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Mexican president offers Obama help with a...
Washington Times
President Barack Obama hosts a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The president is looking to his southern neighbor for help implementing the changing ...

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Hizballah’s Failures Go Well Beyond an Alleged Israeli Moleby kvick1271
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 9:10 PM

In the last months of 2011 and first half of 2012, Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hizballah, put on perhaps the greatest show of rolling ineptitude in the history of modern covert warfare. Hopscotching the globe, their operatives tried and failed to strike Israeli or American targets perhaps two dozen times—in Azerbaijan, in Georgia, in Kenya, in Nigeria, in South Africa, in Turkey, in Greece, in Cyprus and, most spectacularly, in Thailand, where after blowing up an apartment while trying to make a bomb, an Iranian agent scrambled into the street and blew off his own legs.

What could account for such a formidable string of failures? According to Hizballah itself: an Israeli mole inside the militant group. A senior official with the Shiite militia this week acknowledged “some major infiltrations” in its ranks. Speaking to a Hizballah radio station on Sunday, Naim Qassem offered oblique but rare on-the-record confirmation of earlier reports that one of its most trusted operatives was on trial for treason, along with four others reported to be compromised by Israel’s Mossad.

“It appears to be the real deal,” says Matthew Levitt, a former U.S. Treasury official and author ofHezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God. “And they clearly are freaking out about it.”

The alleged culprit, identified as Mohammad Shawraba by the Lebanese English-language Daily Star, was in a position to know. The newspaper and other reports say he headed the “external operations” unit of Hizballah, the very group responsible for carrying out the bombings, assassinations and other terror strikes that the Shi’ite militia has long been known for conducting—and almost always without leaving behind evidence that it was responsible. Hizballah may not have quite invented terror strikes as a tool of modern warfare. (The first car bomb, actually a horse-drawn carriage, was exploded on Wall Street in 1920.) But by 2002, when the West felt wobbly from the attacks of 911, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage was calling them “The A-Team” of terror.

And yet, since the man hailed as Hizballah’s terror mastermind, Imad Mughniyah, was killed by a booby-trapped car headrest in 2008, his successors have been unable to deliver the revenge theyrepeatedly promised. Mughniyah’s assassination was, of course, laid at the feet of Mossad, as almost everything that happens in the Middle East is. The Israeli spy agency glories in its reputation for bloodless omniscience (Google the list of animals that neighboring Mideast states have named as Israeli spies), a notoriety that acts as a force multiplier. But as TIME and others have reported, Mossad has also a long run of real marquee missions, including the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists on the streets of Tehran in 2010 and 2011. Those attacks in turn ignited a response from Iran’s own elite covert operators, the section of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force known as Unit 400. Though, like Hizballah’s external operators, Unit 400 soon proved less formidable than its reputation.

The full extent of the collapse became evident on February 13, 2012. Hizballah and the Qods Force were brought together by the anniversary of Muniyah’s death, four years and one day earlier, and the latest scientist assassination in Tehran, just a month previous. In what was intended as a one-two punch at “hard” Israeli targets, operatives tried to detonate bombs attached to Israeli diplomats’ cars in Tbilisi, Georgia, and New Delhi, India. The Tbilisi bomb was discovered. In Delhi, a man on a motorcycle managed to attach a “magnet bomb” to the side of a car carrying the wife of an Israeli diplomat.

It’s the method of assassination that Israeli operatives had repeatedly used on the streets of Tehran, targeting Iranian nuclear scientists on their way to work. But there was a hitch. “I was in New Delhi when it happened,” says Ely Karmon, a senior scholar at International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Inter-Disciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. “They put the bomb on the right side of the car, because it had to explode on the fuel tank. But in India they ride on the left side, and the tank is on the left side.” The mistake gave the chauffeur time to eject his passenger, a diplomat’s wife, who survived.

Shawraba, the alleged Israeli mole, would have been involved in both attacks, as well as the July 2012 bombing that killed a handful of Israeli tourists on an airport bus in Bulgaria, where Hizballah resorted to a soft target. Evidence of his presumed loyalty was offered in reports that he had earlier served as a bodyguard to Hizballah’s charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, long assumed to be No. 1 on Israel’s hit list. The newspaper reports said he had betrayed five secret operations, and implied that his removal, along with four men working in his unit, had freed Hizballah from the shadow of suspicion.

