Thursday, June 16, 2011

06/16/11

* Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed as al-Qaeda leader The long-serving second-in-command of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been appointed its head following the death of Osama Bin Laden, the militant organization said in a statement.

* Russia, China warn West against Arab interference Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world.

* Possible Al-Qaida Hit List Targets Specific Americans An al-Qaida-linked website has posted a potential hit list of targets that include names and photos of several U.S. officials and business leaders.

* Mufti of Lebanon: Palestinians are 'trash', not welcome The mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, was quoted this week as saying that Palestinians are no longer welcome in his country.

* Photo gallery: Lunar eclipse seen round the world Spectators in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia enjoyed the longest lunar eclipse in over a decade and photographers took stunning photos.

* Circumcision Ban Fight Turns Ugly with Anti-Semitic Comics The controversy on banning circumcision in San Francisco moved on to stereotypic anti-Semitism as a promoter of the ban distributed a technologically modern, but all-too reminiscent of medieval, Nazi and Tsarist Jew-hatred, comic.

* Jordan's king: Mideast peace prospects in 2011 slim King Abdulla II of Jordan is fairly pessimistic about the chances to see the Israeli-Palestinian peace process come to fruition in 2011.

* China military paper urges steps against U.S. cyber war threat China must boost its cyber-warfare strength to counter a Pentagon push.

* Egypt's al-Karama party wants to cancel peace treaty with Israel The Egyptian al-Karama party, whose leader plans to run in the upcoming presidential elections, has said the cancellation of the Camp David Accords is its top priority.

* IDF Practices for Next Flotilla The IDF has released video showing some of the preparations for the next flotillas expected to try and break through Israel's naval blockade.