What is frankincense, and where does it come from?

U.S. official: Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than in Pakistan
Washington (CNN) -- The administration's top Counterterrorism adviser said Friday that the al Qaeda group based in Yemen poses a greater threat to Americans than Osama bin Laden's group based in Pakistan. John Brennan, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and counterterrorism, said the Yemen-based group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is "increasingly active" in reaching out to find Terrorist recruits, even in the United States. "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula i...

U.S. official: Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than in Pakistan
Source: CNN International By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer December 18, 2010 -- Updated 0240 GMT (1040 HKT) The administration's top Counterterrorism adviser said Friday that the al Qaeda group based in Yemen poses a greater threat to Americans than Osama bin Laden's group based in Pakistan. John Brennan, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and counterterrorism, said the Yemen-based group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is "increasingly active" in reaching out to find...

Obama Aide: Al-Qaeda in Yemen Bigger Threat than in Pakistan
In the midst of officials praising the cooperation of the Karzai government in Afghanistan and, to a lesser extent, the Zardari government in Pakistan, top Obama aide John Brennan says the administration is increasingly frustrated with another of its “partners” in its global war, the Saleh government in Yemen. The CIA has recently been hyping the Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) group in Yemen as more dangerous than al-Qaeda’s parent organization, and Brennan confirmed th...

Obama Aide: Frustration With Yemeni Govt
In the midst of officials praising the cooperation of the Karzai government in Afghanistan and, to a lesser extent, the Zardari government in Pakistan, top Obama aide John Brennan says the administration is increasingly frustrated with another of its “partners” in its global war, the Saleh government in Yemen. The CIA has recently been hyping the Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) group in Yemen as more dangerous than al-Qaeda’s parent organization, while Pentagon officials...

Yemen police say foiled attack on U.S. embassy staff
Sanaa | Fri Dec 17, 2010 5:19am EST Sanaa (Reuters) - Yemen police said Friday they prevented a man from bombing a U.S. Embassy car in Sanaa, and were investigating whether the Jordanian suspect, who was carrying fake identity papers, had ties to al Qaeda. The U.S. State Department said Thursday an Embassy vehicle was attacked in Sanaa Wednesday. "On December 15, 2010, a U.S. Embassy vehicle was attacked in Hadda, a suburb of Sanaa, Yemen, where it was parked in front of a restaurant frequent...

White House reports frustrations in Yemeni relations
By David Morgan WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:49pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. security relations with Yemen have been strained by frustrations on both sides and will require patience as the two countries work to counter the al Qaeda threat there, a top White House security official said on Friday. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's deputy National Security adviser, contrasted the situation in Yemen with the "significant progress" he said the United States has made against al Qaeda ...

U.S. official: Al Qaeda in Yemen bigger threat than in Pakistan
John Brennan, the U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser, says al Qaeda threat in Yemen growing. Washington (CNN) -- The administration's top Counterterrorism adviser said Friday that the al Qaeda group based in Yemen poses a greater threat to Americans than Osama bin Laden's group based in Pakistan. John Brennan, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and counterterrorism, said the Yemen-based group, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is "increasingly active" in reaching out ...

Terrorists Target Americans Abroad As Concerns Mount Over Domestic Attacks
Yemeni authorities in Sana'a prevented a Bomb Attack on a car carrying four U.S. Embassy personnel, the U.S. State Department reported Thursday. On Wednesday, police caught a Jordanian citizen as he attempted to plant explosives next to the car, which was stopped near a pizza restaurant frequented by Westerners. No one was injured. The attacker was carrying fake papers and had weapons in his car. Yemeni police are trying to determine whether the man has any links to al-Qaida. In Pakistan, anoth...

White House reports frustrations in Yemeni relations
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. security relations with Yemen have been strained by frustrations on both sides and will require patience as the two countries work to counter the al Qaeda threat there, a top White House security official said on Friday. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's deputy National Security adviser, contrasted the situation in Yemen with the "significant progress" he said the United States has made against al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan...

White House Plays Down Tensions With Yemen
WASHINGTON — Even as the United States and Yemen increasingly battle a common Qaeda enemy, relations between the two allies are often punctuated by tensions, differing views and “strong frustration,” a top White House official said Friday. But the official, John O. Brennan, President Obama’s top Counterterrorism adviser, said the occasional quarrels were “healthy” and “a hallmark of true friendship.” He also said they had not impeded growing coop...

New Post blogger is expert in everything
As The Washington Post's adventures in the blogosphere continue, conservative operative and religion blogger Jordan Sekulow has taken heat from the left for some of his views, in particular his posture toward Islam. But Sekulow, son of Veteran Christian conservative litigator Jay Sekulow and a Staffer on the Bush-Cheney and Romney campaigns, has another claim to fame in the inboxes of reporters. He's the guy who is — according to the aggressive public-relations firm retained to raise his...

Talking head: What does 2011 mean for M&A;?
Woke up early this morning to discuss M&A with CNBC's Squawk Box crew. Here's the vid: CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of o...

A CRISIS OF LEGITIMACY:
The attempt to define, or rather redefine, Islam came in response to another debate provoked by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his philosophical guru Esfandiar Masha'i who have been trying to market their "Iranian school" as a new brand, much to the chagrin of pro-regime mullahs. A new poster that declares "the Iranian school is the way to progress and salvation" has just been put up in many government offices throughout the country. As defined by Masha'i, the so-called "Iranian school" is a ...

