Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Thanks to milford421 for this report:
FBI Seeks Identification Of Person Of Interest In Suspicious Letters Found
FBI Seeks Identification Of Person Of Interest In Suspicious Letters
Found
POSTED: 3:15 pm EST December 22, 2006
UPDATED: 3:28 pm EST December 22, 2006
DAYTON, Ohio -- Investigators with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in Cincinnati is asking for the public's help in
identifying an individual who the FBI believes made a purchase at a
Centerville grocery store on Monday night.
A surveillance camera captured the man on tape and is described as a
white male of average height and build.
The FBI said the man is wanted in connection with a white powder
that has been found in letters in areas around the county.
Investigators said a total of 32 letters were left in road side
mailboxes in Centerville, Miami Township and Washington Township on
Tuesday, Dec. 19.
The FBI said the envelopes contained powder and a note which could
be construed to constitute a threat to the recipient. The letters
were not addressed and were not sent through the U.S. Postal Service.
To date, tests on the envelopes and their contents have not revealed
any hazardous substance.
The FBI is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to
the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals
responsible for the letters.
Anyone with information is asked to call Centerville police, the FBI
in Dayton at 222-7485 or the FBI in Cincinnati at 513-421-4310.
Copyright 2006 by WHIOTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published,
http://www.whiotv.com/news/10592864/detail.html
9/11 evac study: Don't wait, don't ask, just go
9/11 evac study: Don't wait, don't ask, just go
December 25, 2006
BY PAUL D. COLFORD
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/483106p-406535c.html
A study on how survivors fled the twin towers on 9/11 has yielded this
advice for future disasters: leave your purse, don't ask your boss for
permission and don't waste one second getting out.
Researchers who interviewed nearly 2,000 people who were in the World Trade Center say many people misspent precious minutes after the first
plane hit.
"They're gathering things - purses and cell phones and car keys and
house keys and ID badges," Columbia University researcher Robyn Gershon
said. "They're seeking out friends."
As many as 3% stopped to change their shoes.
Some survivors who took part in the World Trade Center Evacuation Study
"literally got out as the buildings were collapsing and climbed out of
the rubble," Gershon said.
"So we know from speaking to those people that people behind them
didn't make it out," she added. "Those four or five minutes [of delay] were
meaningful minutes."
More troubling to Gershon was that some delayed their exit by foolishly
looking for supervisors and "trying to get permission" to leave.
As Gershon put it, "That message has to go out loud and clear - that
that is not necessary."
The research also uncovered a woeful ignorance about the layout of the
towers, even among those who worked in them 10 years or more.
"They knew their route in every day; they knew their route out - the
same route, in and out," she added. Fifty percent said they could not
leave their building on their own "if it wasn't the normal way out,"
Gershon said.
Emergency preparedness was "abysmal," she added.
Nine in 10 had never exited their building during a drill and 82%
claimed they never got written fire safety instructions.
Researchers found that 89% of those interviewed didn't know where the
tower's stairs would lead and 70% didn't realize there were three
stairwells in their building.
