[Libya Observer] The Head of the High Council of State (HCS) Khalid al-Mishri said he doesn’t think that the commander of the self-styled army Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... can control any area in western Libya.
Speaking Sunday in an interview on La Belle France 24 TV, al-Mishri said Haftar’s adventurous war in eastern Libya made the people there suffer the loss of about 18000 men and left over 7000 others amputated without achieving anything real on the ground.
"Haftar alleges fighting terrorism and claims he is building a military institution. This was a catchy talk two or three years ago, but now all Libyans are in the clear." al-Mishri said.
He added that in western Libya, the building of a Libyan state is going very well.
"The excuse of Haftar ‐ fighting terrorism ‐ doesn’t exist in western Libya, where there is no recorded terrorist presence of any groups." al-Mishri explained.
He also said that when terrorist appeared in Sirte, they were dealt a fatal blow in no time and afterward, some groups did certain terrorist acts, which he said could happen to any country.
"The western region is not threatened by terrorism so that Haftar uses it as a way for his entrance. The west has gotten real army and police institutions and despite being weak now, they will grow stronger in the future. Thus, all Haftar’s justification for entering the western region are baseless." al-Mishri added.
Haftar has always vowed to advance on 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... and the entire western region in order to "liberate it from terrorists" who are his political views’ opponents as he had grown accustomed to calling his foes "terrorists."
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[AlAhram] Coptic Egyptians, who make up 90 percent of Christians in the country, celebrate Christmas on 7 January. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... a minority of non-orthodox Christian Egyptians observe the holiday on 25 December.
Over the past two years, terrorist attacks targeting churches during religious holiday seasons have left dozens of Christians killed and injured.
[Dhaka Tribune] Christmas is being celebrated in Bangladesh, as elsewhere across the world, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Christian community is celebrating the day on Tuesday, reports UNB.
Christmas, the biggest religious festival of the community, is the celebration of rebirth, new beginnings, forgiveness, peace, and renewing relationships with God and human beings.
Christmas trees with colourful lights, special prayers, the distribution of gifts among children, and the exchange of pleasantries are the main features of the day's festivities.
Christmas carols and hymns will be sung before and after the prayer sessions at the churches.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. issued separate messages on the occasion.
The archbishop of Bangladesh, ambassadors and representatives from different foreign missions, distinguished persons of the Christian community, religious leaders and professionals will join the reception.
A group of singers will perform Christmas carols at the reception.
Later, President Abdul Hamid will cut a Christmas cake with members of the Christian community.
Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and different private TV channels and radio stations will air special programs highlighting the significance of the day.
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[American Thinker] In a surprising move, the Albanian government announced on Wednesday, 19 December that it had expelled Iran's ambassador, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and another diplomat for "damaging its national security." The Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, (MEK), said last February that Iran's ambassador, Mohammadnia, was a high-ranking official of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
In March 2018, a car bomb attack targeting a gathering of MEK members in Tirana, the capital of Albania, was foiled. Two Iranians were temporarily detained and expelled from Albania. On 19 April, Prime Minister Edi Rama, in an interview with the Albanian Vision Plus TV, referred to the threat posed by the Iranian regime's terrorist attacks. The Albanian arrests were referenced in the U.S. Department of State's fact sheet on the Iranian regime's terrorism in Europe on 5 July.
The U.S. embassy in Albania, on 20 December released a letter from President Donald Trump thanking Edi Rama for "steadfast efforts to stand up to Iran and its destabilizing activities and efforts to silence the dissidents around the globe."
President Trump's letter and further remarks by the Albanian interior minister, Mr. Sander Lleshi, leave no doubt that the expulsions were made due to the Iranian regime's malignant activities against the MEK in Albania.
In an interview with the Albanian Vision Plus TV, on Thursday evening, Mr. Lleshi said, "If you have closely followed the latest developments in Europe, there has been similar evidence in other European countries where MEK members have been threatened by the Iranian security services[.] ... We have welcomed them as friends. We do not consider them as a risk or threat to our security, because otherwise we would not have accepted them to Albania. This is the stance of the Albanian government, the Albanian police and other security authorities towards these individuals."
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12/25/2018 07:01 ||
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[DW] Violence against refugee children at the EU's external borders is on the rise, says a new report from Save the Children. The organization's Meike Riebau spoke to DW about what minors experience at the bloc's frontiers.
There were rather shocking reports: Of the approximate 6,300 children surveyed, 1,376 children told us that they had experienced so-called violent rejections at the border. This is already illegal. In some cases, there was also the use of extreme violence. The sheer number of affected children shocked us. Among the 1,376 children, there were 934 minors who were separated or completely unaccompanied by their families.