SPIELBERG WAS TARGET OF AN ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT
Wikileaks has revealed another thing that isn't too surprising, but is nevertheless disturbing: Steven Spielberg was blacklisted by the Arab League's Central Boycott Office after making a $1m (£645m) donation to Isreal during the 2006 conflict in Lebanon. A US Embassy memo released by WikiLeaks reveals that during a meeting of the group in April 2007, Diplomats or representatives from 14 Arab states voted to ban all films and other products related to S...

Spielberg was target of an Arab League boycott
Wikileaks has revealed another thing that isn't too surprising, but is nevertheless disturbing: Steven Spielberg was blacklisted by the Arab League's Central Boycott Office after making a $1m (£645m) donation to Isreal during the 2006 conflict in Lebanon. A US Embassy memo released by WikiLeaks reveals that during a meeting of the group in April 2007, Diplomats or representatives from 14 Arab states voted to ban all films and other products related to Spielberg or his Righteous Persons Founda...

Iran fetes new foreign minister ahead of nuclear talks
Reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Tehran and Washington are seeking to expand their regional influence ahead of another round of talks over Iran's Nuclear Program, which has become a source of widespread international concern. On Saturday, Iran feted its newly designated caretaker Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, with a reception in Tehran. Salehi announced that he would seek to strengthen ties with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Arab-led power that has bristled at Shiit...

Mullen: U.S. 'very ready' militarily should Iran make a move
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that the U.S. Military is "very ready" to counter Iran should it come to that. "I've said all options have been on the table and remain on the table," Mullen said. Adm. Mike Mullen was in Bahrain, where the U.S. has naval forces, to meet with the country's king. The meeting comes on the heels of leaked diplomatic cables that show leaders in the Middle East nervous about Iran, which has been moving full-speed-ahead with its Nuclear Program...

62508
Last weekend I was in Abu Dhabi, where I teach a class on U.S. Foreign Policy, and I was asked to do a Q&A; on the Barack Obama Administration's Middle East policy. Preparing myself, I knew what I wanted to say about Iran, and Iraq, and Elections in Egypt. But I was flummoxed on the "peace process." The process had just ground to a halt with the administration's decision to abandon the mortifying effort to bribe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into adopting the very modest gesture of a ...

Grim Xmas for Iraqi Christians as many flee north
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — They saw their brethren murdered during Mass and then were bombed in their homes as they mourned. Al-Qaida vowed to hunt them down. Now the Christian community of Iraq, almost as old as the religion itself, is sensing a clear message: It is time to leave. Since the Oct. 31 bloodbath in their Baghdad church, Iraqi Christians have been fleeing Sunni Muslim Extremists who view them as nonbelievers and agents of the West. At a time when Christians in various parts of the Mus...

U.S. Concerned About Terror Attacks During Holidays
Counterterror officials are tracking threats to the United States and Europe from Al Qaeda and affiliated groups during the Holiday Season, authorities said. They have not yet seen evidence of specific plots aimed at U.S. targets. The FBI and the Homeland Security Department have alerted state and local law enforcers to be wary of suspicious behavior and to change security measures regularly to interfere with any Terrorist plans. The warning was sent in a bulletin Wednesday, obtained by The Asso...

Christians In Iraq Flee North Before Christmas
IRBIL, Iraq — They saw their brethren murdered during Mass and then were bombed in their homes as they mourned. Al-Qaida vowed to hunt them down. Now the Christian community of Iraq, almost as old as the religion itself, is sensing a clear message: It is time to leave. Since the Oct. 31 bloodbath in their Baghdad church, Iraqi Christians have been fleeing Sunni Muslim Extremists who view them as nonbelievers and agents of the West. At a time when Christians in various parts of the Muslim...

Two tigers, one mountain
Like tectonic plates grinding up against each other in the Himalayas, China and India are locked into a rivalry that is going to set the global agenda for decades. For three days this week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited New Delhi, signed trade deals, dined with Indian politicians and spouted the Rhetoric of friendship. “China and India are partners for cooperation, not rivals in competition,” he told an Indian business conference, after a Chinese trade delegation signed 48 deals...

Will the Internet Balkanize? Not Anytime Soon, I Dont Think.
Will the Internet Balkanize? Not Anytime Soon, I Don’t Think. If you’re looking for something to ponder this weekend, let me recommend this piece in The Economist about the Internet in the modern age to you (via Melissa Clouthier’s Twitter feed). The article looks at the challenges of keeping the internet open in the face of obvious threats to National Security such as Wikileaks, reassertion of national Sovereignty, and “powerful forces”. I’m nowhere close to ...

Kelvin Jones, NYC Officer, Convicted in Jersey Perfume Robbery
Newark, N.J. — A New York City Police Officer has been found Guilty in the armed holdup of a northern New Jersey Perfume warehouse. A federal jury in Newark deliberated for about three hours over two days before convicting Kelvin Jones on Thursday of Conspiracy, armed Robbery, a weapons count and transporting stolen property across state lines. The 29-year-old Yonkers, N.Y., native was one of 10 people arrested and charged in the February robbery of the In Style USA warehouse in Carlstad...

Silly Men!
So, Liss sends me this email this morning with the subject line "OMG LOLOLOLOLOL." At first, I was thinking, "OMG please let there be an awesome Top Chef GIF in here." But, alas, it was not. It was, however, actually something much, MUCH better: This. (For those uninterested in clicking through, it's an article at CNN headlined "Men and their holiday shopping battle," by Bradley Gallo. And, yes, it is as terrible as it sounds.) My first thought was, "Wow, there is an awful lot of bullshit in her...