December 25, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News
Merry Christmas
(Iraq) Christmas Eve blast kills 3 in Iraq
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20972419-1702,00.html
"US arrested two Iranian officials in Iraq"
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/December/focusoniraq_December128.xml§ion=focusoniraq
(Iraq) UK forces destroy Basra police station
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061225/ts_nm/iraq_dc_2
(Iraq) U.S. is detaining Iranians caught in raids in Iraq
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/25/africa/web.1225iraq.php
(Somalia) Ethiopian jets strike Somali two Islamist-held airfields
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061225/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc_34
Somalia's interim government closes borders
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25229304.htm
Ethiopia fights rival Somali Islamists and U.S. tracks a growing Al
Qaeda menace in Africa - Douglas Farah: "It's pretty clear that the Courts
view themselves as the successor caliphate" to the Taliban
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061224/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/482764p-406376c.html
(Thailand) Two shot dead in Thailand's restive south
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_asia_afp/thailandsouthunresttoll_061225034501
(Pakistan) Three shot dead after Shiite scholar's funeral in Pakistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061225/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanunrestsectarian_061225051348
(Pakistan) Half of Pakistanis not keen on democracy
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\25\story_25-12-2006_pg1_1
Pakistan's nukes can survive attack, says Musharraf
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\25\story_25-12-2006_pg1_3
(UK) Blair shelves plan to ban Hizb-ut-Tahrir
http://www.dawn.com/2006/12/25/top16.htm
(Afghanistan) Slain Taliban leader's ID confirmed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_24
(Afghanistan) Taliban leader "killed" after RAF tracks phone
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2517947,00.html
(Afghanistan) No Christmas break for troops in Afghanistan
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/December/subcontinent_December841.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
Gaza: Christmas Eve Mass called off due to violence
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1164881968656&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Israel) IDF troops arrest five terror suspects overnight
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881969893&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel, US, to tighten anti-terror cooperation
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=10833
Russian federal forces blockade terrorist group in Russia's south
http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/25-12-2006/86097-terrorists-0
(India) Air passenger detained for carrying rifle
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Air_passenger_detained_for_carrying_rifle/articleshow/925224.cms
(Sri Lanka) Grenade kills policeman guarding church
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20972704-1702,00.html
(Trinidad) Nation's first terror trial to feature Muslim leader
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16308991.htm
(Ohio) Arrest made in mailed white powder case
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20061224-054823-4522r.htm
AP: Congress rebukes FBI over probe - Committee report critical of 1996
Oklahoma City bombing investigation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_go_co/oklahoma_city_congress
Iran hopes for Hamas-Fatah agreement
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48336&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Iran hopes for Hamas-Fatah agreement
Monday, December 25, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
Related Pictures
Archived Picture - Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali
Hosseini expressed hope the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah movements would
abide by a reconciliation agreement they have recently reached, IRNA
reported.
LONDON, December 25 (IranMania) - Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman
Mohammad-Ali Hosseini expressed hope the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah
movements would abide by a reconciliation agreement they have recently
reached, IRNA reported.
Hosseini was speaking to reporters while pointing to opposition of
Western states, which claim to be advocates of democracy, to Hamas
movement, founded in Palestine in a democratic way.
"Both Hamas and Fatah insist on goals of the Palestinian people," he
said.
Asked about Iran's policy on Lebanon, he said, "Tehran welcomes a
consensus among the Lebanese people and political groups." The
spokesman
also stated that presence of the US and British forces in Iraq was the
most important factor behind instability in the country.
He stressed the importance of occupation forces' withdrawal from Iraq,
saying expansion of cooperation among regional states would settle
ongoing problems.
Dangerous diplomacy
Dangerous diplomacy
Dec 19th 2006 From The Economist print edition
China and Russia are helping make the world a much more perilous place
EVERY diplomatic road has its turnings. North Korea, which in October
provocatively tested what it said was a nuclear bomb, has just rejoined
the six-way talks with America, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia
that it has been boycotting for more than a year. At the United Nations
Security Council, agreement seemed closer, after months of haggling, to
a resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt
its suspect uranium-enrichment and plutonium work (to make
nuclear-reactor fuel to keep the lights on, it claims; to make fissile
material for weapons, others worry). Both moves ought to signal
advances
in the global effort to stop the bomb's spread. In fact, both may
instead end up confirming that the diplomacy is failing.
Talking is not an end in itself. Strong-armed back to the table by
China, North Korea's boss, Kim Jong Il, still shows no sign of
preparing
to abandon his bombs. Despite an earlier agreement in principle to
disarm, he may already have enough fissile material for up to a dozen
bombs. And his list of demands has lengthened. He wants to be rewarded
for his weapons test with a Western-designed nuclear reactor, interim
energy supplies and the like, all of which he forfeited four years ago
when he broke a 1994 agreement to end his illicit plutonium-making by
messing about with uranium too. He also wants the UN to abandon
sanctions announced in response to his test and America to remove the
pressure it has put on banks to freeze North Korean funds that come
from
currency-counterfeiting and drugs-running, and are used to buy the
black-market supplies to feed his bomb habit.
Needless to say, lifting sanctions and paying bribes in the hope that
Mr
Kim, who has reneged on every nuclear agreement he has made, will get
around to disarming some fine day would have the opposite effect: to
legitimise his bomb. Just a cheeky opening gambit in a tough
negotiation? The diplomats' job is to test hope against experience. But
the signs are that Mr Kim has a different purpose than disarmament: to
keep an angry China off his back while he sits out the Bush
administration in the hope that the next American president, and the
world, will learn to live with a nuclear North Korea.
