Ken Livingstone is planning a "massive festival" across London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution. The event, to be staged in 2009, will involve street parties, sports venues and some of London's leading museums as well as the closure of Trafalgar Square.
Although the Mayor's office refused to provide budget estimates, it could cost up to £2 million.
The festival was agreed on the Mayor's controversial trip to Cuba last month. But Mr Livingstone's lavishing of public money to honour one of the last dictatorships in Latin America was condemned today. "Forking out to celebrate a totalitarian regime is a choice that most Londoners will find bizarre," said Angie Bray, leader of the Conservative group on the London Assembly. "The Mayor associates himself with some of the most odious people around and it's Londoners who are being asked to pay out. Sooner or later, there will be a reckoning."
Speaking at a recent public meeting at Central Hall, Westminster, Mr Livingstone said: "We've got the backing of the Cuban government for a massive festival to celebrate 50 years of justice in Cuba."
According to human rights organisations, Cuba is one of two countries in the Americas (the other being Haiti) where political freedom is completely curtailed. The British Government singles out Cuba as one of only two Latin American states which is of "major human rights concern".
There are 33 countries in the Americas. The bi-partisan US foundation, Freedom House, classifies 22 of them as "free", nine as "partly free", and two, Cuba and Haiti, as "not free. Political parties, other than the Communist Party, are prohibited in Cuba, as are free trade unions. Freedom of expression is banned and, according toAmnesty International, there are 70 prisoners of conscience. There is no press freedom and Cuban citizens are not allowed to travel freely - they are also affected by a US economic blockade.
Severe racism against Cuba's black minority is reported by human rights monitors.
No wonder Mr. Livingstone loves Cuba!
Mr Livingstone said: "The Cuban revolution of 1959 was an extraordinary event not just for Cuba but for the region as a whole and I have never concealed my support for this fact.
"There is no reason why Cuba should be singled out for controversy except for people coming at international issues from a very Right-wing perspective."
The Mayor pointed to Cuba's "excellent healthcare", high literacy rate and "Cuban sporting prowess" as reasons to celebrate.
#1
Brit/EURO-Lefts > PC wanna promote Anglo-Saxon values while making sure all Europe pretends, like future USSA = Global SSR/USR Amerika, that it is NOT controlled from Russia-China = Commie Eurasia???
#4
They voted for him. They get what they deserve.
The farther away you are from La Revolucion, the better it looks. Think when he retires, he's moving to Cuba? Me neither.
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - A delegation of six U.S. senators led by incoming Majority Leader Harry Reid met Thursday with Bolivian President Evo Morales, seeking to smooth relations with the South American country's left-leaning government.
Relations have been tense partly due to Morales' friendship with Presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and by Morales' background as the leader of coca growers fighting U.S. attempts to eradicate their crops.
In a news conference following the meeting with Morales, Reid said it was not an accident that he chose Bolivia as the first country to visit as Democrats prepare to take control of the U.S. Congress in the wake of last months elections. ``I came to Bolivia because I felt that our country and Bolivia need to have a better relationship,'' Reid said. ``We're here as Democrats and Republicans to help North America appreciate the potential of this mighty little country.''
Good. Now shut up and come home.
Earlier, Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, told reporters in fluent Spanish that the visit ``signals a different direction'' for U.S.-Bolivian relations. ``I believe all of us want the same thing, to help lift up the people of Latin America so that they can achieve the human dignity they deserve,'' Salazar said.
That means deposing the leftists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He's just trying to ensure that we have a reliable supplier of cocaine tin, guys.
#3
Continuing the long record of Donks in Congress and their 'Dear Commandante' letter sent to Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas. Their brethren in the lefty ideology of rule and distribution - keep the best, distribute the rest.
#6
Ummmm, exactly which Republican Senators went on this lil' trippy? Inquiring minds and all.
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 10:13 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Joining Reid and Salazar are incoming Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Kent Conrad, D-ND; Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.; and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.
#10
Not the real reason: they will be touring all the tourist places, like Maccu Picu.
"Majority Leader Harry Reid"
Why isnt he in Washington at President Ford's memorial? A PRESIDENT dammit! Show proper respect.
"Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat"
What the hell is he doing there, instead of at President Ford's funeral thingy? Didn't Ford practically live in Vail and Coloraod for many decades?
Disloyal f**kers.
