I. POWERLINE - The Real War on Christmas
For the last couple of years we haven't heard much about the "war on Christmas" here on the U.S., for good reason: political correctness is more annoying than threatening. But around the world, there is an actual war on Christmas, which we have seen in the headlines over the past few days. In Nigeria, on Christmas Eve, "[m]ultiple explosions in central Nigeria have killed 32 people and six others died in attacks by Muslim sect members on two churches in the north...." In the Philippines, "[a] bomb exploded during Christmas Day Mass at a chapel inside a police camp..., wounding a priest and 10 churchgoers." In Cyprus, "troops in northern occupied Cyprus entered at least seven Greek Orthodox churches, stopped the worship services, threw out the people, and in at least one case forced a priest to remove his clerical dress." In England, Muslims have mounted a "Christmas is evil" campaign, as shown in this poster (click here to see poster). That's not to mention what is happening in Iraq, where nearly all Christians outside the Kurdish north discreetly refrained from celebrating Christmas this year. In all of these instances, what is going on is a war, not just against Christmas, but against Christians. In this year's Christmas message, Pope Benedict, to his credit, did refer to the persecution of Christians around the world: May the love of "God-with-us" grant perseverance to all those Christian communities enduring discrimination and persecution, and inspire political and religious leaders to be committed to full respect for the religious freedom of all. Benedict singled out China as a persecutor of Christians, but otherwise was discreet as to the source of such persecution. Yet it is not in China where Christians gathering to celebrate Christmas are in danger of being massacred. I continue to be mystified as to why Christians in America and other developed countries are so indifferent to the fate of their fellow Christians overseas.
Turkey's state-run news agency says a court convicted a Palestinian man of having ties to al-Qaida and attempting a plane hijacking and sentenced him and his Turkish accomplice to 27 years and six months in prison. The Anatolia agency says the men were sentenced Tuesday. The two, using a fake bomb, attempted to divert an Atlasjet flight to Iran after it took off from "northern" [occupied] Cyprus in 2007. The pilots instead landed in Antalya, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, on the pretext of refueling and fled the aircraft. The ordeal ended a few hours later with the surrender of the hijackers. Police said the Palestinian suspect had been trained at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan in 2004 and the two wanted to join al-Qaida once they reached Iran.
III. RASMUSSEN - Poll: 73% Fear Terrorists More Than Nuclear Attack
Three-out-of-four U.S. voters (73%) fear a terrorist threat more than a nuclear attack. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 16% believe a potential nuclear attack is a greater threat to the United States. This view is shared across all demographic and partisan lines. Last week, by a 71-26 vote, the Senate ratified a nuclear arms agreement known as the START treaty. Half (49%) of the nation’s voters wanted the Senate to confirm the START agreement even though just 27% believe Russia will honor its terms. However, just 30% were following news on the topic Very Closely. These results come at a time when confidence in the War on Terror is at the lowest level in three years. However, the president earns higher ratings for his handling of national security matters than he does on the economy. Polling conducted in October found that 74% believe it’s at least somewhat likely there will be another terrorist attack in the United States in the next year. That figure includes 35% who see a potential attack as Very Likely. Those expectations, while high, are lower than the expectations in May after the Times Square bombing attempt in New York City and last December, just after a Nigerian Muslim’s attempt to blow up an airliner in Detroit. The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 21-22, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. National security issues have faded in importance to voters over the past several years. Rasmussen Reports tracks the importance of several broad issue clusters on a daily basis and the numbers document a dramatic shift in priorities. On Election Day 2004, when George W. Bush was re-elected, more than 40% of voters rated national security matters as the most important issue and only half that number named the economy as most important. By Election Day 2008, when Barack Obama was elected, the numbers were reversed—more than 40% named the economy as number one and only half as many named national security. Over the past two years, the importance of national security issues to voters has fallen even further. As 2010 draws to a close, 43% name the economy as the top issue, 20% name fiscal policy concerns, 13% say they are most interested in domestic policy issues, and only 11% name national security as their highest priority. At the bottom of the list are cultural issues, of highest importance to only 6%. Barring a major foreign policy event or national security threat, it appears likely that voters will remain more focused on the economic impact of the tax cut proposal deal approved by the lame duck Congress rather than the potential impact of the START treaty. Most voters (52%) favored the tax cut deal at the time it was approved.
