| Hard News
13 Killed in Clashes in Afghanistan: Eight
"Taliban insurgents" were killed and 18 others were injured in a joint
Afghan-Nato operations in eastern Laghman province on Monday. Two
Afghan policemen were also killed in the operations, officials said. http://is.gd/bam00F
12 killed in attacks on churches in Nigeria: At least 12 people died in northern Nigeria when attackers raided two churches during Christmas Eve services, police said. http://is.gd/2tAMfY
17 killed as Yemen army, tribesmen clash: YEMEN'S
army has launched an offensive against tribesmen suspected of
repeatedly sabotaging an oil pipeline in the country's east, sparking
clashes that left 17 people dead, tribal sources say. http://is.gd/83lIVs
When U.S. drones kill civilians, Yemen's government tries to conceal it: A
rickety Toyota truck packed with 14 people rumbled down a desert road
from the town of Radda, which al-Qaeda militants once controlled.
Suddenly a missile hurtled from the sky and flipped the vehicle over.
Then, a second missile struck. 11 of the passengers were dead, including
a woman and her 7-year-old daughter. A 12-year-old boy also perished
that day, and another man later died from his wounds. http://is.gd/D0WaBG
U.S. drone strategy in Yemen is fraught with peril: Washington risks being drawn into internal conflicts and becoming increasingly despised in the Arab world's poorest nation. http://is.gd/Mgd7m6
Turkey kills 13 PKK militants: Thirteen
alledged militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in
the Hatay and Osmaniye provinces as a result of a special operation
conducted by Turkish Security Forces, the Hurriyet newspaper reported
on Tuesday. http://en.trend.az/news/incident/2102867.html
Iraq: Three policemen killed in Samarra. : -Three
members of federal police killed today in an armed attack carried out
on a polling center in Alhadi district amid of Samarra the second
largest city in Salahuddin province. http://is.gd/mAvXmb
13 Killed in Clashes in Afghanistan: Eight
"Taliban insurgents" were killed and 18 others were injured in a joint
Afghan-Nato operations in eastern Laghman province on Monday. Two
Afghan policemen were also killed in the operations, officials said. http://is.gd/bam00F
12 killed in attacks on churches in Nigeria: At least 12 people died in northern Nigeria when attackers raided two churches during Christmas Eve services, police said. http://is.gd/2tAMfY
U.S. Officials Doubt Syrian Rebels' Chemical Attack Claim: Opposition
activists in Syria are claiming that the embattled regime of Bashar
Assad gassed rebel forces in the battleground city of Homs on Sunday.
U.S. officials tell Danger Room that they are skeptical about the
rebels' chemical weapon claims, however. http://is.gd/AJS1We
Thousands of Syrians leave Jordan for the front lines: "Now,
Jordan has become our number one source of manpower," said Abu Hani
Darawi, a Free Syrian Army coordinator whose battalions in Daraa have
received the bulk of the returnees from Jordan. http://is.gd/NrAZ52
New wave of Syrian refugees flee to Turkey: Hundreds cross border after government intensifies bombardments in rebel-held areas of Hama province. http://is.gd/pMAVx9
Syrian Christians say it's not safe to celebrate Christmas: Christmas
was just days away when Mira begged her parents to flee their hometown
of Aleppo, which has become a major battleground in Syria's civil war.
Her parents refused to join her in Lebanon. For the first time, her
parents will not put up a Christmas tree this year for fear their
religion might make them a target. http://is.gd/QMlbAE
Egypt constitution passes with 63.8% in referendum: According to official results announced Tuesday, 32.9% of voters participated. http://is.gd/KR6cAT
Fears over Egypt's devaluing currency leads to dollar rush ahead of final results on charter: As
Egypt prepared to release official results of the divisive
constitutional referendum on Tuesday, the country edged deeper into
economic crisis with some worried residents hoarding dollars for fear
that the local currency could weaken significantly. http://is.gd/vSOlDY
Act of war: Iranian industrial sites hit by computer virus: An
internet virus has attacked computers at industrial sites in southern
Iran in an apparent extension of a covert cyberwar that initially
targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official has said. http://is.gd/NE7JGu
Israel approves another 1,200 illegal "settlement" units around occupied Jerusalem: Plan brings total approvals to 5,500 in just over a week as right urges Binyamin Netanyahu to drop two-state solution pledge. http://is.gd/hcgqAJ
Israel endorses first university in occupied West Bank: Decision to grant college in Jewish settlement near Nablus university status condemned by Palestinian officials. http://is.gd/zS1NyH
Netanyahu Lead Narrows in Israel Poll as Jewish Home Party Gains: Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu party saw its lead
trimmed in the latest poll by the Haaretz daily, as the Jewish Home
faction, which supports building illegal West Bank settlements, gained. http://is.gd/C00rF0
Netanyahu's Christmas message: More anti-Muslim public diplomacy: Video - Prime
Minister radicalizes traditional holiday greeting on YouTube, suggests
that Christians in the Middle East are under existential threat. http://is.gd/iCIFhL
Thirteen killed in Mexico 'gang shootout':
Police information points to two groups who may be responsible for
the violence, the Templar Gentlemen and the New Generation Cartel of
Jalisco.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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