“The idea is that they’ve stopped the sole source that was responsible for everything,” says Levitt, now a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he produced a 2013 reporton the “Iran’s Shadow War with the West” that detailed operational incompetence in the string of failures under the heading, “Amateur Hour.” In an interview Monday, he noted that intercepted communications played a significant role in thwarting “many of these operations.”

“The Israelis are pretty good at what they do,” Levitt continues. “We’re pretty good at what we do. Nobody has one source for everything.”

Indeed, Israel has recruited Hizballah officials in the past, and likely has sources in the Iranian establishment as well, says Karmon. The Israeli army occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years, with its security services developing human assets that sometimes emerge only after decades, if ever. In 1973, the surprise Egyptian attacks on Israeli positions that became the cataclysmic Yom Kippur Warwas in advance tipped by the son-in-law of Egypt’s president. (His warnings were ignored, proving that Mossad isn’t omniscient after all.) What makes an insider turn? “Clearly money is very important,” says Karmon. “Also safe haven, in case of need. But sometimes it can be an issue of revenge, infighting in an organization, some personal dispute with one of the leaders.”

On the Iranian side, things have quieted down. Israel has greatly reduced its tempo of detectable attacks, and the Quds Force has eased off as well, likely in order to allow nuclear negotiations to go forward, Levitt says. But from Hizballah, the hits keep coming. Last April, another planned attack on Israelis was thwarted in Bangkok. And at the end of October, Peruvian authorities arrested a Lebanese man who admitted to working for Hizballah, and taking photos of apparent targets. Traces of nitroglycerin reportedly were found in his Lima apartment. The A-Team evidently remains on hiatus.

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Former US Governor Sentenced in Corruption Caseby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:42 PM

World News + Video | The Guardian

A former U.S. governor in the state of Virginia, Robert McDonnell, has been sentenced to a two-year prison term in a corruption case. The 60-year-old McDonnell was once a rising star in the Republican Party and was even mentioned as a possible U.S. presidential or vice presidential contender. But that changed quickly after his tenure as Virginia’s top elected official ended early last year and within days, he was indicted, along with his wife Maureen. After a lengthy trial, they...

14 photos that show how Christians around the world are celebrating Orthodox Christmas by Allison Jackson
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:41 PM

GlobalPost - Home

In many parts of the world, Christmas festivities are just beginning.

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Former NY governor Mario Cuomo laid to rest - videoby Guardian Staff
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:01 PM

The funeral ceremony for former governor Mario Cuomo was held on Tuesday in New York City. Cuomo, the three-time state governor in the years 1983-1994, was described by his son (the current governor) as someone who inspired great love and respect. The ceremony was attended by many American political luminaries including the Clintons and New York mayor, Bill de Blasio Continue reading...

U.S., Mexican Leaders Pledge Mutual Aid on Cuba, Immigration
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:01 PM

WSJ.Com: World News

President Barack Obama sought Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s cooperation for help with U.S. policy changes on immigration and in securing the border between the two countries in a meeting Tuesday at the White House.

Journalist Asks to Testify at Khmer Rouge Tribunalby webdesk@voanews.com (Sok Khemara)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:00 PM

A Cambodian documentary journalist says he wants to testify at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, where two former senior leaders of the group are facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber is set to decide soon whether Thet Sambath, who co-produced the award-winning documentary "Enemies of the People," can testify at the behest of Nuon Chea’s defense team to bolster its appeal of a guilty verdict in the first of two trial phases. In...

Mexican Town’s Police Force Detained Over Journalist’s Disappearance by Victor Luckerson
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 8:00 PM

Uploads By AFP News Agency

A Mexican town’s police force was questioned by state prosecutors, following the disappearance of a local journalist.

Three dozen people in the Medellín de Bravo police department were asked to give statements related to disappearance of journalist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo, a social activist who went missing Friday, the Guardian reports. Three of the officers were still detained on Monday.

Sánchez was removed from his home last week by armed men, who reportedly confiscated his computer, camera and telephones, according to family members who witnessed the incident, the Associated Press reported. His brother, Juan Carlos Sánchez, claims that the missing journalist was threatened by town mayor Omar Cruz, though Cruz has denied being involved in the situation.

Medellín de Bravo is located in the state of Veracruz, an particularly dangerous area in Mexico for members of the press. Since 2011, three journalists have been killed while working in the state.