Hey Repubs, here's your first bit of ammunition against these assclowns: Going on a fun tour junket in Maccu Picu instead of to a memorial for a US President.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela will not renew the license of an opposition-aligned TV station when it expires next year, President Hugo Chavez said Thursday, accusing the broadcaster of backing plots to topple him. ``There will be no new concession for that coup-plotting television channel named Radio Caracas Television,'' Chavez said in a year-end speech to troops.
But the head of the station, Marcel Granier, said the channel had a legal right to continue broadcasting under its current license for many years.
If Chavez ``was serious, I think he's badly informed,'' Granier said. ``There is a lot of confusion among officials who have been threatening Radio Caracas Television, and that confusion is transmitted to the president,'' he told Globovision television. ``The only thing that is clear is the desire to intimidate, to threaten.''
Don't count on the courts there to save you. I suspect Hugo will march the troopers in and shut them down, and dare Granier to do something about it.
Chavez, who was re-elected by a wide margin Dec. 3, has warned repeatedly that the government could deny broadcast licenses to media outlets accused of conspiring against him.
RCTV, as the station is known, is among several private Venezuelan media outlets that supported a devastating 2003 strike that failed to unseat Chavez. The station, which has more than 2,000 employees, is one of the country's oldest channels and began broadcasting in 1953.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
A Bolivian court has ruled that a Cuban dissident who criticized improved relations between Bolivia and Cuba should be deported to the communist country.
"This is a death sentence. Cuba is a country where people who have different points of view, like me, don't have rights," Amauris Samartino told reporters.
"This is a death sentence. Cuba is a country where people who have different points of view, like me, don't have rights," Amauris Samartino told reporters after hearing Wednesday's verdict. Ummm... Maybe you shouldn't have gone to Bolivia, which has the same kind of setup.
It didn't when he first went to Bolivia. Evo and Fidel, however, are two peas in a pod ...
Samartino, who arrived in Bolivia in 2000, was detained on Saturday on charges he violated a Bolivian law prohibiting immigrants from interfering in the South American country's internal affairs, government officials said. Earlier this week, state-owned Television Boliviana showed Samartino protesting against the leftist government of president Evo Morales in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, a bastion of the rightist opposition.
The main opposition 'We Can' party has criticized Morales, an ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, for the government's moves to deport Samartino. The decision could "give room to talk about political persecution," Oscar Ortiz, a senator for the We Can party said on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Guffaws were heard around the world last month when it was reported that North Korea's Dear Leader Kim Jong Il had scored 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf.
But Weekly Playboy (1/1-8), which calls the dumpy dictator a sporting superstar, reports the feat was even more remarkable because the Pyongyang Golf Club where the feat is supposed to have occurred only has a few short holes reachable with a single hit.
"He's incredible! Normally, 11 aces would be unthinkable. Normally, there are only four short holes on any course, so more than five holes-in-one is physically impossible. Nobody in the world has done something like this. I guess the Dear Leader has hit a ball that has been computer-controlled to fly into the holes. If he really has done it, he can buy me a drink. But I can't believe that beer-bellied old man could possibly do it," Kazuya Maruyama, a 60-something lawyer and fitness freak, tells Weekly Playboy. "Golf balls don't fly through the air like that. Besides, North Korea can't get its Taepodong missile guidance system right, so I don't think they'd be able to do something like that."
Continued on Page 49
#1
Kimmie overshot the short holes and had to settle for birdies.
Posted by: ed ||
12/29/2006 8:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Yamanashi University Prof. Toshio Miyatsuka tells Weekly Playboy, it would not be surprising if Kim was also regarded as a slam-dunking hoops champ (albeit in elevator shoes) or capable of running 100 meters backwards in under 8 seconds.
Health officials are probing the deaths of two local pig farmers who suffered from pneumonic symptoms over the past six months. As of Thursday evening, the viruses or bacteria that triggered the symptoms had still not been identified despite laboratory tests on the two men.
"Further investigations are needed to ascertain the nature of a possible infectious illness and whether these were in anyway connected to the pigs," Centre for Health Protection consultant Thomas Tsang Ho-fai said Thursday. "The CHP attaches great importance to the cases and is liaising closely with relevant parties, including the Hospital Authority, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and mainland health authorities."
The two men, a 44-year-old from Sheung Shui and a 62-year-old in Tsuen Wan, had suffered from pneumonic symptoms prior to their deaths on December 13 and June 4, respectively. The more recent of the two cases was first detected on December 11 when the man was admitted to North District Hospital, only to die two days later.
Continued on Page 49
Prime Minister John Howard says he is not afraid of having a nuclear power plant built next door to his Sydney home.
