Venezuela: Chávez Warns on Toyota Plant

And “South African Communists’ Peace Price” goes on:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to expropriate Toyota Motor Corp.’s local assembly plant if it doesn’t produce more vehicles designed for rural areas and increase technology transfer.Mr. Chavez said Wednesday that Toyota needs to transfer more new technologies and manufacturing methods from headquarters to its local unit in Venezuela, adding that other foreign auto-assembly plants are also not doing enough of this.

Mr. Chavez said his socialist government is going to apply strict quotas regarding the number and types of vehicles auto makers can produce. He ordered an immediate inspection of Toyota’s facilities to see how many “rustic vehicles” they are currently producing.

“They’ll have to fulfill [the quotas], and if not, they can get out,” Mr. Chavez said during a televised address. “We’ll bring in another company.”

via Venezuela Warns on Toyota Plant | NewsBag.

Freedom… that word sooo unknown in Venezuela’s Chávez.

China: Dissident Liu Xiabo, sentenced to 11-year prison term

He is very dangerous: he organised “Charter 08″, a call for democracy in China:

China’s most prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, has been sentenced by a Beijing court to 11 years in prison for “incitement to subvert state power.” The verdict has been met with sharp criticism by rights groups and the international community.

via Rights groups, West blast China over sentence for leading dissident | World | Deutsche Welle | 25.12.2009.

Of course, China has a very important public opinion, so this “blasts” from international rights groups, Governments, etc., is going to influence greatly there.

Note: I was being sarcastic… Chinese leaders don’t care what others think or believe about them. This punishment is certainly abominable. But that’s not going to stop Communist leaders, as they consider that this man is really dangerous to the system. He may not have “legions” (as Stalin asked about the Pope) but he has words, ideas, proposals. In Communist China, as in every other dictatorship, the only men who are allowed to have ideas, are the leaders of the Communist Party and only if the fit inside Communist doctrine.

Vatican: Announced Review of Papal Protection After Assault

Benedict, 82, was unhurt. He quickly recovered and celebrated Mass, and looked well hours later as he delivered his traditional Christmas Day greeting from the loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica on Friday. A French cardinal caught in the scuffle suffered a fractured thighbone.

The assailant, identified by the Vatican as Susanna Maiolo, a 25-year-old Swiss-Italian national with a history of mental problems, was held for questioning and hospitalized in Rome. She was not under formal arrest and it was unclear whether she would face charges.

Yet the assault on the pope, captured on television and tourist cameras and replayed countless times on TV and the Internet, raised serious questions about Vatican — and Italian — security. It was the first direct attack on Benedict since he became pope in 2005, and it came less than two weeks after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized after a mentally unstable man struck him in the face at a campaign rally.

via Vatican Reviews Papal Protection After Assault – NYTimes.com.

Well, she is mentally “unbalanced” but seems to have quite a fixation against the Pope: this was not the first time she had tried to assault the Pope.

Mauritania: police arrest suspect in kidnapping of Italians

Sergio Cicala ANSA/FRANCO LANNINO/DRN

This is an update on this story:

Mauritanian police have arrested a Malian suspect in the kidnapping of two Italians last week in the southeast of the country, a security source said Tuesday.”The suspect, of Malian nationality, was arre0sted when he was buying food supplies in a weekly market at Teidatt, not far from Kobenni,” near the border with Mali, the source said.

The Malian is suspected of having “supplied bases of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” in northern Mali and of “cooperating in the kidnap” of the Italians, the source added.

The suspect was being interrogated in Nouakchott.

The Mauritanian news agency ANI reported Tuesday that the Malian allegedly “confessed to having cooperated with the hostage takers by informing them of the movements of the two Italians in exchange for a big sum of money.”

via AFP: Mauritania police arrest suspect in kidnapping of Italians.

U.S.: authorities deport Al Qaeda-Linked immigrant to Sudan

ICE’s main mission was to deport Mohamed Suliman Adam back to Sudan, his country of origin. A self-professed terrorist with ties to al Qaeda, Adam pled guilty in February 2003 in the U.S. District of New York to conspiring to destroy national defense materials, premises and utilities.

Adam had been serving a 121-month sentence at a maximum security prison in Florence, Colo. Adam was denied parole, and on June 4, 2009 an immigration judge ordered Adam removed to Sudan.

via U.S. authorities deport Al Qaeda-Linked immigrant to Sudan.