Which EU external borders are most affected?
We conducted our interviews in Belgrade, so we spoke mostly with youths taking the so-called Balkan route into the EU. But we also are aware of violence used against minors in Italia.
In concrete terms, what sort of violence are we actually talking about?
We heard of cases in which pepper spray was used and of cases of robberies ‐ often the children were robbed of their mobile phones or the money they had on them to sustain themselves. Dogs were deployed against minors and we also heard of physical abuse carried out by border guards. One particularly shocking case we heard of was that of an Afghan boy beaten so violently by the Croatian police that he still to this day doesn't know whether his hand was broken or not. He was denied medical attention.
[IsraelTimes] A famous Ottoman Turkish actor is accused of insulting President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... and inciting an armed uprising over comments made during a television program last week, local media reports.
Metin Akpinar ‐ who is also a well-known comedian in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ‐ is taken in by police for questioning, along with another Ottoman Turkish actor, Mujdat Gezen.
"If we don’t become a (democracy)... the leader might be hung from his feet or maybe poisoned in the cellars or meet the same end as other leaders in the past," Akpinar, 77, reportedly said on television on Friday.
An Istanbul court says the two men will be released on conditional bail after they were summoned to give statements to prosecutors. But they will have to report to a cop shoppe once a week and are banned from leaving Turkey.
Both men are suspected of "insulting the president." Akpinar also is suspected of "inciting an armed uprising against the government," the Istanbul public prosecutor says, quoted by Hurriyet daily.
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12/25/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The government has warned to take action against the staff of UN agencies if polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... virus is not eliminated from the sewerage water in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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. , one of the three countrywide districts where the virus circulates.
The warning came from the prime minister’s focal person for polio, Baber bin Atta, at a meeting held with Unicef and WHO staff at Nishtar Hall here on Saturday. He also said that UN was fully responsible for eradication of the virus in Peshawar as the WHO and Unicef ran the complete campaign.
"The government wants results," he told staff of both the agencies, according to sources. They added that the focal person said that government was concerned about virus circulation and wanted full-fledged drive in all 97 union councils including the 18 declared high-risk areas.
"The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) lays emphasis on elimination of poliovirus not on case count, therefore, focus should be laid on making water sample negative," he said.
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[PRESSTV] A Pak court has tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... for seven years on graft charges and fined him $25 million for corruption, the latest conviction in a series of allegations which saw him ousted from power last year.
The anti-corruption court said in its ruling on Monday that Sharif was unable to prove the source of income that led to his ownership of the al-Azizia Steel Mills in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... The three-time prime minister was found to have been unable to demonstrate that his family had acquired the steel mill legitimately.
Sharif was taken into custody and will be sent to a prison in the city of Lahore, state-run Pakistain Television reported.
Ahead of the verdict, Sharif's Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) supporters clashed outside the courthouse, with police firing tear gas against stone-throwing protesters.
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ The U.S. administration has officially informed the Iraqi government that it would withdraw its combat forces from the Syrian territories, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Monday.
"U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially informed the (Iraqi) government that the American troops would withdraw from Syria and the support provided for Iraq would continue," Arabic-language Almaalomah news website quoted Abdul Mahdi as saying at the weekly presser.
"The Iraqi government is fully ready to deal with the repercussions of the U.S. troops withdrawal from Syria," he said, adding that Iraq has strong relations with all neighboring countries and with the majority of powers in Syria.
"The U.S. withdrawal decision from Syria will have a direct impact on the situation in Iraq," Abdul Mahdi highlighted.
U.S. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ordered on Wednesday the withdrawal of 2,000 American troops from Syria, bringing a sudden end to a military campaign thon the lamly vanquished 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.... .
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[IsraelTimes] Iraq’s prime minister says his government could deploy troops inside Syria, in the latest fallout from the US decision to withdraw from the war-torn country.
At a presser, Adel Abdul-Mahdi says his government is "considering all the options" to protect Iraq from threats across its borders.
The US stunned the international community last Thursday when it announced it would pull its forces out of Syria, leaving its allies, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, to fight the 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 alone.
IS jihadists hold a pocket of territory along the Syrian-Iraqi border. Iraq is keeping reinforcements at the frontier.
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Slideshow of the festivities can be seen at the link.
(IsraelTimes] Community makes up less than 1% of West Bank and Gazoo population, according to PA; in past 50 years, thousands have emigrated, Lutheran pastor says.
According to Paleostinian Authority Tourism Minister Rula Maaya, all Bethlehem hotels were fully booked, and the city was preparing to host an "astounding" 10,000 tourists overnight.