The strategy could pay off. Although it backed UN sanctions on North Korea after its bomb test, China has been dismayingly slow to see them
enforced. Meanwhile, Iran's fiery president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has
been gambling that Russia will do the same for him, by helping his
regime to avoid paying any real price for its nuclear defiance.
Iran was reported to the Security Council in February by the board of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear guardian, for
a
string of highly suspect safeguards violations that had inspectors
deeply worried. Russia agreed with America, China and three European
countries (Britain, France and Germany) leading the effort to get Iran
to comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
About sponsorship
(NPT): incremental sanctions should follow unless Iran suspends its
uranium and plutonium work. Iran refuses. But Russia has spent the past
months whittling away the proposed list.
Its selfish aim has been to exempt from sanctions the Bushehr
nuclear-reactor project it is completing for Iran, and to ward off a
financial squeeze that might put at risk the profits Russia hopes to
earn from providing nuclear fuel for the reactor, which is due to be
commissioned in 2007. More airily, President Vladimir Putin argues that
Iran, unlike North Korea, has not expelled nuclear inspectors, flounced
out of the NPT or set off a weapons test-and should be dealt with
gently.
Wrong turn
All this is dangerously short-sighted, for Iran may yet do all of these
things. It has already blocked inspectors' efforts to delve into some
of
its suspect nuclear past. There is no need for the regime to threaten
to
leave the NPT now, since it can apparently break the treaty's rules
with
impunity. But if suspicions are correct that Iran has been secretly
learning how to build and trigger a nuclear device, and shape a missile
cone to carry such a warhead (as well as publicly developing
nuclear-capable, far-flying missiles), then once it has fully mastered
uranium enrichment it will soon be poised to break out at short notice,
at a moment of its choosing.
If neither North Korea nor Iran is shown to pay a heavy price for
breaking the NPT and defying the Security Council, others nervously
rethinking their nuclear ambitions will be tempted to follow suit. By
enfeebling diplomacy, China and Russia are taking the world into more
dangerous territory.
Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All
rights reserved.
Japan sets up committee to beef up intelligence, report by Feb
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061225/kyodo/d8m7pk4o0.html
Monday December 25, 8:29 PM
Japan sets up committee to beef up intelligence, report by Feb.
(Kyodo) _ The Japanese government has set up a committee to strengthen
intelligence capabilities at the prime minister's office involving the
Foreign Ministry, Defense Agency, National Police Agency and others to
come up with a basic policy by the end of February, the top government
spokesman said Monday.
In addition to the committee, which will begin its meetings early next
year, a separate panel on counterintelligence measures involving
senior officials at the director-general level from all government
ministries and agencies will launch its first meeting Tuesday, Chief
Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.
The counterintelligence panel will discuss how to safeguard
information at Japanese ministries from foreign intelligence
gathering, Shiozaki said.
Japan apparently has in mind the scandal last year in which an
official at the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai committed suicide
reportedly after pressure from China.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in late September,
advocates increasing decision-making powers for the premier.
He has also set a goal of strengthening Japan's intelligence
capabilities and is promoting creation of a Japanese Security Council
modeled after the U.S. National Security Council.
The Foreign Ministry and the Defense Agency at present have separate
intelligence departments.
Qassam hits strategic facility in Ashkelon
Qassam hits strategic facility in Ashkelon
Agreed upon truce breached once again as Palestinians in northern Gaza
fire
three rockets toward Negev area; one strikes strategic facility in
Ashkelon,
damage done to structures
Anat Bereshkovsky YNET Latest Update: 12.25.06, 10:38
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3344184,00.html
Palestinian gunmen launched Monday a Qassam from northern Gaza, which
landed
in the industrial area in Ashkelon, hitting a strategic facility. No
injuries were reported, but a number of structures at the site were
damaged.
Workers at the facility said the security officer at the site was
alerted of
the incoming rocket by beeper, as the "Color Red" alert system in
Ashkelon
is not operational.
"We were told on the speaker system to enter protected areas," one
employee
said. "We heard a blast - it was relatively short. We returned fairly
quickly to our work stations."