This is a bright move, isn’t it? Sudan has no record of links to terrorism… Among others:

The group, which consists of Islamic jihadist and Darfur Arab militias was officially formed on March 10th 2008. Khartoum’s new Islamist alliance is a terrorist organisation and must be taken as such. The corollary between it and Al-Qaeda is very clear in its broader call for terror. The members of coalition are: Abu-Quiseissah Group, Ansar Al-Sunnah Al-Jihadiya, Search of Martyrdom, Martyr Abdel-Fattah Brigade and Darfur Lions Brigade. The Alliance also threatened a repeat of September 11 aimed at imperialists across the globe, CIA agents of USA, UK and France.

See? No danger there…

Somalia: Somalia’s Shebab put the squeeze on foreign NGOs

Somalia’s Shebab fighters, increasingly under the spell of Al Qaeda ideology, are gradually weeding out the few foreign aid groups still operating in the country’s central and southern regions.

The Islamist armed group last week raided the offices of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Baidoa, on the same day its local administration issued a decree banning the organisation from the region.

The Shebab accused UNMAS of spying, charging it had been “surveying and signposting some of the most vital and sensitive areas under the control of the mujahedeen (holy warriors).”

via AFP: Somalia’s Shebab put the squeeze on foreign NGOs.

Meanwhile, people are killed in the country on a daily basis. This Frace 24 video dates from last June but describes accurately what’s going on there. Burundi chief of UA soldiers’ academy says they can’t be friend of Somalians because they take advantage of the peacekeeping mission to kill soldiers.

Iran: Ahmadinejad denies Iran nuclear bomb trigger tests

“Once the President has received the investment from the Supreme eader, the holiness of the Supreme Leader is transferred to him as well, therefore people should obey the President as if they obey God.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed as a US forgery a document allegedly showing plans by Tehran to test a nuclear bomb trigger.In a US TV interview Mr Ahmadinejad said the report in the Times newspaper was “fundamentally not true”.

He said criticism of Iran’s nuclear programme had become “a repetitive and tasteless joke”.

via BBC News – Ahmadinejad denies Iran nuclear bomb trigger tests.

He said yesterday that the claims of Iran pursuing nukes have, in his words, turned into a “TV series.” Trying to fool the infidels, aren’t you? But of course, since he as elected, the Supreme Leader is speaking through his lips, so beware….

Global Warming: Gordon and Al Gore are lost

in Copehangue’s hotel during the climate change summit :

GayandRight: Blind lead the blind into a closet….

US: Suspected Fort Hood gunman asked cleric about killing troops

An Army psychiatrist accused of fatally shooting 13 at the Fort Hood, Texas, military base had asked for a Muslim cleric’s advice about killing U.S. troops, according to a new interview.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan communicated with a radical Islamic cleric via e-mail for about a year before he went on a shooting rampage that wounded 40 on November 5, Anwar al-Awlaki told Aljazeera.net.

“The first message I received from Nidal was on December 17, 2008 … He is the one who started messaging me,” he said. “In it, he asked me whether killing U.S. soldiers and officers is legal [under Islamic law].”

via Cleric: Suspected Fort Hood gunman asked about killing troops – CNN.com.

Well, where is the sudden jihad syndrome here? If confirmed, the attack was premeditated.

US: Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces New Delay

As a result, officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest — a far slower timeline for achieving one of President Obama’s signature national security policies than they had previously hinted.

While Mr. Obama has acknowledged that he would miss the Jan. 22 deadline for closing the prison that he set shortly after taking office, the administration appeared to take a major step forward last week when he directed subordinates to move “as expeditiously as possible” to acquire the Thomson Correctional Center, a nearly vacant maximum-security Illinois prison, and to retrofit it to receive Guantánamo detainees.

But in interviews this week, officials estimated that it could take 8 to 10 months to install new fencing, towers, cameras and other security upgrades before any transfers take place. Such construction cannot begin until the federal government buys the prison from the State of Illinois.

via Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces a New Delay – NYTimes.com.

