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United States

Madoff Scammed Sister, Sondra Wiener, Out Of Millions: Report The Ponzi schemer scammed millions from his sister, who is now desperately selling her Florida home, sources told The Post.

Speedy trial issue lands before US Supreme Court (AP) After he was charged with hitting his girlfriend in the face, career criminal Michael Brillon sat in jail without bail for nearly three years, going through six public defenders before being tried for assault.

Recession may fuel hate groups Discontent with economy and Obama could drive extremist recruits.

Defense Spending As 'Stimulus'? Pentagon's budget won't see cuts soon, even if Iraq war starts to wind down.

Politics

House Passes 2 Measures on Job Bias Taking aim at a Supreme Court ruling, the House voted to give women new tools against pay inequity.

Blagojevich to fight impeachment The scandal-hit Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, vows to fight on after being impeached by state lawmakers.

Obama and Mexico's Calderon to talk drug war, trade Battling with spiraling drug murders and an economic crisis, Mexico's Felipe Calderon will urge U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday to support his drug war and stick to the NAFTA trade deal.

Looking to Obama to Bring Logic to Food Safety The division of labor between the Agriculture Department and F.D.A. creates internal squabbling and some bizarre situations.

Obama Wants Stricter Bailout Guildelines

Public Servant’s Private Stint at Issue Republicans plan to press Eric Holder, the attorney general nominee, about his past work as a high-priced Washington lawyer.

Obama not ruling out prosecution of Bush officials for crimes in ...
  Barack Obama said on Sunday that he is "evaluating" whether or not to investigate potential crimes of the Bush administration, but that he was inclined to "look forward as opposed to looking backwards."

Iraq

Security developments in Iraq, Jan 11

Kurdish leader sees authoritarian drift in Iraq Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish semiautonomous region, says moves by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki threaten the nation's unity and have raised concerns among the Kurdish minority.

Three Policemen Shot Dead In Northern Iraq - Police, Military  Three Iraqi policemen were shot dead in an attack on a guard post in the restive northern city of Mosul Sunday, police and the U.S. military said.

Iraq Resumes Its Crude Oil Exports Through Turkey This Week  A source in the marine shipping office stated on Monday that Iraq has resumed exports of Kirkuk crude oil through the northern pipeline to Turkey this week.

Petreaus says more Iraq withdrawals soon

Iranian group to stay in Iraq  Iraq's government has promised not to forcibly evict an Iranian opposition group, the U.S. ambassador said in a broadcast interview aired Saturday, despite warnings from the prime minister that its members will not be allowed to remain in the country.

Senior Sunni Insurgent Captured in Iraq The Iraqi military says a senior insurgent commander accused of several bombings and assassinations has been captured in Baghdad.

Round-up of Daily Violence in Iraq

Iraq backs down from election code requirement

Middle East

IDF says 15 Hamas gunmen killed in Gaza; five IDF soldiers wounded on Saturday  Israel pressed on with a punishing Gaza offensive and Hamas fired more rockets into the western Negev on Saturday in a two-week-old war that defied international efforts to stop it

Yemen frees bin Laden driver after jail term ends Yemen has freed Osama bin Laden's former driver after he served out his prison term following his return home from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in November, his lawyer said

Iran Moved Billions via U.S. Banks Authorities suspect some of the money may have been used to finance Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. on Sunday.

Iraqis Delay Vote on Speaker; Militant Is Caught The Iraqi Parliament delayed the selection of a new speaker on Sunday as Sunni lawmakers squabbled over which Sunni faction should get the post

Defense officials: IDF likely to expand Gaza op Defense officials cite bid to pressure Cairo to stop weapons smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula.

Gunshots fired from Syria at Israelis in Golan Heights Nobody hurt; IDF: Gunman acted alone, likely Palestinian terrorist, not related to Syrian army; Israel files complaint with UN observers in Syria.

Israel's Gaza war extends into psychological realm (AP) At first it didn't seem unusual when the faces of the Hamas leadership turned up on the group's TV network. But then they were shot down, one by one, while a message warned that Hamas' time was running out

Turkey probes massacre petition Prosecutors in Turkey open an investigation against the authors of an online apology for the Armenian massacres.