Last week a rocket landed near the facility, and it was reported that
Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert visited the area Sunday evening.
Earlier two Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel landed in open
areas
in the Negev's Eshkol Regional Council. There were no casualties or
damages.
A total of fifty-six rockets were fired toward Israeli territory since
the
agreed upon truce went into effect last month.
"The situation is not good," Council Head Uri Naamati said. "While it
is
better than it was before the ceasefire, Qassams are still falling in
the
area. Fortunately, I am not the one who has to make the difficult
decision
on how to act; holding back is hard, but so is escalating the
situation."
The "Color Red" alert system, which was put into place in the Eshkol
Council
just a number of weeks ago, was activated a few minutes too late.
'Israel trapped'
Sunday four rockets were fired toward Sderot and the western Negev
area; no
injuries were reported. One Qassam landed in a Sderot neighborhood,
near a
nursery school . Several children were inside the kindergarten at the
time
of the attack.
The building and an electric pole were damaged, as well as some of the
street lighting in the area.
Olmert said during a Kadima party convention in Ashkelon Sunday that he
would see to it that no Qassam rockets are fired at Sderot, Ashkelon
and
the
communities surrounding Gaza.
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin voiced his concern on Sunday during the
cabinet
meeting over the policy of restraint currently being employed by Israel
in
the face of the continuous rocket attacks emanating from Gaza.
"We're trapped. If we don't respond - the Qassams will continue to fall
and
if we do respond against the rocket cells the calm will collapse," said
Diskin.
First Published: 12.25.06, 08:31
Security Chief Diskin Says Hamas Falling Apart
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=118027
Security Chief Diskin Says Hamas Falling Apart
17:04 Dec 24, '06 / 3 Tevet 5767
(IsraelNN.com) National Security Agency head Yuval Diskin told the
Cabinet Sunday that the Hamas political movement is "crumbling" but
warned that an unexpected event could cause a total breakdown in the
Gaza region.
He called for diplomatic initiatives because he thinks Palestinian
Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas will maintain the relative calm
with Hamas and with Israel. Diskin estimated that if elections were
held
in the PA today, Hamas would lose by a large margin.
Bomb blast at Fatah activist's home
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=937067
MIL-PALESTINIAN-INFIGHTING
Bomb blast at Fatah activist's home
GAZA, Dec 24 (KUNA) -- A bomb blasted outside a Fatah activist's home
in
Beit Lahiya early Sunday morning, Palestinian security sources said.
Hamdi Srour's house suffered severe damage from the explosion, but no
casualties were reported.
The Palestinian police have started an investigation into the bombing
The Rafah crossing was also attacked by gunmen last night. The gunmen
fired from the crossing's south side.
A speaker from the President's Guard who are in command of the
crossing,
Wael Thahab, told Palestinian radio, "the forces at the crossing fired
back and forced the attackers to flee." Thahab did not openly accuse
any
faction of the attack but hinted to a group he left unnamed.
He added, certain factions continue floundering Palestinian resources.
Thahab continued, the President's Guard will not hesitate to return any
attack on Palestinian sites that in the future will be the cornerstone
of a Palestinian state.(end) zt.
go
KUNA 241015 Dec 06NNNN
Energy: China builds LNG plants in Iran
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-12/25/content_767063.htm
Energy: China builds LNG plants in Iran
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-12-25 14:35
China National Offshore Oil Corp has confirmed signing a memorandum of
understanding for a US$16 billion project to develop Iran's North Pars
gas field and build liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.
The project will take eight years to complete, Xinhua reported. Liu
Junshan, a Beijing-based spokesman for China's largest offshore oil
producer, declined to confirm or deny an earlier media report of an
agreement.
UAE to transfer $30m to Palestine
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snECO_article116657_cnt.html
UAE to transfer $30m to Palestine
Posted: Monday, December 25, 2006
Dubai
The UAE will transfer $30 million to the Palestinian Authority to ease
the plight of Palestinians facing a Western boycott since Hamas took
power this year, the Wam news agency said.
'The President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, has
ordered the transfer of $30 million to the Palestinian Authority as
support from the UAE to the brotherly Palestinian people and to help
reduce their suffering,' Wam said.