[The Guardian]

Houellebecq stirs controversy with 'Islamic France' novelby AFP news agency
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:59 PM

	Houellebecq stirs controversy with 'Islamic France' novel An Islamic government in power, veiled women and the Sorbonne renamed Paris-Sorbonne Islamic University. The new book out Wednesday by French "enfant terrible" author Michel Houellebecq has.	From: AFP news agency Views: 0 0 ratings
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Palace digs in over Prince Andrew’s links to sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinby Robert Booth, Jon Swaine in New York, Paul Lewis in Washington
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:51 PM

Network Front | The Guardian

Both prince and law professor Alan Dershowitz deny claims made about them by Virginia Roberts, employed by Epstein

Buckingham Palace has resisted growing pressure to explain Prince Andrew’s association with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom the royal is believed to have met on numerous occasions, including on his private jet, yacht and in stays at his New York and Florida mansions.

The scrutiny of the prince’s relationship with the multimillionaire banker came as a legal and publicity battle intensified in the US over claims made last week in a Florida court by Virginia Roberts, a former masseuse employed by Epstein, that she was forced to have sex with the Duke of York over 10 years ago, as well as the Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

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WorldViews: What’s the weirdest thing about leaving house arrest in Russia after a year? The price of milk.by Karoun Demirjian
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:50 PM

World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting - The Washington Post

MOSCOW — The Russian ruble is slumping again, all but erasing gains made through extraordinary spending measures in late December and reminding the country that hard times are likely to continue into the new year.Read full article >>

Pakistan Lawmakers Approve Military Trials for Insurgentsby By SALMAN MASOOD and SABA IMTIAZ
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:50 PM

NYT > World

The new law significantly expands the army’s power during a period political unrest in the civilian government.

NYC Grabs Back Top Spot for Global Property Investorsby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:50 PM

New York City regained its top position among global commercial real estate buyers, unseating London and highlighting the appeal of U.S. properties in general, according to a survey of international investors released Tuesday. More than 90 percent of respondents said they planned to maintain or increase the size of their U.S. portfolio in 2015, according to the survey conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. AFIRE members have an estimated $2 trillion in real...

Libya Seeks Arab Help as Terrorism Concerns Growby webdesk@voanews.com (Henry Ridgwell)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:49 PM

As Libya’s official government asks for military help to tackle rival militias, analysts warn the country is on the verge of breaking apart. There are also fears over Libya’s role as an exporter of terror, amid reports of growing links between Islamist militants in the country and the Islamic State group. Jason Pack, president of consultancy Libya-Analysis.Com, said Libya has become the major source of destabilization in the region. “Libya is a huge exporter of terror, arms and illegal...

Boehner elected to 3rd term as House speaker, as GOP takes control of Congress - Fox News
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:48 PM

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New York Times

Boehner elected to 3rd term as House speaker, as GOP takes control of Congress
Fox News
John Boehner beat back a conservative challenge to win a third term as House speaker on Tuesday, as he joined Sen. Mitch McConnell in presiding over the first Republican-controlled Congress in nearly a decade. Boehner, at the start of the 114th Congress, ...
GOP takes charge as new Congress convenesBusinessweek
GOP takes charge in Congress, runs into swift veto threatPhilly.com
UPDATE 1-Opening Republican salvo on Obamacare draws fire on both sidesReuters
Bloomberg -The Atlantic -NBCNews.com
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Policeman dies in Istanbul suicide bomb attackby AFP news agency
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:48 PM

	Policeman dies in Istanbul suicide bomb attack A female suicide bomber on Tuesday blew herself up in the most-visited tourist district of Istanbul, killing herself and a Turkish policeman, officials said. Duration: 00:39.	From: AFP news agency Views: 0 0 ratings
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White House says president would veto Keystone pipeline bill - Washington Post
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:48 PM

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White House says president would veto Keystone pipeline bill
Washington Post
The new Congress was not yet two hours old when the White House announced Tuesday that it would veto the first bill lawmakers plan to send to the president's desk: a measure authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across the ...
UPDATE 1-Republicans push Keystone bill, White House threatens vetoReuters
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Mexico’s Leader, Peña Nieto, Praises Obama on Immigrationby By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:47 PM

NYT > World

Visiting the White House, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico said President Obama’s plan to shield immigrants from deportation was “an act of justice.”

