Death of a Dictator: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died

His son, Kim Jong-Un, is set to take over the reigns of the North Korean regime, one who may be even less stable than his father. To prove his readiness as leader, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’ll try to provoke some sort of crisis on the Korean peninsula in the coming days, especially if word reaches him that there are South Koreans who are jubilant over the news of his father’s death. Unsurprisingly, it is now being reported that South Korea’s military has been put on alert as a precaution …

Update: North Korea Declares Kim Jong Un ‘Supreme Leader’ as Memorial for Kim Jong Il Begins – “North Korea’s power brokers declared Kim Jong Un the supreme leader at a massive public memorial for his father Kim Jong Il, cementing the Kim family’s hold on power for another generation. The son, dubbed North Korea’s Great Successor, stood with his head bowed and somber in a dark overcoat on a balcony at the Grand People’s Study House overlooking Kim Il Sung Square and watched the memorial that doubled as a show of support for his burgeoning role as leader.” Read more.

“PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader, has died of heart failure. He was 69.

In a ‘special broadcast’ Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim died of a heart ailment on a train due to a ‘great mental and physical strain’ on Dec. 17 during a ‘high intensity field inspection.’ It said an autopsy was done on Dec. 18 and ‘fully confirmed’ the diagnosis.

Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. The communist country’s ‘Dear Leader’ – reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine – was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.

‘It is the biggest loss for the party … and it is our people and nation’s biggest sadness,’ an anchorwoman clad in black Korean traditional dress said in a voice choked with tears. She said the nation must ‘change our sadness to strength and overcome our difficulties.'” Read more.

South Korean military declares emergency alert after Kim Jong-il’s death – “South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Monday placed all military units on emergency alert following the news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death. The JCS said it called an emergency meeting of officials handling crisis management and operations just after noon Monday, after the North Korean media reported Kim’s death. The JCS said it has increased its monitoring activities along the border along with the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. No unusual activity had been observed from the North, officials said.” Source – Yonhap News Agency.

Flashback: North Korea confirms Kim Jong-il’s son will take over as leader – “A senior North Korean official confirmed today that Kim Jong-il’s youngest son will succeed him as the next leader of the reclusive communist nation. In the first public confirmation of the succession plan, Yang Hyong-sop referred to Kim Jong-un as ‘the young general’ during an interview with Associated Press Television News. Yang said the nation’s people were honoured to serve him as their leader.” Read more.

Muslims Driving Out Christians from Gaza and the West Bank

Zephaniah 2:1-5, “Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger. Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted. Woe to you who live by the sea, O Kerethite people; the word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines. ‘I will destroy you, and none will be left.'”

“The disputed territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and in more recent years, in part, by Hamas. Under these regimes, the resident Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses including intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycott, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion.

‘Muslims who have converted to Christianity are the ones in the greatest in danger. They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim fundamentalists. PA and Hamas officials are directly responsible for many of the human rights violations. Christian Arabs also fall victim to the semi-anarchy that typifies PA rule.’

Justus Reid Weiner is an international human rights lawyer and a member of the Israel and New York Bar Associations. His professional publications have appeared in leading law journals and intellectual magazines. Weiner lectures widely abroad and in Israel and teaches international law and business courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In Weiner’s view, the crimes committed against Christian Arabs result from a way of thinking that dates back to the earliest days of Islam. ‘Traditionally, Christians and Jews were given an inferior social status known as dhimmitude in Islam. To this day, Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are influenced by the concepts and prejudices that dhimmitude has spawned in Islamic society. The widespread persecution of Christians in various Muslim dominated lands brings many proofs of this.[1]’

‘Israel is the only exception in the Middle East where the Christian population since 1948 has increased. It has risen by more than 400 percent. This also includes non-Arab Christians, such as Russian Christians who have moved to Israel as spouses of Jews.’