IV. NOVINITE - Serbia Accuses UNMIK of Hiding Organ Harvesting in Kosovo
Serbia has filed a claim against UN interim administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) at the International Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia for hiding information about alleged organ harvesting and trafficking. According to information published by Serbian daily Blic, minister Rasim Ljajić has sent a letter to prosecutor Serge Brammertz asking for an investigation of UNMIK 2004-2006 director Søren Jessen-Petersen. "We expect the Criminal Tribunal to start investigations against the UNMIK leadership in that period," said Ljajić to Blic. Last week the Council of Europe adopted a report, drafted by Swiss deputy Dick Marty, and passed by a large 2/3 majority, which argues that PM Hashim Thaci and other Kosovar leaders organized the traffic not only ofweapons and narcotic, but also of human organs, sometimes harevested from involuntary donors. The human rights committee of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution requesting investigation of the matters. Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjørn Jagland has called the information in the report "very serious and concerning" and has requested that the allegations not be left unanswered. A plenary Council of Europe resolution is expected in January. Hashim Thaci has already filed a claim of defamation against Dick Marty. In a recent interview for Serbian paper Novosti, Marty said he suspected various authorities were aware of organ harvesting going on in Kosovo.
V. HAITINEWS - Over 2,700 dead in Haiti from cholera
At least 2,707 people have died in Haiti in the cholera epidemic that has affected the impoverished country since mid-October, according to figures released Monday by the public health ministry. The bulletin said that another 128,251 people have been affected by the disease, of whom 68,764 were hospitalised, though 66,876 of them have since been released from medical care. Cholera, which was eradicated in Haiti until the outbreak in October, has spread to all 10 Haitian provinces, with the hardest hit being the northwestern region of Artibonite, where 813 people have died. Next among the provinces most ravaged by the disease are Nord with 501 dead, Nord-Ouest with 216, Grand'Anse with 149, Nord-Est with 120, Sud-Est with 100, Sud with 93, and Nippes with 44. The epidemic, which has affected 105 people in the neighboring Dominican Republic, appeared for the first time in the central city of Mirebalais. A French medical study said that the outbreak was caused by the dumping of human waste in a river from a camp of Nepalese soldiers, members of the UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti, or Minustah. The epidemic comes as Haiti is still struggling to recover from the Jan 12 earthquake that left roughly 300,000 dead and more than a million people homeless.
VI. JTA - Iranian executed for spying for Israel
Iran executed a man convicted of spying for Israel. Ali-Akbar Siadat was hanged at a prison in Tehran on Tuesday morning, according to the state Iranian news agency IRNA. He had been found guilty of passing information about the country's military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, to the Mossad, Israel's security service. He was arrested in 2008 while trying to leave the country with his wife and with 29 pages of classified information in his possession. Siadat was charged with "supporting the Zionist regime" by meeting Israeli agents over six years in countries such as Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands, according to the charges reported by the IRNA. He was paid between $3,000 and $7,000 for each meeting. How he obtained his information was not reported. On Sunday, another Iranian was sentenced to death for working as a spy for Israel. Iran executed an Iranian telecom salesman convicted of spying for Israel in November 2008.
VII. ARCHAEOLOGY - Top 10 Discoveries of 2010
Decades from now people may remember 2010 for the BP oil spill, the Tea Party, and the iPad. But for our money, it's a lock people will still be excited about the year's most remarkable archaeological discoveries, which we explore (along with one "undiscovery"). This was the year we learned that looters led archaeologists to spectacular and unparalleled royal tombs in both Turkey and Guatemala. An unexpected find brought us closer to Pocahontas, and an underwater archaeological survey in the high Canadian Arctic located the ill-fated HMS Investigator, abandoned in 1853. Archaeologists weren't just busy in the field, though. A number of breakthroughs happened in the lab, too. A new radiocarbon dating technique was perfected this year that will allow scientists to date artifacts without harming them. Laboratory analysis of the bones of a close relative of Lucy revealed how early hominins walked. And anthropologists in Germany announced startling news about the Neanderthal genome that might send you scrambling to submit your own DNA for sequencing. For the third year, we also highlight five threatened sites that remind us of how fragile the archaeological record is. They include an ancient city in Iraq that is eroding into the Tigris and a painted cave in Egypt that's being slowly destroyed by well-meaning tourists. But it's not all bad news out there. One of the most alarming stories this year out of the American Southwest was the news that as part of a cost-cutting measure the Arizona state government closed Homolovi Ruins State Park. The closing raised fears that the park's significant cluster of Ancestral Puebloan villages dating from A.D. 1260 to 1400 would be left more vulnerable to looters. But at press time we learned the Hopi Tribe signed an agreement with the state to reopen the park. An innovative government-tribal partnership will allow the descendants of the people who once lived at Homolovi Ruins to safeguard its future. To see the top 10 list, please click here.