Globe Trot: Deceased Iranian leader was no moderate

IRAN: Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died yesterday of a heart attack at age 82, was among the first generation of Islamic clerics who ushered in Iran’s 1979 revolution, and was regarded by many as a moderate. Don’t believe them. Rafsanjani was among the leading clerics turning terror into a plank of statecraft (not noted enough), and as recently as 2015 called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Memo to the over-tweeting president-elect: A fake tweet from Donald Trump expressing condolences is making the rounds in Tehran.

ISRAEL: A supporter of Islamic State, or ISIS, likely carried out a truck-ramming attack that killed four Israeli soldiers (three female) and injured at least 16 people just outside the Old City in Jerusalem on Sunday.

SYRIA: The United States is getting edged out in the anti-ISIS campaign in Syria, as NATO member Turkey increasingly is allied with Russia.

The United States is focusing its ISIS fight on Raqqa, headquarters for the terror group, where airstrikes have recently killed two top operatives.

YEMEN: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under fire from political opponents for his failure to secure the release of Indian Catholic priest Tom Uzhunnalil, kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen by Islamic extremists.

LIBERIA: Clinical trial results published in December showed a new vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing Ebola. But the vaccine won’t be easily available, warn World Health Organization officials, nor may it prevent the deadly virus from replicating in the lungs.

AUSTRIA: Getting your food delivered via roller coaster is one thing, but training a robot to mix the drinks before sending them on their way is the real trick.