United States ( Come January-Hillary CLINTON Gone? ) Secretary of state

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Reuters/AFP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a news conference with the Croatian president after their meetings at the presidency in Zagreb October 31, 2012. NATO member Croatia will …more join the 27-nation EU next year. REUTERS/Saul Loeb/Pool (CROATIA - Tags: POLITICS) less

Come January, the Obama administration will begin again, and a number of people whose names and faces have grown familiar the past four years will leave the public realm for other livelihoods.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and press secretary Jay Carney are preparing for departure. Many also expect Attorney General Eric Holder to be considering an exit.
Foreign Policy
Clinton's position is perhaps most visible. Her management of the department and leadership of America's global diplomacy have won praise from Republicans and Democrats, and the former New York senator and first lady is thought by many to be the most popular member of Obama's Cabinet.
Foreign policy experts see her departure as leaving a gap, because significant problems remain: Iran's suspected ambitions to develop nuclear weapons; violent civil war in Syria; continued fallout from the "Arab spring"; and continuing conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan among them. New challenges include China's slowing economy, coupled with its increasing aggressive response to territorial disputes.
So whose names are being talked about to take over State?
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has emerged as a favorite. Kerry's major strength is deep and longstanding experience on most vital foreign policy issues; he would also likely win easy confirmation by colleagues. But unlike his predecessor, Kerry may struggle to be welcomed into Obama's inner circle.
Kerry's most-cited rival is Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, who, unlike Kerry, already has "inner circle" credentials. She has worked daily for years alongside diplomats from America's allies and foes. However, her controversial role in explaining the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack to the public could prompt a difficult confirmation process. Some Republican aides are already saying privately she shouldn't get the job.
It's also possible a Republican might come forward. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman worked for Obama as ambassador to China before returning to make a failed bid for the presidency. One senior Republican foreign-policy hand describes his work in Beijing as "superb, top-rate."
There's always a chance of promotion from within, such as Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. But what about an outsider? Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott held Burns' job under President Bill Clinton.
Another possibility: Nick Burns, who managed policy on Iran's nuclear ambitions under President George W. Bush. Burns publicly praised Obama's handling of the issue.

It's not known yet whether Defense Secretary Leon Panetta plans to leave. But if he does, two front-runners are being mentioned for the job: His deputy, Ashton Carter, and Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary at the Pentagon. Another possibility, though somewhat unlikely, might be retired independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Speculation in Washington also suggested Director of National Intelligence James Clapper might be seeking an exit. He hasn't said he will leave, but if he does, Flournoy is a possible replacement. CIA Director David Petraeus was also mentioned, but news on Friday of his resignation of his position due to an extramarital affair will likely take him off the list. Petraeus, in turn, will be replaced by acting director Michael Morell.

MEXICO ( 14 COPS Charged with Attempted murder of CIA agents )

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico charged 14 federal police officers on Friday with the attempted murder of two CIA operatives after the U.S. agents' vehicle was sprayed with bullets in a brazen daylight attack that security officials suspect was ordered by a drug cartel.

The ambush was initially blamed on a case of mistaken identity, but Mexican security sources said the fact that police officers used AK47 assault rifles and were not wearing uniforms suggested a gang-orchestrated hit.

The August incident, in which the CIA operatives tried to escape the hail of semi-automatic gunfire in a dramatic car chase, was a major embarrassment for the government of outgoing President Felipe Calderon, who has staked his reputation on taming the cartels.

The CIA officers' diplomatic vehicle was peppered with 152 bullet holes. Their injuries were not life-threatening and they were quickly moved out of the country.

The attorney general's office said it charged the 14 federal police officers with attempted murder. "We're not discounting any theory, including that they could be involved with organized crime," an official said on condition of anonymity.

The 14 police officers come from the southern Mexico City district of Tlalpan and were already in police custody, the statement said.

Drug cartels often take advantage of low pay for Mexican police to infiltrate their ranks and put officers on the payroll.

"The reputation of our police was already at rock bottom, and this doesn't help one bit," said Maximiliano Moyano, a criminal lawyer who works on police corruption cases.

The incident was the worst attack against U.S. officials in Mexico since drug-gang assailants killed a U.S. immigration agent and wounded his colleague in a highway attack in early 2011.

The August attack took place near the town of Tres Marias on a road south of Mexico City, and came as increased cooperation between U.S. and Mexican forces seemed to be yielding results in Calderon's six-year offensive against the bloody cartels.

MOSCOW ( Fitness Club Manager-Gets 4 yrs in PRISON ) For protesting

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Reuters/Reuters - Opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks during the first meeting of the Russian opposition Coordination Council in Moscow October 27, 2012. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny said on Saturday the jail sentence handed to a protester against President Vladimir Putin highlighted the government's harsh approach to dissent.

Fitness club manager Maxim Luzyanin, the first of 17 people arrested during a protest on the eve of Putin's inauguration in May, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years on Friday for "mass disorder" and violence against the police.

