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MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) - Syria’s Interior Minister, Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar arrived in Lebanon for a medical treatment a week after a series of explosions near the building of his ministry, Al Arabiya reported.

Al-Shaar was taken to the American University Hospital in Beirut but his health condition remain unclear with some sources saying that he sustained a light shoulder injury, while Syrian rebels claim that he was seriously wounded.

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Syrian minister in Lebanon for treatment after bombing -- Reuters
Syrian minister seriously injured after bombing -- CBS/AP
Syrian Interior Minister at AUBMC -- Daily Star
Injured Syrian minister in Beirut for treatment: Lebanon -- Gulf News/AFP
Syrian Interior Minister hospitalized in Beirut -- Voice of Russia
AUH doctor: Syrian minister suffers from burns, shrapnel -- Ya Liban

My Comment: His injuries must be serious .... after-all .... if they were not, why was he shipped to another country for treatment. Bottom line .... this is another serious blow against Assad's government.

The global arms market has been growing steadily during the recent years. Russian arms are in high demand on this market, and it is the weapons and equipment of Soviet development that are competitive most. Their performance is even better than that of advanced Western models for certain tasks. In 2012, the Russian Federation has topped the arms export plan.

Russian (Soviet) small arms and more sophisticated equipment works smoothly and efficiently in all climate conditions. On December 5th, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a report, which said that Iranian pilots on Soviet Su-25 fighter jets (NATO: Frogfoot) intercepted advanced U.S. drone USAF MQ-1 Predator over the Persian Gulf. The authors of the report said that the Soviet-made aircraft was not an interceptor: it was not equipped with modern radars, but it could successfully destroy state-of-the-art aircraft, Worldtribune.com wrote.

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Update: Russia Says This Military Hardware Is 'The Best In The World' [PHOTOS] -- Business Insider

My Comment: Russian hardware is (in many cases) cheaper .... but the best .... I have some doubts. Business Insider has a list of what Russia is selling.

Lebanon and Israel dispute their maritime boundary in the eastern Mediterranean, which contains some 8.5 percent of the world's oil and gas under the seabed.

The United States has proposed a boundary between Lebanon and Israel's maritime economic zones to help end a lingering dispute over rival claims and open up oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

If the idea is accepted by both sides, it will reduce the risk of renewed conflict between the two enemy states and hasten Lebanon’s efforts to begin tapping the billions of dollars of natural gas estimated to be lying beneath the seabed.

The proposal, which was submitted to both countries recently, is a compromise on the overlapping exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundaries individually submitted by Lebanon and Israel, which left 330 square miles in dispute.

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My Comment: I will be surprise if Lebanon agrees to this border. Hezbollah is a major player in the government .... and they have made it very clear over the years that they do not even recognize the state of Israel. But by agreeing to this proposed border with Israel .... they will then be tacitly agreeing that the state of Israel does exist.

(CNN) -- They were hiding in a place security officers called a "safe area." It was anything but. Outside an angry crowd grew, gunfire rang out and a fire blazed. Thick smoke blinded the three trapped men. The intruders banged on the fortified safety gate of the bunker-like villa. A security officer handed his cell phone to Ambassador Chris Stevens. Prepare for the mob to blast open the locks of the safety gate, the officer said.

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My Comment: This is depressing reading, but we owe it to Amb. Stevens and three other Americans who died to understand why this occurred, to bring those who committed this crime to justice, to have those U.S. officials who failed in doing their job be held accountable, and to make sure that it does not happen again.

Washington (CNN) -- Three State Department officials, including two who oversaw security decisions at the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, resigned in the wake of a review of security failures there, senior State Department officials told CNN Wednesday.

The independent review of the September 11 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi released Tuesday cites "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies" at the State Department.

The attacks killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

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Senior US State Department officials removed -- Al Jazeera
State Department security chief, 2 deputies, resign after damning Benghazi attack report -- Washington Post/AP
3 Resign at State Department After Libya Attack Report -- New York Times
U.S. State Dept officials resign under pressure over Benghazi killings -- Reuters
Stinging Benghazi report leads to three resignations -- Christian Science Monitor
State department resignations over Benghazi attack -- BBC
Benghazi report forces resignation of three US state department officials -- The Guardian

