Al-Qaeda Warns US About New, “Undetectable” Weapon They’ve Created

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Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is warning Americans that they’ve been working long and hard on a new tool to attack the U.S.

In the latest issue of the terror group’s Inspire electronic magazine, an individual called the AQ Chef was quoted as saying they developed a bomb in 2009, but “the brothers in the external operation committee did not give us the green light until recently.”

Hinting at al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s dedication to building undetectable bombs, he said in the winter 2014 edition of Inspire, released in late December, “they have developed other bombs that are more effective.”

AQ Chef indicates that lessons learned from failures in past assassination attempts and plots to attack U.S. airplanes and buildings have fed the development of a new generation of what it calls “undetectable” bombs.

In “The Hidden Bomb,” a 20-page section of the magazine, the writer goes into painstaking detail about how to build and test such a bomb: “For several months, we conducted a number of experiments. As a result we came up with these simple materials that are readily available around the globe, even inside America. We spared no effort in simplifying the idea in such we made it ‘another meal prepared in the kitchen’ so that every determined Muslim can prepare.” (Read how Al-Qaeda warns US HERE)

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China has Stepped In as World’s New Bank

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Photo Credit: Bloomberg View Thanks to China, Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund, Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank may no longer have much meaningful work to do.

Beijing’s move to bail out Russia, on top of its recent aid for Venezuela and Argentina, signals the death of the post-war Bretton Woods world. It’s also marks the beginning of the end for America’s linchpin role in the global economy and Japan’s influence in Asia.

What is China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank if not an ADB killer? If Japan, ADB’s main benefactor, won’t share the presidency with Asian peers, Beijing will just use its deep pockets to overpower it. Lagarde’s and Kim’s shops also are looking at a future in which crisis-wracked governments call Beijing before Washington.

China stepping up its role as lender of last resort upends an economic development game that’s been decades in the making. The IMF, World Bank and ADB are bloated, change-adverse institutions. When Ukraine received a $17 billion IMF-led bailout this year it was about shoring up a geopolitically important economy, not geopolitical blackmail.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government doesn’t care about upgrading economies, the health of tax regimes or central bank reserves. It cares about loyalty. The quid pro quo: For our generous assistance we expect your full support on everything from Taiwan to territorial disputes to deadening the West’s pesky focus on human rights. (Read more about the world’s new bank HERE)

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Inept ISIS Attacking US Troops “Almost Daily”

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Photo Credit: CNS News By NBC News. Senior defense officials confirmed Monday that the al-Assad airbase in Iraq, where U.S. military are training Iraqi security forces, has been pounded almost daily by mortar attacks from ISIS militants, but claimed the attacks have been “completely ineffective.”

Col. Steve Warren described the routine barrage of mortars aimed at al-Assad as “nuisance attacks.” He said “no U.S. personnel or U.S. equipment” have come under direct fire at the base.

There are currently 320 Marines located at al-Assad airbase north of Baghdad to train, advise and assist Iraqi security forces. The Marines are also training some 200 Sunni tribesman who have joined the fight against ISIS. The total number of American military on the ground is expected to reach 3,000, as authorized by President Obama, by early spring. (Read more about the attacks from ISIS HERE)

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ISIS Mounts ‘Regular’ Attacks Against Anbar Airbase Where US Troops are Based

By Patrick Goodenough. American troops training Iraqi recruits at a key airbase in Anbar province face “regular” but “completely ineffective” gunfire from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters, according to the Pentagon.

They don’t shoot back, spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said Monday.

Since last month some 320 U.S. troops have been training and advising Iraqi soldiers at the Ein al-Asad airbase about 100 miles north-west of Baghdad. Mostly U.S. Marines, they include advisors, support personnel and a security contingent. (Read more from this story HERE)

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200 Churches Destroyed in 2 Months By Boko Haram; ISIS Threatens to Destroy 2700 Year Old Niniveh Walls

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Photo Credit: Irish CentralBy WND. There was a surge of anti-Christian violence by Muslims around the world that included the destruction of nearly 200 Christian churches in Nigeria during a short period around October, according to a new report from the GateStone Institute. . .