U.N. aviation body to propose 15-minute flight tracking standard
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:47 PM

Reuters: World News

TORONTO (Reuters) - The United Nations aviation agency will propose a new standard that requires commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes as part of a global tracking initiative in the aftermath of the disappearance of a Malaysian jetliner.

Biden and the kids of Congress steal the show on opening day - USA TODAY
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 7:47 PM

AP Top Headlines At 5:43 P.M. EST

USA TODAY

Biden and the kids of Congress steal the show on opening day
USA TODAY
Forget the drama over whether John Boehner would overcome a conservative rebellion to win re-election as speaker today. The real fun was over in the upper chamber, where Vice President Biden showed that he's certainly not tired of his ceremonial duties ...
The Best Pictures From The First Day Of The 114th CongressHuffington Post
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Being Biden, Hill oath edition.Washington Post (blog)
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For some Russians, mortgage costs soaring due to ruble slideby By IRINA TITOVA
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:26 PM

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- When they took out a mortgage on a small two-room apartment seven years ago, Oksana Li and her husband hoped to make a new home for themselves and their young son....

Manhunt on for 2 suspected of shooting NYPD cops responding to robbery - Fox News
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:25 PM

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Manhunt on for 2 suspected of shooting NYPD cops responding to robbery
Fox News
A massive manhunt was on in New York after two NYPD officers were shot while trying to stop a robbery in the Bronx late Monday in the latest case of the nation's largest police force coming under fire on the street. Both Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellarano, who ...
De Blasio speaks out about NYPD back-turning at cop funeralsNew York Daily News
Two NYPD officers in stable condition; search on for shooting suspectsLos Angeles Times
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Prince Andrew plans no legal action against woman claiming sex abuse - CNN
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:24 PM

World - Google News

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Prince Andrew plans no legal action against woman claiming sex abuse
CNN
London (CNN) Britain's Prince Andrew does not have plans to take legal action against a woman who has named him in a sex abuse lawsuit in Florida, CNN learned Tuesday. The allegation that he had sex with an underage girl, made in a federal court filing ...
Attorney Dershowitz files sworn statement denying sex claimsReuters
US lawyer says Prince Andrew's friendship with Jefferey Epstein reflects badly...Telegraph.co.uk
Dershowitz files court challenge to what he calls outrageous sex allegationCNN International
Charlotte Observer
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De Blasio speaks out about NYPD back-turning at cop funerals - New York Daily News
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:24 PM

New York Daily News

De Blasio speaks out about NYPD back-turning at cop funerals
New York Daily News
Mayor de Blasio gave the cops who turned their backs on him a good smack Monday. Speaking for the first time about the public dissing he endured at the funerals of hero cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, de Blasio said “they were disrespectful to the ...
Manhunt underway after two NYPD officers shotChicago Sun-Times

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Manhunt underway after two NYPD officers shot - Chicago Sun-Times
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:23 PM

Manhunt underway after two NYPD officers shot
Chicago Sun-Times
This photo from a surveillance video provided by the New York Police Department shows a robbery suspect ordering food at a Chinese restaurant in the Bronx borough of New York, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. A manhunt was underway Tuesday after two NYPD ...

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Dignitaries begin arriving for ex-Gov. Mario Cuomo's funeral - Fox News
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:23 PM

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Dignitaries begin arriving for ex-Gov. Mario Cuomo's funeral
Fox News
Dignitaries from both sides of the political aisle are converging to pay their final respects to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. Former President Bill Clinton, Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and state Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos are ...
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Ukraine Inflation at 14-Year High
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:22 PM

WSJ.Com: World News

A sharp devaluation of the national currency and higher energy tariffs pushed Ukraine’s consumer price inflation last year to nearly 25%.

Israeli Infiltration Suggests Hezbollah Is Having a Mid-Life Crisis by conalurquhart
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:22 PM

For five years, Hezbollah has vowed in fiery speeches to exact revenge for Israel’s assassination of its top military strategist in 2010. Each anniversary passed with Hezbollah’s threatened attacks mysteriously foiled: operatives rolled up in Bangkok and Cyprus, and another mastermind murdered near his home in Beirut.

A recent revelation suggests the failure wasn’t so mysterious after all: a Hezbollah official responsible for the revenge attacks might have been on Israel’s payroll the whole time.