Benghazi report singles out Ambassador Chris Stevens for criticism -- McClatchy News
Benghazi panel: US officers ‘heroic’ but security ‘grossly inadequate’ -- Al-Monitor
Report: Inadequate Security at US Mission in Benghazi -- Voice of America
'Systemic Failure' by State Department in Benghazi Attack, Report Finds -- ABC News
'Grossly inadequate' security at Benghazi mission -- Sydney Morning Herald
Review of Benghazi attack faults ‘grossly’ inadequate security, leadership failures -- Washington Post
Benghazi panel faults State Department for 'grossly inadequate' security arrangements -- Foreign Policy
State Faulted in Libya Attack -- Wall Street Journal
Report on Libya attack cites 'systemic failures' in security, confirms no protest -- FOX News
Report on Benghazi attack cites 'systemic failures' -- CNN
Inquiry harshly criticizes US State Dept. over Benghazi attack -- Reuters
Benghazi review finds systematic security faults -- USA Today
Benghazi report blames 'systemic failures' within State Department -- NBC
State Department Cited for Libya Security Failures -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Benghazi report: Systematic failures -- Politico
Benghazi review: 'Systemic failures' to blame -- Politico
The Benghazi report: What you need to know -- Global Post
Fear slows Libyan probe into attack on U.S. mission in Benghazi -- Reuters
Clinton to testify before House panel in January -- CNN

SEATTLE — The United States Army will seek the death penalty against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday.

Sergeant Bales’s court-martial will consider 16 counts of premeditated murder, six counts of attempted murder and seven counts of assault, among other charges, but no trial date was set.

The Army has charged that Sergeant Bales, 39, who was serving his fourth combat tour, walked away from a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan and shot and stabbed members of several families in an ambush in two villages in the early morning hours of March 11. At least nine of the people he is accused of killing were children.

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Robert Bales: Court martial for US sergeant over Afghan deaths -- BBC
U.S. soldier referred to court martial in Afghan killings -- Reuters
US Army seeks death penalty for Robert Bales, accused of Afghan villager massacre -- Christian Science Monitor
US Army Seeks Death Penalty in 16 Afghan Killings -- ABC News/AP
Death penalty sought for Afghan massacre soldier Robert Bales -- The Australian/AFP
U.S. soldier to be court-martialed, could face death penalty -- CNN
Army seeks death for Sgt. Robert Bales in Afghan shooting rampage -- L.A. Times
US Army Seeks Death Penalty for Soldier Over Afghan Massacre -- RIA Novosti
Death Penalty Possible In Court Martial Of Army Sgt. Accused Of Afghan Killings -- NPR
Army seeks death penalty in Afghan massacre case -- Seattle Times
Military Seeking the Death Penalty for One Its Own for First Time in 50 Years -- The Atlantic

Twenty-seven years after driving from New York City to Chicago in a $2,000 Honda Civic for a job that probably wouldn’t amount to much, Barack Obama, in better shape but with grayer hair, stood in the presidential suite on the top floor of the Fairmont Millennium Park hotel as flat screens announced his re-election as President of the United States. The networks called Ohio earlier than predicted, so his aides had to hightail it down the hall to join his family and friends. They encountered a room of high fives and fist pumps, hugs and relief.

The final days of any campaign can alter the psyches of even the most experienced political pros. At some point, there is nothing to do but wait. Members of Obama’s team responded in the only rational way available to them — by acting irrationally. They turned neckties into magic charms and facial hair into a talisman and compulsively repeated past behaviors so as not to jinx what seemed to be working. In Boca Raton, Fla., before the last debate, they dispatched advance staff to find a greasy-spoon diner because they had eaten at a similar joint before the second debate, on New York’s Long Island. They sent senior strategist David Axelrod a photograph of the tie he had to find to wear on election night: the same one he wore in 2008. Several staffers on Air Force One stopped shaving, like big-league hitters in the playoffs. Even the President succumbed, playing basketball on Election Day at the same court he played on before winning in 2008.

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WNU Editor: More from Time ....

• Exclusive: The Person of the Year Interview
• Inside the White House: Never-Before-Seen Photos
• Re-Election: The Data Miners Who Helped Obama Win
• Obama Photo Diary: 48 Hours with the President
• Runner-Up: Malala's Journey — A Timeline
• Runner-Up: Tim Cook and Apple's Greatest Moments
• Runner-Up: TIME Sits Down with Morsi
• Runner-Up: What Is the 'God Particle'?
• 2012 In Brief: The People Who Mattered Most
• Those We Lost: TIME's 2012 Tributes
• President Obama, Driller-in-Chief
• Joe Klein: The 2012 Awards for Political Courage
• Joel Stein: 2012's Coolest Person Is...
• Live Reactions: What You're Saying About #POY2012
• Take the TIME Person of the Year Quiz

My Comment: I agree with the choice .... for better or worse President Obama is the 'Person of the Year" for 2012 .... and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is #2. But unlike 2008 when Time chose President Obama the first time as their "Person of the Year" .... the mood is more darker now .... the optimism of 2008 is certainly not present  today.