“In just two months, from August to October, nearly 200 Christian churches were destroyed in Nigeria by the Islamic organization Boko Haram and its Muslim allies, after their capture of towns and villages in the northeastern states of Borno and Adamawa,” the report said. “In the words of Rev. Gideon Obasogie, the director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State, ‘the group’s seizure of territory in both states has seen 185 churches torched and over 190,000 people displaced by [Boko Haram.]”

Ibrahim noted that, “Also in October, the Center for the Studies of Global Christianity in the United States concluded that, ‘About 100,000 Christians die every year because of their religious beliefs, that is to say one every five minutes. In addition, in many countries, many other religious minorities suffer violence and persecution. In countries such as Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia and Egypt the Christian elderly, women, men and their children live in conditions of total insecurity. They are driven from their homes; put in prison for blasphemy, and brutally killed during liturgical celebrations, churches are burned. Girls are kidnapped and forced to marry.” (Read about the churches destroyed by Boko Haram HERE)

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ISIS Sets Sights on 2,700 Year Old Ancient Nineveh Walls in Iraq

By Mary Chastain. Unnamed sources said the Islamic State leaders told members to set booby traps along the walls. If the Iraqi army attempts to liberate the area, the militants must “complete the bombing of the historic walls.” The walls are attributed to King Sennacherib, who rebuilt the city during his reign beginning in 704 B.C., and consist of a seven and a half mile barrier around the city—presumably to protect it from attack when it served as the capital of ancient Assyria. Nineveh was so important and Sennacherib’s contributions so great that some archaeologists have gone as far as to attribute to him the construction and maintenance of the ancient Hanging Gardens, long believed to be in Babylon.

The Islamic State moved to the Nineveh Plain in early August, “the last stronghold of Assyrians in Iraq.” Over 200,000 Assyrians fled to the Dohuk and Arbel areas.

When militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June, they proceeded to destroy shrines and tombs important to Christians and Muslims because they allegedly “distort Islam” and encourage “worship of others besides God.” They destroyed a shrine to Jonah, the biblical prophet, and Yunus in the Koran. The shrine was built in the eighth century BC. Worshippers believe that the prophet Jonah, most famous for surviving being swallowed by a whale in the Biblical legend, is buried there. Saddam Hussein renovated the shrine, and it remained a popular site for pilgrims. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Saudi Religious Leader Says Pedophilia is OK

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Photo Credit: WND Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s top religious authority in the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam, has ruled it’s acceptable for men to marry girls so young the West would deem it nothing short of pedophilia and rape.

Despite the Saudi justice ministry’s failed efforts to date to set 15 as a minimum age to marry a girl in the kingdom, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz declared there is nothing prohibiting Muslim men from marrying girls even younger.

As Grand Mufti, Abdulaziz is president of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and chairman of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing Fatwas, which means he speaks authoritatively in Islamic teachings.

Grand Mufti Abdulzaiz’s more recent ruling on marrying young girls comes following a similar ruling in 2011 by Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, a prominent cleric and member of the Saudi’s highest religious council, who issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that there is no minimum age to marry girls, “even if they are in the cradle.”

“The ulema have agreed that it is permissible for fathers to marry off their small daughters, even if they are in the cradle,” the edict declared. “But it is not permissible for their husbands to have sex with them unless they are capable of being placed beneath and bearing the weight of the men. And their capability in this regard varies based on their nature and capacity. Aisha was six when she married the prophet, but he had sex with her when she was nine, that is, when she was deemed capable.” (Read more about what the Saudi religious leader says HERE)

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BBC: More Elites Face Underage Sex Allegations, Including UK’s Prince Andrew, Prime Minister

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Photo Credit: BBC
By BBC. [F]or the first time, an unnamed woman alleges she was forced to have sexual relations with Prince Andrew when she was a minor, three times in three different locations. . .

The woman says she was forced to have sexual relations with the prince in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by [billionaire Jeffrey] Epstein.

She also claims she was forced to have sex, when a minor, with prominent lawyer and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. . .

The court document, first reported on by Politico Magazine, alleges: “Epstein also sexually trafficked the then-minor Jane Doe (a name used in US legal proceedings for people with anonymity), making her available for sex to politically connected and financially powerful people.

“Epstein’s purposes in ‘lending’ Jane Doe (along with other young girls) to such powerful people were to ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Underage Sex Trafficker’s “Black Book” Included “A Well-Known Prime Minister,” Many U.S. Politicians

By Christian Gysin. As well as explosive allegations about Prince Andrew, ‘Jane Doe #3’ told the court she was ‘trafficked for sexual purposes’ to a string of other powerful men – including ‘a well-known Prime Minister’.