The unmasking of the Israeli spy in Hezbollah’s uppermost ranks — leaked in media reports in December and indirectly confirmed over the weekend by Hezbollah’s deputy leader — points to Hezbollah’s biggest long-term problem: its size, wealth and power have made it vulnerable to infiltration, corruption and careerists.

The militant organization, whose name means Party of God, was founded in 1982 to resist the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon but it has grown into an entrenched and wealthy part of the Lebanese establishment. Now in its fourth decade, Hezbollah has more power than its founders could have dreamed.

But no longer a compact revolutionary movement, Hezbollah must now grapple with the consequences of growth and longevity. Some supporters now take Hezbollah for granted while the party’s swelling ranks of cadres and fighters contain opportunists and careerists.

Hezbollah has become a state in all but name. It deploys troops to fight in a foreign war in Syria, it is a power-broker in Lebanon’s national government and it struggles to satisfy constituents who have grown accustomed to a higher, and safer, standard of living. It is subject to the same temptations and vulnerabilities as Arab governments and other legacy actors in the Middle East. The intelligence war with Israel marks just one particularly colorful and acute sign of its approaching middle age.

Hezbollah began to suspect it was compromised after a series of inexplicable setbacks, including the capture of two of its agents following a bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria in 2012. In order to track down the mole, Hezbollah fed false information to one of its officials, Mohammed Shawraba, about weapons shipments in Syria. Israel bombed the false target and after a seven-month investigation, Hezbollah arrested Shawraba.

The double agent might have foiled as many as five planned retaliations by Hezbollah, according to reports that also tied him to the two most damaging Israeli strikes against Hezbollah since the 2006 war: the assassinations of military strategist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008 and of Hezbollah technology mastermind Hassan Laqees in Beirut at the end of 2013.

Yet it’s the parade of related cases that have piled up since the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 that suggest something broader is afoot. Hezbollah revealed in 2011 that it caught some of its operatives cooperating with the CIA, meeting at a Pizza Hut on the edge of south Beirut to sell Hezbollah secrets to the Americans.

A trusted car dealer in southern Lebanon sold senior Hezbollah officials cars that had Israeli GPS trackers in them. He was arrested by the party in 2009.

Another Lebanese man was revealed to have worked as a spy for the Israelis, monitoring traffic on key roads to the Syrian border.

A financial scandal erupted at the same period, in 2009, when a Ponzi scheme collapsed and erased the savings of many of Hezbollah’s middle-class constituents. The scheme was run by Salah Ezzedine, a well-connected businessman (nicknamed Hezbollah’s Bernie Madoff) who had persuaded senior Hezbollah officials to invest their money with him, and who had founded a publishing house named after party leader Nasrallah’s son. Ezzedine lost between $700 million and $1 billion, according to news reports at the time.

A final straw came in 2012 when a senior Hezbollah official who had been embezzling money fled to Israel. Reports suggest he was stealing for his own benefit, pure and simple, but when he was about to get caught he fled to Hezbollah’s greatest enemy with his money and party documents.

All these cases point in one direction: toward more corruption and more Israeli infiltration.

Hezbollah’s initial appeal in the 1980s and 1990s was its incorruptibility and zeal. In a country dominated by kleptocratic warlords, Hezbollah stood out in its first two decades as an organization whose leaders did not care to enrich themselves. Their first priority was to expel the occupying Israelis. Their second was to help their suffering constituents, most of them Shia Muslims displaced by the civil war and crowded into miserable slums on the edges of Beirut. In those first decades, Hezbollah brought sewers, electricity and clean water to south Beirut, and its leaders lived simply.

Today, things are different. At the very top, Nasrallah lives in hiding, and by all reports remains committed to the group’s humble ethic. But the organization he runs is awash in money. After the 2006 war, Iran flooded Hezbollah with millions of dollars to rebuild homes and roads. Since 2011 there’s been yet another burst of spending linked to the war in Syria. Over the objections of many Lebanese — and the grumbling of some supporters who thought Hezbollah should maintain its focus on Israel — Hezbollah dispatched troops to fight on the regime’s side in the Syrian civil war. At first the deployment was kept secret, but today Hezbollah openly sends troops and celebrates its members martyred in Syria. The organization has dramatically increased its spending on fighters and their families and has expanded the size of its military force in order to maintain a deterrent against Israel while fighting in Syria. Hezbollah has become a standing army capable of fighting a war on two fronts where it was once a guerrilla army. That’s an expensive development and not one that necessarily carries the same appeal as Hezbollah did when it was fighting a war of resistance on its home territory against a much stronger Israeli occupation force.