"We haven’t seen numbers like this in years," she said, adding that the 3 million visitors to Bethlehem in 2018 exceeded last year’s count by hundreds of thousands.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Gazaterrorists warn locals: 'Celebrating Christmas is evil'
A verse from the Quran, quoted on the left side of the flyer, warns Muslims “not to go the way of the Jews and the Christians, indeed God is not for the evil people.” The brigades added that it is “absolutely forbidden” to celebrate the holidays in any capacity.
According to a government source, the flyer was aimed not only at Muslims, but also Arab Christians living in the Strip. The non-governmental organization Freedom House has regularly reported that the political rights and civil liberties of Gaza residents are severely constrained by multiple layers of interference.
The Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades is the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of armed Palestinian groups considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, and believed to be the third largest faction in Gaza after Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The PRC is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against Israel and has a close relationship with Hezbollah.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2018 12:43 Comments ||
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#2
This past fall I had the opportunity to speak with a number of Christians in the West Bank and Old City of Jerusalem. While there is no love lost between the Muslims and Christians in the West Bank, Christians were tolerated prior to the Israeli War of Independence. On the other hand, there is no love lost between the Christians and the Jews either. The Christians, who are considered Palestinians just like the Muslims, are subject to the same intimidation and prejudices as the Muslims. The Israelis don't want Christians in their military either.
[IsraelTimes] JTA ‐ Farmers on the Gaza border who lost much of their wheat crop in Hamas fires are teaming up with a local brewery to make beer.
They will use their remaining wheat to produce Gaza Border Beer, whose profits will go toward helping make up the shortfall caused by months of arson, Ynet reported.
Since April, some 1,729 acres of wheat fields have been burned by Gaza Palestinians sending incendiary kites and balloons over the security fence, causing millions of shekels in damage to the local agricultural sector. Despite the risk of fire, local residents have largely refrained from fleeing, telling JTA that they are determined to stay put.
"I cannot be indifferent to the heartwrenching scenes of burning fields. My heart goes out to the farmers," Ori Sagi, the founder of Alexander Brewery, which is making the limited-run beer, told Ynet.
Sagi called the beer "excellent" and said it"showcases the quality wheat grown by our dear friends."
[Ynet] Following the coalition's decision to disperse the parliament and hold general election on April 9, minister will approve it via phone on Tuesday.
The decision to go to the polls was apparently made after it became clear that the 61-member coalition, with its one-seat majority, would not be able to pass legislation on the draft of ultra-Orthodox into the army, which had a January 15 deadline. Earlier in the day, opposition parties Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beiteinu made it clear that they did not intend to support the law. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called the coalition's hoped-for compromise a payoff to draft dodgers.
"It's perfectly reasonable to go to elections now," said a smiling Netanyahu, pointing out that elections would not have been appropriate a few weeks ago, when Israel was embarking on the IDF mission to locate and destroy Hezbollah attack tunnels dug from Leb in Israel.
"Most of (Operation Northern Shield) is behind us. Now we have to go to elections and give the government a mandate to lead the country and to improve its security, economy and society," Netanyahu said.
The survey, published in Israel's Maariv newspaper, showed Netanyahu's Likud party winning 30 of parliament's 120 seats, the same number it took in the last election in 2015, and a governing majority for a Likud-led right-wing coalition bloc.
Commentary accompanying the Maariv poll said that if Netanyahu wins the election, he should be able to able to fulfil a pledge he made on Monday to form a right-wing government similar to the one he currently leads.
The poll surveyed 502 Israeli Jews and Arabs and had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
Other recent polls have shown Netanyahu has remained popular among Israelis despite the investigations against him.
[Arab News] WASHINGTON: A US military delegation will visit Turkey this week to discuss the withdrawal of American ground forces from Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Monday.
"They will discuss how to coordinate (the withdrawal) with their counterparts," Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference in Ankara after US President Donald Trump's shock decision last week to order the pull-out of 2,000 troops.
The US has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group in Syria.
Critics of Trump's move fear that thousands of Daesh members could make gains in Syria, despite the US leader's claim that the group had been defeated.
"There is no question of a step backwards, vulnerability or a slowdown in the fight against Daesh," Kalin vowed, adding: "Turkey will show the same determination against Daesh... We can bring peace to this region."
He referred to Turkey's cross-border offensive launched in August 2016 against Daesh in northern Syria and said Ankara would take all measures to avoid a power vacuum after the US withdrawal.
Kalin said there would be further talks between the two countries' foreign ministries and other departments including a meeting planned in Washington on January 8.
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12/25/2018 03:58 ||
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[PRESSTV] A senior adviser to Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... has visited Egypt at the invitation of the Egyptian intelligence chief amid efforts by world countries to embrace the Arab country.