‘As dhimmis, Christians living in Palestinian-controlled territories are subjected to debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious restrictions. Muslim groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a culture of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. Moreover, the PA has adopted Islamic law into its draft constitution.'” Read more.

Iraq: Muslim School Teachers Accused of Instigating Youth Against Churches, Christians, and Christian-Owned Businesses

By SULAIMAN ALIKHAN and KAWAR BARWARI – “DUHOK, Iraqi Kurdistan — Fahmi Yusef Mansour is the owner of Iraq’s biggest beer supply in the village of Seji near Duhok city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mansour’s beer storage was stormed and torched by an angry mob during the riots in the province earlier this month.

Following Friday sermons people in the cit of Zakho attacked liquor stores, massage parlors and hotels.

Mansour, a Christian, said he had received messages threatening to burn down his business. He said he had informed the local mayor and security officials about the threats, but was reassured that nothing would happen.

‘We also did not expect anything to happen because this is a Christian place and there are no Muslims,’ Mansour told Rudaw.

Mansour was in Dohuk the day his store was attacked. He rushed back and tried to protect his business with the help of some relatives carrying guns. According to Mansour around 2,000 people, the majority of them teenagers had attacked his beer storage.

Mansour believes some school teachers are responsible for instigating the young people against Christians.

‘Many teachers encourage student to oppose Christians and their places of worship,’ he said, adding that a number of teenage students had thrown stones at the local church.

Two students detained by the security forces have allegedly confessed that their teacher had

Oklahoma: Police, Federal Agents Raid Muslim-Owned Car Dealership in Tulsa Tied to Terrorist Money Laundering

And this is just one of 30 different dealerships across the US suspected of supporting the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah. Although it is unclear if others are also Muslim-owned, it’s just a matter of time now before CAIR and their leftist enablers decry local and federal law enforcement as power-hungry ‘Islamophobes’ looking for a scapegoat …

“TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa police and federal agents are searching a car dealership in midtown for evidence of ties to an alleged money laundering scheme which funnels funds to Hezbollah terrorists.

KRMG has confirmed that police and agents raided the Ace Auto Mart business located at 5717 E. 11th St. in Tulsa, as well as the home of the business owner.

We have identified that owner as Mohammad Soukieh. His home is located in the 10500 block of S. Sandusky Ave. in Tulsa.

The searches were related to a civil lawsuit filed in the federal Southern District of New York by Asst. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Read the filing here.

The suit alleges a massive money-laundering scheme centered around a Lebanese bank which the feds say funnelled a total of nearly $250 million to Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization.

In a press release, Bharara wrote that this was a ‘massive, international scheme in which Lebanese financial institutions, including a bank and two exchange houses linked to Hizballah, used the U.S. financial system to launder narcotics trafficking and other criminal proceeds through West Africa and back into Lebanon.

‘As part of the scheme, funds were wired from Lebanon to the United States to buy used cars, which were then transported to West Africa. Cash from the sale of the cars, along with proceeds of narcotics trafficking, were then funneled to Lebanon through Hizballah controlled money laundering channels.

Substantial portions of the cash were paid to Hizballah, which the U.S. Department of State designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997.'” Read more.

Nigeria on Alert After Islamists Post Pamphlets Threatening to Bomb ‘Churches and Other Areas’

“Jos – Pamphlets threatening bombings of churches and other areas have been posted in the Nigerian city of Jos, where Christmas Eve 2010 attacks and reprisals killed dozens, authorities said on Friday.

A number of flyers were found on the ground in the city, which has long been hit by waves of clashes between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups that have left thousands dead.

The pamphlet signed by someone named Idris Musa and written in poor English listed some 21 targets in the planned attacks.

‘We entire Muslim of Plateau State will never give up until we have our right … Nothing can stop us from bombing these areas before December 26 2011,’ said the flyer seen by AFP.

Jos is the capital of Plateau state, located in central Nigeria.

