Al Qaeda's Yemen branch offers bounty for killing US ambassador, troops. U.S. Ambassador in Sanaa Gerald Feierstein speaks during his meeting with Yemen's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Mohammed Saeed al-Saidi in Sanaa May 2, 2012.Reuters Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen is offering a bounty of gold worth $160,000 to anyone who kills Gerald M. Feierstein, the U.S. ambassador to Yemen. According to the Associated Press, the group announced that it will pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa or an American soldier in the country. The group offered 3 kilograms of gold, worth about $160,000, for killing Feierstein, and said it will pay 5 million Yemeni riyals ($23,000) for anyone who kills an American soldier. The offer is valid for six months, the AP reported. The bounties were set to "inspire and encourage our Muslim nation for jihad," the Al Qaeda statement said, according to the AP.
Washington considers Al Qaeda in Yemen to be the group's most dangerous branch. According to the U.S. On Sept. 11, 2012, U.S. Iranians protest film mocking Muhammad; no violence reported. TEHRAN -- Expressing anger at the film mocking Muhammad that has triggered protests across the Middle East, roughly 400 young men and women gathered Thursday near the Swiss embassy in Tehran, chanting, “Death to the United States and death to Israel and death to England!” The protests had been called to take place at the Swiss embassy because it represents American diplomatic interests in Iran. Riot police and ordinary officers cordoned off the area north and south of the embassy, clogging city streets. Behind the security cordon, protesters equipped with a van and loudspeakers denounce the film.
Women in long black chadors wore yellow headbands emblazoned with Shiite religious slogans. “We university students believe Zionism is behind all these insults!” One protest leader in a brown shirt shouted from the back of the van. PHOTOS: Protesters attack U.S. embassies, consulate Muslims hold small protest in Tel Aviv over film In China, anti-Japan protests over disputed islands get some zing. Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels. New TV channel run exclusively by fully veiled women. A new TV station is run by and features women wearing the niqabThe niqab is a black fabric that covers a woman's entire face except eyesSome say the programming lets women's voices be heard; others say it's a U-turn for rights (CNN) -- After graduating from the mass communication department of Cairo University, Heba Seraq-Eddin couldn't find a job.
Potential employers turned her down, she says, because of her veil. Heba wears the niqab, the black fabric that covers her whole face, except for the eyes. "I used to tell them I won't appear on camera, my niqab won't be visible," recalls Serag-Eddin, trained as a director and camera operator. Then she came across an ad for a new TV channel called Maria, run exclusively by niqab-clad women. Maria, the first channel of its kind anywhere, kicked off with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on July 20. In an apartment in the eastern Cairo district of Abasya, the female volunteers of Maria share two studios with Al-Omma's staff. Related: ‘Greatest Christian revival in the world’ in Iran. Text smaller Text bigger The author of a new book, Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist,” says there are things about Iran that few Americans, including American Christians, know.
“First, the present regime is on the verge of being toppled. The Iranian people are extremely unhappy with their leadership. There is the very real chance that the present mullocracy could fall in a very short time,” said Joel Richardson, who also has written “The Islamic AntiChrist.” “Recent and credible intelligence reports argue that the looming fall of the Assad regime in Syria will be a devastating blow to the ayatollah’s regime,” he said. “Second, the nation of Iran is presently experiencing the greatest Christian revival in the world. In my opinion, more American Christians need to be on their faces praying for the Iranian people rather than openly calling for war. The name Shabekah7 is a reference to the fact that there are six official television stations in Iran. Part II: Faster, Please! » Iran’s Chickens Coming Home to Roast. Or Not… Anyone who has spent much time eating Persian food knows how important chicken is, whether it’s roast chicken, chicken with pomegranate sauce and walnuts, or chicken kebab.
