?
NRG reported that the clip was created by the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror group, which frequently creates videos that promote its ideology and attempt to intimidate the Israeli public. The terrorist group disseminated a Hebrew-language music video this summer in the lead-up to the war in Gazoo that boasted of successes against IDF soldiers and attacks against the Israeli populace.
The group, which rules the Gazoo Strip, also released a Hebrew-language video making light of a series of car attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians that were responsible for the deaths of four people in recent months, including a three-month-old girl.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, chief Khaled Meshaal on Saturday praised Turkey as a "source of power" for all Moslems in gratitude to Turkey's leaders for supporting the Paleostinian cause.
"A democratic, stable and developed Turkey is a source of power for all Moslems," Meshaal said in an address to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) annual congress in the conservative central Anatolian city of Konya.
Meshaal said a "strong Turkey means a strong Jerusalem, a strong Paleostine," voicing hopes to "liberate Paleostine and Jerusalem," according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), formerly the largest rebel group in the Philippines, has invited Pope Francis to take a side trip to the south during his visit to the country next month.
MILF political affairs vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar confirmed the invitation Thursday, saying the pope had been invited to Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. He said the MILF’s invitation to Pope Francis was conveyed through Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo.
Jaafar declined to provide details on the content of the letter, written by MILF Chairman Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, and whether it had been received by Pope Francis.
Meanwhile, the Imam Council of the Philippines has praised the inclusion of two Muslim leaders in the pontiff's January 18 dialogue with Christian and Buddhist leaders at the University of Santo Tomas.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/28/2014 00:00 ||
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[FRANCE24] When Mahmud Salih's cousin told him about the woman next door, he immediately launched into action. And after he met Khadija Yusef in person he decided that she was the one. The feeling was mutual, and soon the two tied the knot.
The love between Salih, a Kurd, and Yusef, an Arab, has endured the test of time. It has even withstood a brutal invasion by the jihadists of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group on this besieged town in northern Syria.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkey has the freest press in the world, President 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[DAWN] With the confirmation of four new polio cases, the total number of children hit by the virus in the country reached 295 on Friday. Two cases were reported from Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each from Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Qila Abdullah district in Balochistan, said an official.
John 
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), formerly the largest rebel group in the Philippines, has invited Pope Francis to take a side trip to the south during his visit to the country next month.