"If earlier there were minor administrative arrests, soft harassment, now - jail time," Navalny, one of the top faces during the past year of protests against Putin's 12-year rule, told the OpenSpace.ru political internet portal.

"The time has passed when they were afraid to jail because they didn't want people to think about '37," the blogger added, referring to Great Purge of the 1937, a year of mass political repressions and murders orchestrated by Joseph Stalin.

Luzyanin, one of the "Bolotnaya 17" detained - named after the square where they protested, was the only member of the group to plead guilty.

Opposition activists say the Bolotnaya case could achieve the notoriety of the Pussy Riot trial, in which three members of the punk band were sentenced to two years in jail after performing an anti-Putin song in Moscow's main cathedral in February.

DUBAI ( Iran said it will DEAL with any DRONE in their Airspace ) Iran flexes small muscles

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said it would deal decisively with any foreign encroachment into its airspace, an apparent warning to the United States after one of its surveillance drones was targeted by Iranian warplanes last week.

On Thursday U.S. officials said the unarmed Predator drone was in international airspace when Iranian warplanes opened fire on it on November 1. The aircraft was not hit.

The intercept was the first time Tehran had fired at an unmanned U.S. aircraft in their 33 year stand-off.

"The defenders of the Islamic Republic will respond decisively to any form of encroachment by air, sea or on the ground," Fars news agency quoted General Massoud Jazayeri, a senior armed forces commander, as saying on Friday.

"If any foreign aircraft attempts to enter our airspace our armed forces will deal with them," he said. Jazayeri did not mention the drone incident specifically.

According to the Pentagon, two Soviet-designed SU-25 aircraft intercepted the Predator drone over Gulf waters about 16 nautical miles off the Iranian coast. After firing at the drone they followed it for several miles as it moved farther away from Iranian airspace.

Washington has issued a formal protest to the Iranian authorities via diplomatic channels.

Details of the incident emerged ahead of large-scale air defense drills due to start across several provinces in eastern Iran this week.

The "Velayat 4" maneuvers will be jointly held by the regular armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and will involve testing new radar and surveillance equipment, military commanders say.

TUCSON Az ( Bank ROBBER - Whataburger employee Robbed wells fargo BANK ? ) Wanted

Tucson police are looking for a man in a Whataburger uniform who robbed a Wells Fargo Bank on Wednesday.

The bank, inside the Fry’s store at 4036 N. First Avenue, was robbed just before 5 p.m.
The man entered the bank and presented a robbery note to the teller demanding money and threatening harm. He left with an undisclosed amount of money.

The man is described as being in his mid-20s, about 5-feet, 7-inches tall, 160 pounds with a goatee. He wore black-frame glasses and had braces on his teeth.
He was wearing a Whataburger work uniform, including a baseball hat, orange shirt and tan pants.
Anyone with information can call 911 or 88-CRIME.

IRAN ( 2 Iranian Su-25 fighter Jets FIRE at U.S DRONE ) International airspace

DOD File

WASHINGTON (CNN) -

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned.

The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes.

The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance.

TUCSON Az ( Home Invasion 9 yr old boy and 2 others WANTED ) Oro Valley

Posted: Nov 07, 2012 8:57 PM PSTUpdated: Nov 8, 2012 07:04 AM MST

Posted by Elizabeth Walton - email

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Oro Valley Police are asking for the publics help in looking for three suspects involved in the home invasion of an elderly woman last night.

The incident happened on the 11000 block of North Meadow Sage, an elderly woman answered her door to a young boy who asked to use the phone. When she opened the door to let him in two other suspects entered the house, holding weapons. The elderly homeowner was tied up as the three suspects stole items from the house.

They fled in an unknown direction, there was no vehicle seen or heard in the area around the time of the invasion. An aerial DPS unit was called in, but the suspects were not found.

The three suspects are described as the following:

• a white male, between 9 to 10 years old, wearing light blue jeans.
• a white male between 16 to 18 years old, wearing blue jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt, he was also wearing diamond earrings.
• a white female between 16 to 18 years old, also wearing blue jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt.

UPDATE  : SUSPECTS  IN CUSTODY

 

ORO VALLEY, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Three adults and one minor were arrested in connection with an Oro Valley home invasion that occurred Wednesday.

Three people forced their way into a home near La Canada and Naranja at gunpoint.

This arrest happened because of a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle. A total of four suspects, three adults and one minor were taken into custody.

The driver of the vehicle stopped today was identified as Wellington Marin, 40. He is believed to be the driver during the original incident Wednesday.

Also in the car was Jacqueline Michelle Carlson, 37, and 18-year-old Anthony Kane White-Giordano and a 13-year-old boy, who is not believed to be related to any of the other suspects.

According to police, Marin knew the victim and planned the robbery.

He drove the suspects to the area and lured the victim to answer the door by having the 13-year-old ask to borrow the phone.

All four suspects entered the residence where the victim was tied up, choked and held at gun point. After the suspects took jewelry and money they fled the scene.

 

 

 

If anyone has any information about the suspects or the incident they are asked to call 9-1-1 or 88-CRIME, or the Oro Valley Police at (520)229-4900.