Afghanistan to suspend diplomatic missions in 3 countries
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/25/content_5529303.htm
Afghanistan to suspend diplomatic missions in 3 countries
www.chinaview.cn 2006-12-25 14:10:52
KABUL, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has decided to suspend its
diplomatic missions in one African and two Asian states, spokesman of
the country's foreign ministry Sultan Ahmad Baheen said Monday.
"For the time being the foreign ministry would suspend its
embassies in Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Syria," Baheen told Xinhua.
The decision would come into effect from beginning 2007, he
stressed.
Counting financial problems for taking such step, he added that
the
aim of the decision was to save money.
"In order to prevent unnecessary expenditure and support some
other
diplomatic missions, the foreign ministry has taken this step," the
spokesman further said.
He also hinted at suspending more Afghan diplomatic missions by
saying more embassies could be suspended in the future, but he did not
give more details.
[Be sure to read the full article at the link]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1758670/posts?page=3
The Khodorkovsky Connection
New York Sun ^ | December 26, 2006 | ROBERT AMSTERDAM
Posted on 12/26/2006 1:17:18 PM PST by lizol
The Khodorkovsky Connection
By ROBERT AMSTERDAM December 26, 2006
In the latest news coming out of Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been transferred within Siberia from a gulag to a pre-trial detention center in Chita for what may be the application of further bogus charges against him. And on Friday, police officials took his father, recently released from hospital, for interrogation.
Although you may not have remarked upon it, even before this news, the name of my client had taken on new significance. For his is one of a handful of names to appear recently in two otherwise seemingly unrelated stories out of Russia: the mysterious poisoning of the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, and the decision by Royal Dutch Shell to give in to Kremlin pressure and offer up a large stake in the Sakhalin-2 natural gas project.
While both events received publicity, few noted the Khodorkovsky connection, and many in the press and policy communities have yet to understand the precedent-setting significance of his story.
More than 3,000 miles away from Moscow serving a nine-year sentence on tax evasion, the former oil billionaire links the Litvinenko poisoning and the increasingly confrontational and aggressive energy politics of the Kremlin. Mr. Khodorkovsky connects these events not because of a shady conspiracy theory and not because of accusations against the president of Russia in the London poisoning. My client's story explains the relationship of the dissident's death to the Sakhalin heist for another reason altogether: His political persecution and imprisonment and the theft of his assets set the gold standard for Russian impunity.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1758511/posts?page=2
N. Korea:Threatening Letter & Hand Ax Delivered to Hwang Jang-yop(Chia Head's X-mas terror gift)
Chosun Ilbo ^ | 12/26/06
Posted on 12/26/2006 6:38:05 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
/begin my summary
N. Korea:Threatening Letter & Hand Ax Delivered to Hwang Jang-yop
Hwang's photo splattered with red paint(left) and a hand ax(right)
A package containing a threatening letter and a hand ax was delivered to Free N. Korea Broadcast. It was addressed to Hwang Jang-yop, the chairman of the broadcast(Note: He is the highest ranking N. Korean defector ever and a vocal critic of N. Korean regime.) It was delivered on Dec. 22. The local police department got the report on Dec. 23 and started a criminal investigation.
The package contained a 10.6 inch-long hand ax, a letter-size photo of Mr. Hwang on which bloody red paint was splattered, and a threatening letter with phrases such as "Hwang Jang-yop, shut your trash mouth!" and "With our military might and unity, our people can even make U.S. shudder."
/end my summary
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1758479/posts?page=3
N. Korea sells gold to earn currency(getting around financial sanction)
Yomiuri Shimbun ^ | 12/26/06
Posted on 12/26/2006 5:05:01 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
N. Korea sells gold to earn currency
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Since the United States imposed financial sanctions against North Korea in September last year, Pyongyang started selling bullion on the international market as an alternative way to acquire foreign currencies, it was learned Monday.
continued....
http://www.google.com/search?q=Office+39+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+39+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
an attempt to find other bureau's of N.K.:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+29+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+29+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+9+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
pulls communist parties of world, some support Saddam:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+49+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
world - interesting:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+59+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.google.com/search?q=Bureau+69+of+the+Workers%27+Party+o+f+Korea&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&rls=com.netscape%3Aen-US
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758667/posts
New York building collapse kills one, injures two
Reuters ^ | Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:34pm ET21 | not disclosed
Posted on 12/26/2006 1:15:16 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
NEW YORK (Reuters) - One worker was killed and two were injured when a building collapsed in upper Manhattan on Tuesday, authorities said.