A spokesperson for a military task force in Plateau said authorities were taking the threats seriously.

‘There is a pamphlet in circulation threatening to attack some targets, including churches, private businesses and government institutions in Jos between now and December 26,’ Charles Okeocha told AFP.

‘As security agents, we are not taking the threat lightly. We have beefed up security to avoid any unpleasant situations.’

Jos lies in the middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south of Africa’s most populous nation.

Dozens were killed last year on Christmas Eve in Jos in multiple bomb attacks claimed by the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram as well as in subsequent clashes.” Read more.

Australia: ‘Sea of Dead Fish’ at Buffalo Creek Blamed on Too Much Rain

By ELLIE TURNER – “RAW sewage was the first suspect in the hunt for the killer.

But authorities say a sea of dead fish that yesterday scared hook-wielding locals at Buffalo Creek was probably the result of too much rain.

The NT News was alerted to the demise of hundreds of small water dwellers like salmon, white bait and mullet.

Nightcliff resident Peter Clipsy said he was leaving a nearby inlet when he saw the pontoon of death.

‘There are masses,’ he said.

‘The place is usually busy with fishermen – today there was nobody.’

But NT Amateur Fishermen’s Association chief Chris Makepeace said the ‘fish kill’ often came with the first big rains of the Wet when fresh water flushed out oxygen.

‘In billabongs there can be thousands of dead fish – big ones like barra.

‘Here is sounds like just the smaller fish were affected.

‘The storms are stirring up the water – there’s heaps of rain coming off banks and depending what’s happening in creek it can reduce the oxygen level.’

He said it looked bad but was only nature’s wicked way.

‘Some people say it’s the sewage that gets pumped in there but I don’t think we can blame it this time.

‘It’s a fish’s life.'” Source – NT News.

‘Unprecedented’: Saudi Security Forces Raid Christian Prayer Meeting in Jeddah and Arrest 42 Christians, Many Beaten and Threatened with Death

Sura 9:123, “O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty.”

“Washington, D.C. (December 17, 2011) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Saudi security forces arrested 42 Ethiopian Christians at a prayer gathering in Jeddah on Thursday. The location of the detained Christians is unknown.

On December 15, Saudi police and security officers raided an evening prayer meeting at the home of an Ethiopian Christian in the Al-Safa district of Jeddah. Those attending the service were reportedly beaten and threatened before being arrested.

‘Security officials broke [into] the house and captured… beat and threatened them for death… They divided the men and the women and they are torturing them [in prison],’ an Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian immigrant community living in Europe wrote in a desperate appeal for help to the ambassadors of European embassies in Riyadh on Friday.

‘Saudi Arabian officials have arrested Christians in the past but it is unprecedented for them to arrest 42 Christians at one time,’ a church leader in Jeddah, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told ICC. ‘We are particularly concerned about the children of the detained Christians.’

Two Ethiopian fellowships in Saudi Arabia informed ICC that they will temporarily postpone services until the situation calms. Christians in Saudi Arabia, most of who enter the country as foreign workers, are not allowed to practice their faith openly. Saudi police have been known to raid private worship gatherings in homes, arrest and deport congregants, and confiscate Christian materials, including Bibles.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, ‘Though not permitting a single church building where Christians can worship in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government goes even further to assault the religious freedoms of its citizens and foreign workers by hunting for and arresting Christians who attend services in the privacy of their own homes. As a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture, we urge Saudi Arabia to end the abuse that the Ethiopian Christians have reportedly suffered in prison and to ensure their immediate release.'” Source – Persecution.org.

Philippines: At Least 652 Dead, 800+ Missing After Tropical Storm Displaces at Least 100,000 People

“MANILA, Philippines – As a storm that killed more than 650 in the southern Philippines raged outside the store where she works, Amor Limbago worriedly called home to check on her parents, but their cellphones just kept ringing and later went dead.