Head of Syria's National Security Bureau Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk arrived in Egypt on Saturday to discuss political and security issues, including counter-terrorism efforts, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Sunday.
Mamlouk visited Egypt last time in 2016 when Cairo kept up security contacts with Damascus despite a general snub in the Arab world. Cairo has reportedly negotiated some of the reconciliation deals between the Syrian government and holy warrior groups.
On Sunday, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news network reported that Jordan was also seeking to restore its ties with Syria, putting it down to Syria's military gains that have secured their common border.
The broadcaster said a Jordanian parliamentary delegation had recently visited the Syrian capital and taken back a message from President Assad to King Abdullah II.
"Today, as the Syrian army has expanded its control over most of Syria and restored large parts of the country that have been under the control of armed and terrorist groups for years, including areas bordering Jordan, there are signs that the two countries are normalizing ties gradually," the network said.
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[PRESSTV] A senior Iranian commander says Iran will never allow US warships to sail near its territorial waters, reiterating once again that the Islamic Theocratic Republic is ready to respond to any action by Washington.
Deputy Chief of Iran's Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari made the remarks on Monday while speaking to news hounds in reaction to the return of US aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis to the Persian Gulf on Friday after a long absence.
"The response of the Armed Forces and the Army of the Islamic Theocratic Republic is that we will never allow them [US warships] to come near our territorial waters," Sayyari said.
He added that the presence of the USS John C. Stennis is insignificant to Iran, saying, "They cannot take any measure against us, because we are so prepared and have enough capabilities to stand up to such a publicity stunt."
Expressing confidence that the US Navy does not have the courage to take any action against Iran, Sayyari, however, added that any country is allowed to sail in international waters just as the Iranian Navy could sail in the high seas.
Coincident with the arrival of the US aircraft carrier, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) held the main and final stage of massive exercises, dubbed the Great Prophet 12, in the Persian Gulf, launching an "offensive" component in Iran's defensive strategy for the first time. "Set the Bluster™ to 11!"
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[PRESSTV] Head of Iran’s Expediency Council, Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, has passed away at the age of 70 after months of suffering acute ill health.
The prominent religious and political figure succumbed to renal and intestinal malfunctions at Tehran's Khatam al-Anbiya Hospital on Monday.
During his lifetime, Ayatollah Shahroudi served in many other crucial positions in the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
He was born in 1948 in the Iraqi city of Najaf, which has hosted many Moslem scholars.
In Iraq, Ayatollah Shahroudi attended classes held by the late founder of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, Imam Khomeini.
He fought against the dictatorial rule of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and was locked away You have the right to remain silent... and tortured by his forces.
Ayatollah Shahroudi traveled to Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution to serve as an intermediary between Imam Khomeini and Iraqi scholars and leaders.
He took the helm of the Expediency Council in 2017 to succeed late Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. The Expediency Council is mainly responsible for arbitrating between the Iranian Parliament and the Guardian Council, which itself supervises the Parliament.
Ayatollah Shahroudi also served as the head of Iran’s Judiciary for 10 years. His attempts for speeding up due processes and establishing close contact with the ordinary people were among the achievements the late holy man was credited for.
[Jpost] Shahroudi, 70, was a close ally of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and had been seen by analysts as a possible successor to him.
Shahroudi, 70, was a close ally of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and had been seen by analysts as a possible successor to him.
He cut short a visit to Germany for treatment in January when activists referred him to German prosecutors, citing his record of passing death sentences which they said amounted to a crime against humanity.
So the real cause of death is complications due to moral indignation.
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12/25/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds prolonged, undignified, and painful. Good
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2018 6:52 Comments ||
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#3
Sharoudi was a disciple of al-Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr who was a founder of the Dawa (propagation of the faith) party in Iraq. The senior al Sadr was executed by Sadam Hussain in 1980.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/25/2018 9:21 Comments ||
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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.
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
[Dhaka Tribune] Christmas is being celebrated in Bangladesh, as elsewhere across the world, commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
[American Thinker] In a surprising move, the Albanian government announced on Wednesday, 19 December that it had expelled Iran's ambassador, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and another diplomat for "damaging its national security." The Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, (MEK), said last February that Iran's ambassador, Mohammadnia, was a high-ranking official of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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.
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
[IsraelTimes] JTA ‐ Farmers on the Gaza border who lost much of their wheat crop in Hamas fires are teaming up with a local brewery to make beer.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[PRESSTV] A senior Iranian commander says Iran will never allow US warships to sail near its territorial waters, reiterating once again that the 
[PRESSTV] Head of Iran’s Expediency Council, Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, has passed away at the age of 70 after months of suffering acute ill health.