The three men were renovating the five-story building when the top three floors collapsed, said Joseph Pfeifer, Deputy Assistant Chief with the Fire Department of New York.
One man was killed in the collapse of the building, located on West 113th Street in the city's Harlem section, he said.
Of the two injured workers, one managed to free himself from the rubble while the other was rescued from the debris by firefighters, he said. Both were in stable condition at a hospital.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758730/posts
Up to 1,000 Somalis [Islamic terrorists] dead in Ethiopia offensive [Islamists are in full retreat]
Pakistan Daily Times ^ | Dec 26, 2006
Posted on 12/26/2006 4:10:50 PM PST by jdm
ADDIS ABABA: Somalia’s Islamists are in full retreat after Ethiopian airstrikes and a ground offensive that have killed up to 1,000 of the religious movement’s fighters, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday.
“A joint Somali government and Ethiopian force has broken the back of the international terrorist forces... These forces are in full retreat,” Meles told reporters in Addis Ababa, adding that up to 1,000 Islamist fighters had been killed.
“A few are Somali but the majority are foreigners,” he said of the dead.
continues.......
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758706/posts
Teen arraigned in O'side officer's slaying
North County Times ^
Posted on 12/26/2006 3:25:28 PM PST by BoneHead
VISTA ---- A 17-year-old documented gang member from Oceanside was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on charges of murder and attempted murder in the fatal shooting last week of Oceanside police Officer Dan Bessant.
Meki Gaono of Oceanside is accused of killing Bessant to enhance his standing in an east Oceanside gang to which he belongs, prosecutors said.
Bail was set at $5 million for Gaono, whose friends and family members attended the arraignment before Superior Court Judge David Brown.
Several of Bessant's friends and family members were also present in the courtroom.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758639/posts
The Friends Of Keith Ellison
PowerlineBlog.com ^ | 12/26/06 | Scott Johnson
Posted on 12/26/2006 11:34:45 AM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
According to the invaluable report of the Chicago Tribune, the Muslim Brotherhood operates in the United States as the Muslim American Society. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross's "MAS's Muslim Brotherood problem" expands on the meaning of MAS's relationship to the Muslim Brotherood. Like the Muslim Brotherhood and the MAS, the Islamic Circle of North America promotes the establishment of the Islamic system of life. According to Steven Emerson, the ICNA also has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The two groups -- MAS and the ICNA -- hold a joint annual convention. This year's joint annual convention in Dearborn welcomed -- who else? -- Minnesota Fifth District Rep.-elect Keith Ellison as its keynote speaker. The Detroit Free Press reports on Ellison's speech this past Sunday night:
"You can't back down, you can't chicken out, you can't be afraid, you got to have faith in Allah, and you got to stand up and be a real Muslim," Detroit native Keith Ellison said to loud applause.
"Allahu akbar" -- God is great -- was the reply of many in the crowd.
Surely one of these days some bigfoot journalist will ask Ellison what branch of Islam he adheres to in reconciling Islam with the Democratic platform on abortion rights, homosexual rights, the rights of women and the like. Perhaps some bigfoot journalist might then ask a question or two about how Ellison's branch of Islam views the legal equality of Muslims and infidels and the supremacy of the United States Constitution over Sharia law. Until that time, we will have pay attention to the friends of Keith Ellison for the light they may shed on his views on these subjects.
[a good thread/comments]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1758755/posts
Plane Carrying Tony Blair Overshoots Miami Runway
CBS ^ | December 26, 2006
Posted on 12/26/2006 5:19:02 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was confirmed to be aboard the British Airways flight that overshot the runway at Miami International Airport Tuesday evening.
Flight 209, carrying 343 passengers and crew onboard luckily had no injuries. The plane did not sustain any damage, but some runway lights were broken by the plane. The plane was making an arrival from London’s Heathrow Airport, with Blair traveling in first class.
No word yet on what caused it to slightly run off the landing area and onto the grass.
The plane, with passengers inside, is being towed to the terminal.
CBS sources would not comment further as to why Blair was traveling on the plane.
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