No clue was given to the identity, but the court documents say Epstein’s ‘lending’ of young girls to prominent international figures – foreign presidents and US politicians and businessmen among them – was to ‘ingratiate’ himself and ‘so that he could potentially blackmail them’. . .

When [Epstein’s “black book”] contents were disclosed three years ago, the book was shown to include contact details for former US President Bill Clinton, ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger, and Barbara Walters, then one of America’s most influential broadcasters.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s details are there, along with entrepreneur Donald Trump, members of the Kennedy family and former prime minister Tony Blair. There is also an entry for Mr Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell – but with a Downing Street number, not his personal mobile phone. . .

It has previously been reported that at varying times President Clinton, Prince Andrew, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, New Mexico’s ex-governor Bill Richardson and the former US treasury secretary Larry Summers had all been passengers on Epstein’s fleet of private jets. (Read more about the underage sex allegations HERE)
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What is the U.S. Federal Lawsuit All About?

By Daily Mail. The multi-millionaire [Jeffrey Epstein] was convicted of sex offences in 2008 after a plea deal which saw him serve 13 months of an 18 month prison sentence.

But two women who say they were abused by him, known as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, said their rights have been violated because they were not consulted before the deal was done and they began suing U.S. prosecutors over their handling of the case six years ago.

Today it was revealed that Jane Doe 3, who has named Prince Andrew, and another woman named as Jane Doe 4, say they have been violated in the same way and want to join the group action. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Politico Explains the Lawsuit’s History

By Josh Gerstein. [P]rosecutors never charged anyone besides the investor [Jeffrey Epstein] with involvement in obtaining or using underaged girls for sexual purposes.

The new court filing says this result is in part due to the fact that Epstein’s legal team—which included such heavyweights as former independent counsel and solicitor general Ken Starr, trial lawyer Roy Black, and Dershowitz—negotiated a deal that precluded the feds charging anyone as a co-conspirator.

Lawyers for Jane Doe #3 argue in the new motion that Dershowitz put this language in the agreement to protect himself. . .

Epstein and his lawyers fought hard to prevent records about his plea negotiations from being turned over to victims’ attorneys. However, U.S. District Court Judge Keith Marra ruled last year that the victims are entitled to examine those records to prepare their case against the government.

Epstein, Black and others appealed that decision to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, but it ruled in April of this year that no privilege protects plea negotiations in this sort of dispute. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Obama Doubles Down: More Sanctions On North Korea After Sony Hack

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Photo Credit: APBy David E. Sanger and Michael S. Schmidt. The Obama administration doubled down on Friday on its allegation that North Korea’s leadership was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures, announcing new, if largely symbolic, economic sanctions against 10 senior North Korean officials and the intelligence agency it said was the source of “many of North Korea’s major cyberoperations.”

The actions were based on an executive order President Obama signed on vacation in Hawaii, as part of what he had promised would be a “proportional response” against the country. But in briefings for reporters, officials said they could not establish that any of the 10 officials had been directly involved in the destruction of much of the studio’s computing infrastructure.

In fact, most seemed linked to the North’s missile and weapons sales. Two are senior North Korean representatives in Iran, a major buyer of North Korean military technology, and five others are representatives in Syria, Russia, China and Namibia. (Read about more sanctions on North Korea HERE)

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Krauthammer: North Korea Already ‘Sanctioned Up the Wazoo’

By Fox News. Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said Friday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that President Obama’s sanctioning of North Korea is “a farce from beginning to end.

“Now I’m not criticizing the administration, because there are no choices,” he said. “North Korea doesn’t have anything, doesn’t do anything, it doesn’t export anything except illegal stuff which is obviously sanctioned. It’s been sanctioned up the wazoo.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Braindead Canadian ISIS Follower Tweets Location of Safe Houses

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Photo Credit: WNDBy Oliver Lane. The terrorist, who changed his name to the more appropriate-sounding ‘Abu Abdul-Rahman’ uploaded a series of tweets during his travels across the Islamic State, updating his twitter following on his progress with ISIS. The Daily Mail reports a Canadian jihad-monitoring group recorded 45 of these tweets containing geo-location data and passed the information on to intelligence agencies.