Limbago, 21, rushed home as soon as the flash floods receded and confirmed her worst fear: Her parents and seven other relatives were gone, swept away from their hut by the river. They had eagerly planned a small Christmas dinner in that hut just days earlier.

‘I returned and saw that our house was completely gone,’ a weeping Limbago told The Associated Press from Cagayan de Oro city. ‘There was nothing but mud all over and knee-deep floodwaters.’

Tropical Storm Washi blew away Sunday after devastating a wide swath of the mountainous region on Mindanao island, which is unaccustomed to major storms.

Most of the victims were asleep Friday night when flash floods cascaded down mountain slopes with logs and uprooted trees, swelling rivers and killing at least 652 people. The late-season tropical storm turned the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan into muddy wastelands filled with overturned cars and broken trees.

Most of the dead were children and women, Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said. At least 808 others were still missing, mostly in the two cities, she said.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and top military officials flew to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to help oversee search-and-rescue efforts and deal with thousands of displaced villagers. Among the items urgently needed are coffins and body bags, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s disaster-response agency.

‘It’s overwhelming. We didn’t expect these many dead,’ said Ramos, adding that authorities were continuing to find bodies floating at sea.

Although the disaster-prone Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms annually, the devastation shocked many, coming close to Christmas — the predominantly Roman Catholic nation’s most-awaited time for family reunions. Army officials in the south said they canceled Christmas parties and would donate the food to homeless survivors.” Read more.

UNICEF: Number of Children in Sahel Countries Threatened by Famine to Double in 2012

Luke 21:9-11, “‘When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.’ Then he said to them: ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven…'”

“A million children living in the Sahel countries are at risk of famine or dramatic malnutrition in 2012. This is two times more than today, warned the United Nations Fund for Children.

Famine threatens children in Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mauritania and Mali and the northern territories of Nigeria and Cameroon, said David Gressly, regional director of UNICEF responsible for the countries in West and Central Africa. In 2011 in the region half a million children suffered from extreme malnutrition.

In the Sahel countries, a drought caused lack of water in the tanks, its levels also decreased in the rivers. This seriously threatens the crops and livestock , AFP writes.

‘This children’s crisis is going to be immensely challenging. We do not issue such warnings lightly, but the scale demands an appropriate response that needs to start now’, said David Gressley.

Sahel is a region stretching along the southern edge of the Sahara and the northern edge of the Sudan from Senegal to Somalia, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Eritrea.” Source – GreenFudge.org.

Texas: Worst Drought in State History Responsible for Largest-Ever One-Year Decline in Cattle Herd

By BETSY BLANEY – “LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) – The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong.

Since Jan. 1, the number of cows in Texas has dropped by about 600,000, a 12 percent decline from the roughly 5 million cows the state had at the beginning of the year, said David Anderson, who monitors beef markets for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. That’s likely the largest drop in the number of cows any state has ever seen, though Texas had a larger percentage decline from 1934 to 1935, when ranchers were reeling from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, Anderson said.

Anderson said many cows were moved ‘somewhere there’s grass,’ but lots of others were slaughtered. He said that in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas, about 200,000 more cattle were slaughtered this year, a 20 percent increase over last year.

That extra supply could help meet increased demand from China and other countries, but the loss of cows likely will mean fewer cattle in future years.

‘Consumers are going to pay more because we’re going to have less beef,’ Anderson said. ‘Fewer cows, calves, less beef production and increasing exports.’

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that beef prices will increase up to 5.5 in 2012, in part because the number of cattle has declined. That follows a 9 percent increase in beef prices in the past year.

Oklahoma, the nation’s second-largest cattle producer, also saw about a 12 percent drop in cows, Oklahoma State University agriculture economist Derrell Peel said.

Anderson said beef production nationally will be down 4 percent next year.

In Texas, the problem is primarily due to the worst single-year drought in the state’s history. From January through November the state got just 46 percent of its normal rainfall of about 26 inches.” Read more.