There were no reasonable plans to shut GITMO: it was a decision based on politics. Specially considering the risk an extremelly violent and fundamentalist (aka Islamist, terrorist) population can pose inside extremely radicalised prisons…

Pakistan: Muslims kill a Christian after he refused to convert

A group of Muslims shot their Christian friend dead this month on the outskirts of this town after saying they would spare his life only if he recanted his faith, according to the young man’s father.The friends of Patras Masih, who died from gunshot wounds on Dec. 3 in Karol village, Punjab Province, issued the ultimatum to him after accusing him of the murder of their friend Anees Mahammad. An autopsy reported showed Mahammad died from toxic alcohol earlier that day.

via The Iconoclast – New English Review.

So basically they asked him to convert so they wouldn’t kill him after they accused him of killing another friend. Hmm. What morons!!!

Karzai repeats offer for talks with Taliban

More calls to speak with the Taliban, just days after German Minister asked for talks with “moderate Talibans“:

“If Taliban refuse our offer for talks for million times, we would repeat our offer for million times, because bringing about peace is necessary and this is the prime demand of our people,” he told a joint press conference here at the presidential palace.

Hosting the conference with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Karzai made the above remarks amid Taliban’s stance that any talks with Afghan administration must be based on the pull out of NATO-led forces from Afghanistan.

… “If they (Taliban) want foreign troops to vacate Afghanistan, they should negotiate for peace and solve the problem of the country,” Karzai said.

via Karzai repeats offer for talks with Taliban_English_Xinhua.

Karzai doesn’t understand that Talibans want actually to expell foreign troops, not to negotiate with them. They only consider winning by violence as an option.

Philippines: Osama bin Laden came within minutes of killing Bill Clinton

At one point during his stay, he was scheduled to visit a local politician, his route taking him across a bridge in central Manila.

But as the presidential motorcade was about to set off, secret service officers received a “crackly message in one earpiece” saying intelligence agents had picked up a message suggesting an attack was imminent.

The transmission used the words “bridge” and “wedding” – a terrorists code word for assassination.

The motorcade was quickly re-routed and American agents later discovered a bomb had been planted under the bridge.

The subsequent US investigation into the plot “revealed that it had been masterminded by a Saudi terrorist living in Afghanistan – a man named Osama bin Laden”.

via Osama bin Laden came within minutes of killing Bill Clinton – Telegraph.

This is a glorious moment on Clinton speaking about Bin Laden:

Somalia: more clashes in Mogadishu

At least four people are killed and over a dozen others injured in heavy clashes between pro-government forces and rebel fighters in Somalia’s restive capital of Mogadishu.

The fierce clashes erupted in the capital’s southern district of Medina where the warring sides exchanged heavy gunfire from assault rifles, artillery and mortar shells, claiming the lives of at least four civilians.

According to eyewitnesses, several mortar shells reportedly fired from African Union troops’ base in Halane in response to a barrage of artillery shells they received from anti-government side.

“I saw the dead bodies of 3 people after a mortar landed on a house. Gunfire also wounded several people,” said Ali Ahmed, a resident of Kah-Shekhal area.

via Garowe Online – Home.

It goes on and on… doesn’t stop. It seems there is very little solution there…

Merry Christmas!!!

T&P wants to wish you a truly Merry Christmas with one of the best animated films related with it: A Christmas Carol by Disney:

BE HAPPY! THE LORD HAS BORN!

Baby Jesus

Peace, Love and Freedom to all!

Colombia: terrorist groups Farc and ELN agree ‘to unite’ (U)

For the BBC, both are “rebels”…

Two of Colombia’s biggest rebel groups have announced they intend to unite to fight the country’s security forces.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) said they were “on our way towards working for unity”.

Farc and the smaller ELN have deep ideological differences and have fought each other in some regions.

Together they could be a significantly greater danger to the state, says the BBC’s Jeremy McDermott.

The surprise announcement was made on a website known for its links with the Farc.

“Our only enemy is North American Imperialism and its oligarchic lackeys,” the statement said, a reference to the US which supplies aid and training to the Colombian security forces.

via BBC News – Colombia rebel groups Farc and ELN agree ‘to unite’.

Yesterday, the corpse of Governor Luis Francisco Cuéllar was found beheaded by FARC. Uribe said “he was beheaded miserably”. But, of course, for BBC they are just “rebels”. It’s absolutely disgusting.

UPDATE: News Real Blog has a post about Cuéllar’s assasination. As Kate has told me in the comments, he was not beheaded, but had his throat slit as the Army was pursuing them and getting closer.

