Christians arrested on Christmas Day in Iran: Report

Nine Christians were arrested in a house church in Iran on Christmas day and transferred to an unknown location, according to reports.

Members of Basij paramilitary force and armed plainclothes agent raided the house in the city of Roudehen in Tehran province.

Mehdi Kian, Ali Sadraddin, Mohammad Kazemi, Azin Faroudi, Mohammad Hossein Moridian, Maryam Narimani, Alireza Nasiri, Brother Matin are among those arrested.

The clerical regime in Iran continued human rights abuses in Iran during Christmas.

At dawn of the 25th December, on Christmas day when hundred of millions of people around the world were celebrating the birth of the Christ, the barbaric regime of Iran hanged 7 people in mass execution in Shiraz.

In a message on Wednesday, December 25, on the occasion of Christmas, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, called the clerical regime masking itself by Islam as the most ruthless enemy of Christ and Mohammad that in the name of religion they splash acid on the eyes of women, hang the youth, imprison the newly Christian converts, and violate their most rudimentary rights.

They are henchmen that execute and torture people for their religious beliefs, especially for following the true message of Mohammad and Christ, and impose the worst discriminations and atrocities.

Iranian regime expands military presence in Iraq: Report

The Iranian regime’s military involvement has dramatically increased in Iraq over the past year, the Washington Post reported citing U.S., Iraqi and Iranian sources.

A senior Iranian cleric with close ties to Tehran’s leadership, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, said that since the Islamic State’s capture of much of northern Iraq in June, Iran has sent more than 1,000 military advisers to Iraq, as well as elite units, and has conducted airstrikes and spent more than $1 billion on military aid.

The Washington Post report adds: “While the departure of U.S. troops in 2011 provided space for Iran to expand its influence in Iraq, Tehran’s support for paramilitary groups has intensified since the appearance of the Sunni militant group.”

Reports of abuses by Shiite militiamen have increased in recent months, raising fears that militia death squads that helped fuel past sectarian violence are on the march.

American officials are also watching to see whether Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has the political clout to hold his unity government together and keep paramilitary forces in check.

The report by the Washington Post comes days after the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement that there are currently thousands of Iranian Revolutionary Guards stationed in a number of Iraqi cities to help Tehran regime to compensate its loss in Iraq after the ouster of former Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The guards that are estimated to be over 7000 are stationed in Baghdad, Diyala and Salah ad-Din provinces and the cities of Samarra, Karbala, Najaf, Khaneqain, Sa’adiyah and Jaloula. They include commanders and experts that accompany the militias in various areas of Iraq, the statement said.

FBI investigates alleged kidnapping of Border Patrol agent by Mexican drug cartel

A Texas police department near the border received a phone call on Friday claiming a U.S. Border Patrol agent was kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the claim — even though U.S. Customs and Border Protection said none of its 3,100 Border Patrol agents are missing, Reuters reported.

“Until we rule it out, we treat it as a true kidnapping,” said FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee, Reuters reported.

Chris Cabrera, a representative with the National Border Patrol Council, told Reuters that an officer not assigned to the Rio Grande Valley sector may have been targeted in an attack.

Mr. Cabrera added that Mexican cartel members have not been successful in carrying out attempts to kidnap U.S. Border Patrol agents in the past.

 

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Iran: Smart filtering does not mean lifting ban on blocked websites

Implementing ‘Smart filtering’ system does not mean that ban on already blocked websites and social networks will be removed, the government of Hassan Rouhani’s Communications and Information technology minister has said.

Mahmoud Vaezi said on Saturday that the ban on “the already blocked web sites such as Facebook and Youtube” will not be lifted.

The regime in Iran which has set up one of the strictest controls on Internet access in the world, and has blocked hundreds of thousands of websites and social networks.

Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are routinely bypassed by tech-savvy Iranians using VPN software which disguises the physical location of Internet users. This is despite the fact that the authorities have arrested sellers and users of VPN software.

Deputy Information and Communication Technology Minister Nasrullah Jahangardi said on November 10: "The identity of everyone accessing a network must be known and anonymous users will be blocked.

"Only those having a clear identity will be allowed to use the Internet or access mobile networks. And this will be done when the transition from the IPV4 to IPV6 network is accomplished in Iran."

According to a report by Iran News Update, regime officials may be hoping that limited access to some websites will give citizens less incentive to circumvent outright bans. Alternatively, the regime may see this as an opportunity to more plausibly deny the observations of human rights groups and foreign politicians regarding Iran’s limits on free speech.

A survey by Iranian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports indicates that 69.3 percent of the country's young generation use proxy servers to by-pass the filters and access the banned Internet websites. According to one survey some four million Iranians are using Facebook.

Clerk shot in Scottsdale drug store robbery - Suspect In custody

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Scottsdale police say a man who allegedly shot a Walgreens worker during a Christmas Day robbery is in custody.

Police say 21-year-old Cody Ray Moore was arrested Thursday in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community after he crashed his vehicle.

They say Moore went to the Walgreens store around 4 p.m. and shot the employee while committing robbery.

He then fled in a vehicle with police in pursuit.

Police say Moore failed to negotiate a turn at Thomas Road and the 101 Freeway and struck a utility pole.

He was apprehended and police say Moore is being held on suspicion of armed robbery, aggravated assault and felony flight.

It was unclear Friday if he has a lawyer yet.

Police say Moore is recovering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Syrian boy found dead in south Lebanon home

SIDON, Lebanon: A 12-year-old Syrian boy was found dead in his house in south Lebanon Saturday, a security source told The Daily Star.

The boy, Mohammad Othman Mohammad, was found lying on the ground with a belt hanging from a ceiling and a shopping cart near him in the border village of Marwahin in the Tyre district. The source said it wasn't clear exactly how the boy had died.

Investigators summoned the father of the boy and later detained him over a warrant for his arrest on theft charges.

Security forces are looking into the circumstances behind the incident, the source said, adding that the boy was buried in the town.

- See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Dec-27/282387-syrian-boy-found-dead-in-south-lebanon-home.ashx#sthash.BLeyixxD.dpuf