HuffPost World Daily Brief: Kim Jong Il Mourners.. Ritual Slaughter Ban Canceled.. Tsunami Clean-Up..

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Syrian Troops Reportedly Attack Town, Killing At Least 100 BEIRUT -- Syrian troops assaulting a northwest town with machine gun fire and shelling have killed at least 100 people in one of the deadliest episodes of the 9-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime, activists said Wednesday. Chinese Authorities Concede To Demands Thousands Of Mourners Gather For Kim Jong Il Cleaning Up Japan's Tsunami-Hit Plant May Take 40 Years Afghanistan Casualties Increasingly Severe Dutch Cancel Ritual Slaughter Ban, Cabinet Adopts New Guidelines BLOG POSTS John Feffer: Architects of Change More than a decade ago, I sat down with the head of the academy of architecture in Pyongyang. There was one element missing from their architecture program: North Korean builders paid virtually no attention to energy efficiency Bernard-Henri Lévy: A Tribute to Edmond Safra In a word, Edmond Safra was a sort of a total Jew. Or, in the literal sense, an absolute Jew. Or, to quote a saying of my friend Benny Lévy, only twisting it a little, a true "Jew of the century." Yoani Sanchez: Kim Jong Un and Alejandro Castro Espin: Destined by Blood to Be Dictators? When Fidel Castro visited Pyongyang in March 1986, almost a million people greeted him, among them thousands of children waving flags with suspicious synchronicity. Sheena Greitens: Kim Jong Un's North Korea The death of 'Dear Leader' Kim Jong Il, who died of a heart attack Saturday at age 69, has ushered in a period of instability for North Korea, and a potentially dangerous time for the region -- including the United States and its allies. Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi: Mayor of Rotterdam: Ahmed Aboutaleb on a Mission to Regenerate Ahmed Aboutaleb, Rotterdam's mayor, is perhaps one of the most accomplished emigrants in Europe.

MOST POPULAR ON HUFFINGTONPOST.COM Kim Jong Il Dead PHOTOS: Kim Jong Il's Successor North Korea TV Shows Kim Jong Il Lying In State ON FACEBOOK Mexico Starts Countdown To 2012 Apocalypse PHOTOS: Home From Iraq: Soldier Homecomings U.N. Passes 'Historic' Gay Rights Resolution

If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely unsubscribe.