Turkey coup plot arrests now at more than 100 A Turkish court formally arrested 14 more people Sunday for ties to an alleged secularist plot by ultranationalists to bring down the Islamic-rooted government, bringing the total of people involved in the case to more than 100.

Weapons Cache Unearthed in Turkish Coup Plot

The false symmetry of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 Most Israelis regard UN Security Council Resolution 1860 on the Gaza Conflict as a troubling development. It fails to mention the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit who has been in Hamas captivity since 2006. The word "rocket" does not even appear, only general references to condemning "violence and hostilities directed against civilians." Reading the resolution, one would not be aware that Israel has been under constant rocket attacks since 2001, the real background to the current conflict.

Israeli bombs wound 4 Egyptians Two children, aged two and five, among those injured along border.

Rocket hits Ashdod kindergarten None wounded as building empty; Sderot, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Netivot, Eshkol regions also hit.

Afghanistan

FBI agent served with pride in Kabul But Agent Killeen, a supervisory agent and 14-year veteran of the Pittsburgh office, would gladly return to the Afghan capital, where he spent nearly five months investigating war profiteering as part of the International Contract Corruption Task Force.

U.S. finds Iraq tactics don't work in Afghan war On a sunset patrol here in late December, U.S. Marines spotted a Taliban unit trying to steal Afghan police vehicles at a checkpoint. In a flash, the Marines turned to pursue, driving off the main road and toward the gunfire coming from the mountain a half mile away.

US Congressmen recommend double the size of Afghan army, police the Afghan police and army are much smaller than their counterparts in Iraq,, Congressman Mark Kirk said on the floor of the House of Representatives the other day: "We need to double the size of Afghanistan‘s police and army so that they can take this mission from NATO and so that we can wind up our own effort.

Group of kidnappers arrested in Farah province in Afghanistan

Pakistan

Taliban targeted two police vehicles Taliban claims to have destroyed one police vehicle and killed one police officer in their attack in Zardalo village, Qarabagh district of Ghazni.

'Pak deploys additional troops along Indo-Pak border' Pakistan has deployed several army brigades along Indo-Pak border in Jehlum-Chenab and Chenab-Ravi corridors in the recent days, sparking concern in the Indian armed forces, defence sources said here today

Militants attack Pakistan military outpost Hundreds of militants, believed to be foreign fighters, launched attacks on various military check posts in Pakistan's border with Afghanistan Saturday night and early Sunday morning, military officials said.

Pakistan: secular or Islamic?

Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline talks collapse

Pakistan releasing several dreaded terrorists: Report  Reports indicate that Pakistani is releasing a large number of dreaded terrorists of al -Qaeda and Taliban.

Taliban running parallel courts in Swat The Taliban are running parallel courts in several areas of Swat district to provide what they call ‘speedy and easy justice’

Taliban murders a traditional dancing girl in Pakistan as its power grows in region  slumped on the ground in the centre of Mingora's Green Square, strewn with money, CD recordings of her performances and photographs from her albums.

Pakistan and its nuclear weapons loom large over Obama administration

Pakistan extends detention of Lashkar founder: official

'Terrorists released in Pak due to lack of evidence'

Asia

Man with alleged ISI (Pakistani Intelligence Agency) link arrested in India  A suspected Inter-Services Intelligence agent was arrested here on Saturday with sensitive documents containing vital information on Army units based in northern India

Japan gives 21 mln dlrs to secure Khmer Rouge trial The future of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trial is secure after Japan's foreign minister pledged funding of 21 million dollars during his visit Sunday, a Japanese official said.

Europe

Politkovskaya murder trial adjourned until Jan. 19 Politkovskaya, who gained international recognition for her reports of military atrocities against civilians in the troubled Caucasus republic of Chechnya, was gunned down in an elevator in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006, in what police described as a contract killing.

Russia gas deal collapses (AFP) An EU-brokered accord on terms for Russia to resume gas supply to Europe collapsed Sunday when Russia accused Ukraine of secretly altering the deal and declared it null and void.

Africa