Describing the blunder, Canadian monitoring group IBRABO said: “It’s a rookie social media mistake and one that intelligence and law enforcement agencies pray for when tracking criminals. This week one of New Zealand’s well known jihadists, Mark Taylor removed 45 tweets after he discovered that he was broadcasting his twitter location to every intelligence agency… Unfortunately for him we captured all of them prior to him removing the tweets”.

“Taylor isn’t the first jihadist to broadcast his whereabouts via social media and in fact looking at the battlefield in Syria we see fighters from Canada, France, and other western countries making the same mistake”. (Read more on the ISIS follower tweets HERE)

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Peshmerga Desperate for US Arms in Battle Against ISIS

By Hollie McKay. Under a gloomy late November sky that dumped cold rain on their frontline fighting position overlooking Mosul Dam, some 16 Peshmerga fighters mustered around a small hut – the only visible means of protection from enemy fire – while others hovered around a small campfire for warmth.

Just hours earlier, the road leading into the Kurdish army’s base was hit by artillery from Islamic State – or “Daesh” as it is known in the Middle East, forcing some closures. But the fighters were calm and collected – sharing jokes and cigarettes ahead of another long and cold night protecting their cherished land in the northern part of this embattled land. . .

Much of the Kurdish population now view the United States of America as their only dependable ally in the ongoing war against the terrorist organization – and their desperation to be supplied with American equipment and weapons remains the eclipsing message.

“The airstrikes are good, but we need weapons,” stressed the official, dismissing the notion that U.S. ground troops are the ultimate answer. “We already have military on the ground, but we’re fighting an enemy that has acquired all the sophisticated U.S. weapons that went to the Iraqis and now ISIS has them. This isn’t a balanced fight.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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UPDATE: 21 More Bodies Have Been Found in AirAsia Plane Crash

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Photo Credit: WSJSearch teams hunting for the wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 have had a breakthrough after discovering two big parts of the aircraft, which crashed into the sea last weekend with 162 people on board, Indonesia’s top search official said on Saturday.

This comes as it was revealed the route taken by the flight flew at a restricted time, the ABC reports.

Just yesterday, recovery teams pulled 21 bodies from the Java Sea but are struggling to locate the plane’s black box recorder.

The total is the largest of the search so far, more than tripling the number of bodies recovered from nine to 30, as dive teams say some were found still strapped into their seats.

The news of further discoveries came as more corpses, including that of an 11-year-old boy, were identified and handed back to their weeping relatives at a police hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia. (Read more about how more bodies have been found in AirAsia plane crash HERE)

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Children in ISIS Describe Atrocious Beheading Lessons

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Photo Credit: AFPBy Joel Himelfarb. Jomah, a 17-year-old child soldier who joined the Islamic State (ISIS) last year, sat in a circle of fellow trainees to learn lessons about the proper way to behead captive enemy soldiers – lessons taught to children as young as 8.

Then, the Wall Street Journal reported, his teachers brought in three terrified Syrian soldiers who were forced to their knees.

“It was like learning to chop an onion,” Jomah said. “You grab him by the forehead and then slowly slice across the neck.”

After the lesson, the teachers ordered the children to pass around the severed heads. Jomah, who later defected to Turkey along with his family, said that by that time, he had become “desensitized” to the horror, partly as a result of the beheading videos he had already been shown.

Hundreds of Syrian boys have been “enrolled” in those Syrian camps during the country’s civil war, now almost four years old. Jomah was one of a handful of these boys recently interviewed in Turkey by the Journal about their experiences as child jihadists. (Read more about the stories of the children in ISIS HERE)

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Parenting Guide Released by ISIS

By Frances Martel. The guide, discovered and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), instructs jihadist mothers to start young, lest the child grow older and less susceptible to a full commitment to the Islamic State. The guide specifically calls for teaching children the importance of waging jihad “while they are babies” because anything older than infancy “may be too late,” as the Daily Mail reports: “Don’t wait until they are seven to start, for it may be too late by then!” The Mail highlights specifically that the guide tells mothers, “Don’t underestimate the lasting effect of what those little ears and eyes take in during the first few years of life!”. . .

The guide does impose one restriction on mothers: children should be clear on “who their target is” when allowed near real guns, and they should be taught with toy guns not to shoot anyone friendly to the cause. (Read more from this story HERE)

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