Curb on veil in Egypt backed by Islamic clerics

A Widow's Black burqa

Prominent religious leaders say social habit of wearing niqabs has no roots in Islamic law. ‘Any girl is free to wear the niqab as long as she understands that when asked to reveal her face she should do so accordingly,’ sheikh says…. Egypt’s three most prominent religious leaders have backed a government ban on the niqab, or full face veil, in dormitories and examinations, saying it had no basis in Islam.

…More than 13 religious scholars have found that the face veil has no substantial roots in Islam, but rather can be considered a “form of extremism”, the official MENA news agency cited Tantawi as saying.

via Curb on veil in Egypt backed by Islamic clerics – Israel News, Ynetnews.

I wonder if this is linked to the proposition made by Sarkozy’s UMP of banning the full veil in France…

Iran: huge crowds mourn Montanzeri

There were cries including “Death to the Dictator” in displays of anger against Iran’s ruling establishment and, what’s more important, huge crowds mourning the opposition’s cleric and Basij thugs:

forced to cancel the post-funeral sacrament as the Islamic regime’s forces had invaded the A’zam mosque where the observance was to be held. Saeed Montazeri also added that the Montazeri residence has now been surrounded by various revolutionary guards, members of the Basij, intelligence agents, members of special force, etc.

The Iranian Govt has a really rare way of showing respect to the cleric who was once elected to be Ayatolah’s Khomeini’s heir.

Yesterday, the reformist website Norooznews.ir, has reported that:

Around 1,000 members of Iran’s Basij Islamic militia attacked offices of pro-reform cleric Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei in the central shrine city of Qom, a reformist website reported on Tuesday.

Canadian-Iranian blogger Winston considers that:

The western governments’ concern about nuclear weapons in the hands of the current rapist regime in Tehran is truly understandable but there is no chance to disarm this regime by talking to them. It’s imperative that the current regime be prevented from having any nuclear weapons capability for the sake of international peace and safety. A brutal regime that doesn’t have mercy on its own people, can not be trusted with weapons of mass murder.

Sensible theory. BUt how on earth do we know that the present movement is not just a quarrel over Islamic factions within Iran? In the end, Moussavi is not really a supporter of democracy, he is just not a supporter of Ahmadinejad, but is not opposed to Islamic regime, as far as I know. I believe Western countries do consider the potential of an Iranian democracy’s influence in the Middle East, but they don’t see any real movement for democracy, just one against Ahmadinejad. Of course, I can be mistaken… it’s just a view from outside Iran.

Related: Ahmadinejad bullies the West, unrest grows in Iran @ The Washington Post.

Egypt: Jihadists Call for Attacks Over Security Fence

According to analysts from the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR), one intercepted communication, originating in North Africa, calls for “all the jihadist groups in Palestine to come out against the Egyptian forces on the border with Gaza, because they are trying lately to isolate Gaza from the rest of the world, and especially to build a steel 11-kilometer fence. …We invite all the jihadist groups in Gaza to use all possible methods against the Egyptian army, from sniper action from afar to firing RPGs.”

The jihadist claims that the fence Egypt is building between Gaza and Egypt is being constructed with Israeli funds and American support.

The planned fence is meant to cut down on above-ground smuggling and illegal migration between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai. The fence will likely have little to no impact on the network of terrorist weapons smuggling tunnels operating freely between Egypt and Hamas-controlled Gaza. Another, below-ground-obstacle is reportedly being planned for hindering the digging of tunnels.

via Jihadists Call for Attacks Over Egyptian Security Fence – Defense/Middle East – Israel News – Israel National News.

I don’t see the same protests against this fence than those against Israeli fence. But are there any differences between then?

Poland: Swedish collector behind Auschwitz theft

An update on this story:

The German sign, which reads “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work sets you free”), was stolen from Auschwitz on Friday. Five male suspects were detained early on Monday, when the sign was also recovered by Polish authorities.Several Polish media sources cited involvement of a Swedish citizen, who reportedly offered the thieves between €10,000 and €30,000 to commit the crime, Aftonbladet reports.

It is unknown whether or not the Swede in question has been identified and if he or she will be arrested. There have been several media reports indicating that the sign was to be transported to Sweden.

via Swedish collector behind Auschwitz theft: reports – The Local. via BNI.

What kind of lunatic wants to buy a sign like this?