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• Politics

  Marc Caputo: Not capitalist or Christian, China loves Christmas

  Happy birthday, Jesus!

• McCLATCHY EXCLUSIVE

  U.S. polygraphers questioned accuracy of tests on detainees overseas

  The U.S. military conducted hundreds of polygraph tests on detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan despite doubts about whether innocent civilians could be accurately separated from accused terrorists, documents obtained by McClatchy show.

• Egyptians fill Tahrir Square in largest protest of President Mohammed Morsi

  Tens of thousands of protesters poured into Tahrir Square on Tuesday night to contest what they believe is Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s illegal declaration that his decisions are exempt from judicial oversight, marking the largest protests ever against the newly elected president.
• 

  War court

  Pentagon nixes televised 9/11 trial from Guantánamo

  A surrogate of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday rejected a request by defense lawyers to let media organizations televise the Sept. 11 trial from the war court at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

• Rebels flying black Islamist flag seize artillery base in Syria’s Deir al Zour province

  After a siege that lasted nearly a month, Syrian government soldiers abandoned an artillery base in the town of Mayadin Thursday morning, handing anti-government rebels in southeastern Deir al Zour province a key victory that will allow them to move next to the airport near the provincial capital, one of the last positions the Syrian military controls in the province.

• Israel, Hamas declare cease-fire, promise new talks on Gaza issues within 24 hours

  With last-minute prodding from the United States, Israel and the militant group Hamas agreed Wednesday to a cease-fire, ending eight days of rocket fire and naval and sea bombardment and bringing to a successful end more than a week of halting Egyptian-led talks as the conflict in Gaza teetered on the brink of all-out war.

• McClatchy contributor Austin Tice may be held by Syrians

  Austin Tice, an American freelance journalist covering the civil war in Syria who was last heard from in mid-August, remains unaccounted for and is likely being held by the Syrian government.

• Twitter replaces smuggled video as terrorists’ preferred way to communicate

  In the old days, 10 years ago, jihadists vowed death to Western imperialism on audiotapes that couriers smuggled out of mountain hideouts and passed to satellite TV stations.
• 

  SOUTHCOM

  U.S. soldier killed on humanitarian mission in Guatemala

  A decorated Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan was killed in an apparent freak accident in Guatemala this week when he was struck by a tree limb while making public affairs videos of Southcom humanitarian relief operations, the military said Thursday.

• Pro-bailout party wins in Greece, reassuring a jittery Europe

  Greece’s pro-European New Democracy party finished first in critical parliamentary elections Sunday, making a strong enough showing to form a coalition government and to reassure European partners that Greece will continue repaying its debts.

• Storify: Egypt court’s ruling dissolves parliament

  In a new set back to Egypt’s struggling political process, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolving of the Islamist-led Parliament on Thursday.

• Inmates trapped in blazing Honduran prison say guards shot at them

  Charred bodies of inmates remained in the burned hulk of the Comayagua National Penitentiary on Wednesday night, nearly 24 hours after an inmate apparently set a mattress ablaze and triggered a conflagration that left as many as 350 prisoners dead.

• Navy SEALs rescue 2 held captive in Somalia

  American commandos dropped into Somalia on Tuesday night to rescue two aid workers who were held hostage, including an American, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

• Costa Concordia disaster: Tweets from around the world

  Three bodies were recovered and 69 people are missing after the Costa Concordia ran aground off of Italy late Friday. Read more

• Murder rates around the world

  Interactive map of world murder rates by country

• Extremists' jeers at 8-year-old the last straw for Israelis

  Thousands of Israelis poured into this Jerusalem suburb Tuesday night in a protest against religious extremists who've targeted women and enforced strict division of the sexes in public life.

• Mexico seen as unlikely launching pad for Iranian plot

  The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States has cast Mexico into the news as a potential staging area for a terrorist operation. But experts say the likelihood of such a plot going undetected in Mexico by U.S. authorities is low and that Mexico's drug cartels would be unlikely to become involved.

• Israel, Hamas agree to huge prisoner exchange

  Israeli and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed Tuesday to a vast prisoner exchange that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the largest release ever of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

• As U.S. marks war milestone, Taliban may be lying low

  Ten years after the Afghan war began, President Obama says his strategy has turned the tables on the Taliban and allowed U.S. combat forces to begin withdrawing. But many Afghans counter that the insurgents are merely waiting out the U.S. drawdown, and worry that U.S. policy is turning the clock back to Afghanistan's pre-2001 civil war.

• Awlaki's death deprives al Qaida of key recruiting voice

  The death of U.S.-born Muslim preacher Anwar al Awlaki in a barrage of missiles fired by U.S. drones over Yemen on Friday dealt a sharp blow to Al Qaida's recruiting efforts, but it's likely to do little to crimp the group's ability to carry out attacks.

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