Today, it appears, there are Hezbollah insiders willing to sell crucial secrets to the enemy. There are others who seem happy to siphon money out of the Party of God’s pockets for their own enrichment, just like operatives in all the rest of Lebanon’s notoriously corrupt factions.

In comments over the weekend to Hezbollah’s “Nour” radio station, the party’s number-two, Naim Qassem, said that Hezbollah was made up of fallible humans but was able to contain the “limited” fallout of the spy cases.

“Hezbollah has worked intensely on battling espionage among its ranks and in its entourage. Some cases surfaced, and they are very limited cases,” he said. “There is no party in the world as big and sophisticated as Hezbollah that was able to stand with the same steadfastness.”

That makes sense as spin, and Hezbollah can obviously survive — the question is, with how much damage.

Until the 2006 war, Hezbollah successfully stood apart in Lebanon. It was a Shia organization, but it opposed sectarianism. Even those who didn’t share Hezbollah’s dedication to fighting Israel recognized that the militant group placed that goal over its own power and enrichment.

In its rise to power, however, Hezbollah has relied on support from some of Lebanon’s most corrupt factions, including the Shia Amal Movement and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement.

Today, Hezbollah is a party of the establishment, deeply invested in a Lebanese order that depends on patronage and sectarian balancing. It is unlikely that corruption and spy scandals will unseat Hezbollah from its dominant position in Lebanon. But Hezbollah’s descent from the moral high ground it claims as unimpeachable standard-bearer of the Lebanese resistance seems only a matter of time.

Thanassis Cambanis is a fellow at The Century Foundation and the author of Once Upon a Revolution: An Egyptian Story. He also wrote A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel.

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Female Suicide Bomber Attacks Istanbul Police Stationby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:21 PM

Turkish authorities said one police officer was killed and another wounded after a female suicide bomber attacked a police station in Istanbul. Reports said the woman spoke English as she entered the facility in the popular Sultanahmet district, claiming to have lost her wallet, and then detonated the explosives, killing herself. Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said police are still trying to identify the woman in the attack. The district is home to several sites favored by tourists,...

Israel Sentences Palestinian Kidnapper to Life for Killing of 3 Teenagers by Dan Kedmey
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:20 PM

Network Front | The Guardian

An Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian man to life in prison on Tuesday, for the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers, which rapidly escalated into a wider regional war last summer.

Hussam Kawasmeh, a member of Hamas, was sentenced to three life terms for devising the plan to abduct three Israeli teenagers hitchhiking along a road in the West Bank, Reuters reports. The youths were lethally shot and found buried in the West Bank some three weeks after their disappearance.

Two members of the Hamas cell behind the attack were killed in a firefight with Israeli troops, while Kawasmeh, one of the sole survivors, was arrested in a West Bank raid in August.

The killing was quickly followed by a revenge attack against a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem and flared out into 50 days of sustained conflict in the Gaza war last summer.

The real American Sniper was a hate-filled killer. Why are simplistic patriots treating him as a hero? by Lindy West
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:20 PM

Clint Eastwood’s film about Navy Seal Chris Kyle has hit a raw nerve in America, with right wingers calling for the rape or death of anyone ungrateful enough to criticise his actions

I have to confess: I was suckered by the trailer for American Sniper. It’s a masterpiece of short-form tension – a confluence of sound and image so viscerally evocative it feels almost domineering. You cannot resist. You will be stressed out. You will feel. Or, as I believe I put it in a blog about the trailer, “Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper trailer will ruin your pants.”

But however effective it is as a piece of cinema, even a cursory look into the film’s backstory – and particularly the public reaction to its release – raises disturbing questions about which stories we choose to codify into truth, and whose, and why, and the messy social costs of transmogrifying real life into entertainment.

Cuba has released some of 53 'political' prisoners, U.S. says
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:20 PM

Reuters: World News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cuba has freed some of 53 people the United States regards as political prisoners as agreed under last month's U.S.-Cuban rapprochement and Washington wants to see the rest released soon, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

Hamas Militant Gets 3 Life Terms for Murder of Israeli Teensby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Tuesday January 6th, 2015 at 3:19 PM