So a chicken shortage or, worse yet, unaffordable chicken is a real problem, and it is doubly so during Ramadan. Right now, just at the moment that even the Iranian government has confessed the “devastating” effect of Western sanctions, the country is in the grips of a major chicken crisis. Chicken prices have tripled in the last year, and nearly doubled in the last month, which has priced a significant number of Iranians out of the chicken market (or perhaps we should say it has priced Iranian chickens out of a significant number of households).
Either way, there are a lot of very angry Iranians, who not surprisingly are blaming their government for this foul state of affairs. In part, the government is blameless, since the cost of imports and the cost of feed grain have been driven up by the sanctions. Israel threatens a 'heavy price' for Iran after deadly Bulgaria bus bomb - Middle East - World. As Bulgarian officials said the suspected bomber in the attack on Wednesday that killed five Israeli holidaymakers was a lanky, long-haired man in a baseball cap and T-shirt, carrying a fake American driving licence, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it had been carried out by "Hezbollah, the long arm of Iran. " There was some doubt about Bulgarian media reports that named the suicide attacker as Mehdi Ghazali, a former detainee at the US-run detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay. Mr Ghazali, who is of Algerian-Finnish origin, is said to have studied at a British mosque, and to have travelled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Continuing to blame Iran, under whose direct orders Israel is convinced Hezbollah acts in its operations outside Lebanon, Mr Netanyhau went out of his way to link the attack at the Black Sea resort of Burgas with Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "The time has come for all countries that know the truth to speak it," he said. Fighting Grips Syrian Capital After Attack on Assad’s Inner Circle.
Iran leader: We must prep for ‘end of times’ Text smaller Text bigger Iran’s supreme leader, for the first time, is telling his nation that it must prepare for war and “the end of times” as it continues to develop nuclear weapons. State-owned media outlets, in a coordinated effort, all ran a similar story Friday highlighting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s message on the coming of the last Islamic messiah. Until now, the Iranian media would mostly quote clerics from seminaries on the issue of the last Islamic messiah to avoid the regime being labeled messianic. However, the wide publication of Khamenei’s statements on a need to prepare for the end of times as it confronts the West over its illicit nuclear program is alarming to Western leaders. “The issue of Imam Mahdi is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam,” Khamenei said.
“Today we have a duty to prepare for the coming. … If we are the soldiers of the 12th imam, then we must be ready to fight,” Khamenei said. A way around Iranian blockade of Strait of Hormuz? In Share 7 Text smaller Text bigger The West may be breathing a sigh of relief to know there is an alternative means of accessing Middle East oil should Iran decide to block the Strait of Hormuz through which some 40 percent of the world’s oil and regional trade transits, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. Iran has threatened to shut down the strait if Israel, the United States or both decide to bomb the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities. However, the United Arab Emirates, which sides with the other Gulf Arab countries against Iran, has just made operational its 225-mile Habshan-Fujairah pipeline. Saudi Arabia also is looking for alternative routes to export oil.
According to regional analysts, however, there really is no other economic way to transport most of the region’s large amounts of oil and liquefied natural gas to the West than by sea, meaning through the strait. The U.S. Watching Syria's War. Muslim author Zuhdi Jasser discusses the Muslim Brotherhood, Caliphate on radio. UN observers in Syria suspend operations after fresh outbreak of violence -/AFP/Getty Images A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network on June 16, 2012 shows anti-government demonstrators holding banners and waving the pre-Baath Syrian flag during a protest in Kfar Nubul, in Idlib province. The UN observer force accused both sides in the Syrian conflict of willingly escalating the violence, as a Syrian based watchdog reported more than 150 killed in three days of fighting around rebel bastions.
AFP PHOTO/HO --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / SHAAM NEWS NETWORK" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - AFP IS USING PICTURES FROM ALTERNATIVE SOURCES AS IT WAS NOT AUTHORISED TO COVER THIS EVENT, THEREFORE IT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO THE PICTURE'S EDITORIAL CONTENT, DATE AND LOCATION WHICH CANNOT BE INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED ----/AFP/GettyImages Maj. Gen. The opposition, for its part, has blamed the regime for the attacks near the observers.
Russia votes against UN resolution on Syria, backs Assad claim that rebels behind massacre. June 1, 2012: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, welcomes President of Russia Vladimir Putin, left, for a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany.AP GENEVA – The U.N.'s top human rights body voted overwhelmingly Friday to condemn Syria over the slaughter of more than 100 civilians last week, but Damascus appeared impervious to the crescendo of global condemnation following a string of horrific massacres. Syria's most important ally and protector, Russia, voted against the measure by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. New bloodshed was reported across Syria on Friday, with troops firing on protesters and more execution-style killings coming to light, while U.N. "It requires a certain professionalism and patience," Putin said in Germany. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions. Only Russia, China and Cuba voted against the resolution, with Uganda and Ecuador abstaining.
U.S. Gen. UN observers in Syria suspend operations after fresh outbreak of violence
Saudi Arabia names defense minister crown prince. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia kept power within the surviving, aging sons of the kingdom's founding patriarch Monday by naming Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz as the new heir to the throne in a country both battling and embracing the upheavals across the Middle East. The choice was expected, but the speed of the royal decree was not — just a day after the burial of the late crown prince, Prince Nayef, who died last week in Geneva and was in the No. 2 position only since November. Prince Salman, 76, is now the third successor for the 88-year-old King Abdullah in the past year. It reflects the issues of health and age that will one day turn control of OPEC's top oil exporter over to a younger generation. In Washington, President Barack Obama issued a statement praising Salman as "a man of deep faith who is committed to improving the lives of the people of Saudi Arabia and to the security of the region.
" Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Drawing may provide insight into Iran's nuclear intentions. VIENNA – A drawing based on information from inside an Iranian military site shows an explosives containment chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that U.N. inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted there. Iran denies such testing and has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a chamber. The computer-generated drawing was provided to The Associated Press by an official of a country tracking Iran's nuclear program who said it proves the structure exists, despite Tehran's refusal to acknowledge it. That official said the image is based on information from a person who had seen the chamber at the Parchin military site, adding that going into detail would endanger the life of that informant. The official comes from an IAEA member country that is severely critical of Iran's assertions that its nuclear activities are peaceful and asserts they are a springboard for making atomic arms.
A former senior IAEA official said he believes the drawing is accurate. Iran Kills Christian. Islamic regime ‘may have broad appeal’ to Occupiers. Text smaller Text bigger A Muslim writer and political analyst who has been published in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Yemen, Libya and Iran says that the concept of an Islamic regime – a caliphate – could have “broad appeal” to Occupy protesters now demanding economic “equalization” in the United States. The comments from Sharique Naeem, whose perspective is outlined in his recent article, “Whither the Nation State?” Came in an interview with author Joel Richardson, a recognized expert on the Middle East and biblical prophecy.
Richardson’s newest book, officially not released to bookstores until September, is available now, autographed by the author, for immediate shipping. It’s called “Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist.” It is a sequel to the WND Books bestseller “The Islamic Antichrist,” which was featured on Glenn Beck’s program and has altered the eschatological views of many evangelical Christians since its release two years ago. The interview: Iranian general: Our finger on war trigger. Text smaller Text bigger With Western pressure growing on Bashar Assad over the latest massacres of defenseless women and children in Syria, Iranian officials again are warning the world against any action against the Middle East dictator.
The pro-Assad “resistance” has its finger on the trigger and the aggressors will not survive the conflict, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazaeri, told Mashregh, a media outlet run by the Guards. Iranian officials often refer to Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon as the resistance front. Mashregh reported in March that Iran’s armed forces had formed a joint war room that included officers from Syria, Iran and Hezbollah for a coordinated military response to an attack on Syria. “A conflict in Syria will engulf the region and its main victims will be the people of Syria themselves,” Jazaeri warned the protesters. Meanwhile, the head of Iran’s Basij militia made clear that Iran will not tolerate the fall of Assad.