He wants Australians to share his enthusiasm for the controversial energy source. The prime minister said Australians should accept nuclear power would be part of the nation's future energy supply, as he released a report which recommends building nuclear reactors to meet rising demand for electricity. "I wouldn't have any objection, none whatsoever. I'm serious, quite serious," Mr Howard said when asked if he would want a reactor next door.
"If we are looking into the future and not looking back over our shoulders to the past, we have to factor in nuclear power as part of the solution. We won't have nuclear power stations tomorrow, but over time, if we are to have a sensible response, we have to include nuclear power."
The final report of an inquiry into nuclear energy, headed by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski, estimates Australia could have a nuclear power plant within 10 to 15 years. It said 25 reactors could supply up to a third of the country's electricity by 2050.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Conscientious Australians opposed to nuclear power should be cut off from the grid. I have some plans to a coconut-bicycle using Gilligan power they could use as an alternative.
#2
Greenies should only have power while the sun is shining or the wind is blowing hard.
Posted by: ed ||
12/29/2006 11:54 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Oz should set up two grids, one green, one glowing. Let Queensland burn candles. It'll help the ecotourism. I know I was pleased as punch to learn there's giardia in the city water in Port Douglas when I visited there.
ROME - Romano Prodi said on Thursday he considered one five-year term as Italys prime minister to be enough, but opponents said the government would fall long before 2011 when his mandate is due to expire.
Asked if he would stand in 2011, he said: I dont make long-term programmes, but I think five years is enough.
Prodi defeated centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi in April in what was modern Italys closest general election and now governs with a majority of just one seat in the upper house, a position many political analysts say is untenable. The fact that Prodi was able to deliver a year-end news conference was itself a victory over opponents who had often called out in parliament: You wont eat panettone (Christmas cake), meaning he would not still be in office by December.
Prodi parried reporters suggestions that his government could implode over economic reforms he intends to launch in the New Year. The left wing of Prodis coalition, which stretches from centrist liberals to hard-line communists, has warned him not to make radical changes to the countrys state pension system, which he says will be the centre-piece of his reform programme.
This is the pension plan that lets you retire at age 57. Berlusconi's reforms raised that to age 60 but that reform is on hold. Anyone wonder why Italy is going into the dumper?
Prodi chairs a meeting of his coalition heads on Jan. 11 and 12 to work out details of the reform projects which, he said, would make 2007 a breakdownthrough year for Italys economy.
At this rate they'll bring back the lira.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
At this rate they'll bring back the lira
I figure within 5 years. Look for lower Italian government bond ratings in the next couple of months. Time to monentize the debt.
Gerald R. Ford's state funeral is missing some of the grandeur of the one for Ronald Reagan two years ago, a reflection of the 38th president's modest ways and lesser imprint on the nation, according to further planning details released Thursday. Part of it will be missing President Bush, too. The president will not attend Ford's state funeral in the Rotunda on Saturday night, but will return to Washington from his Texas ranch on Monday, pay respects to Ford while his remains lie in state at the Capitol, and speak Tuesday at services for Ford at the National Cathedral.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Sen. Tim Johnson turned 60 on Thursday, two weeks after emergency surgery to repair a brain hemorrhage that has left him in critical condition. Julianne Fisher, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota Democrat, said Johnson won't be present in the first days of the new Congress next week but is continuing to improve. She said he is responsive to directions from his wife but has not yet spoken.
It's too early to tell how long recovery will take, Fisher said. In a statement Thursday, Johnson's doctors said he remains in intensive care at George Washington University Hospital. They have released few new details about Johnson's condition and prognosis since the days after the Dec. 13 surgery to stop bleeding in his brain. Dr. Vivek Deshmukh, head of Johnson's surgical team, said in a statement that the South Dakota senator's overall condition has improved and he is gradually being weaned off sedation to help his brain heal.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It could be 2 years to get some back. That's what My doctor has told Me about the loss of feeling in My limbs.
#2
Jackel - be thankful you get ANY of it back. I've lost feeling in the back of my arms, and the doctor says it'll only get worse. I just love sympathetic, feeling doctors (/sarc)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/29/2006 23:09 Comments ||
Top||
MUMBAI: Women wearing the burka and other face-concealing veils could be banned from jewellery stores in a west Indian city after a spate of thefts involving burka-clad customers.
More than a dozen thefts have occurred in jewellery shops in Pune, Maharashtra state, in the past two months, with at least three cases of women wearing burkas spotted by surveillance cameras as they stole gold ornaments.
"Police could not find any clue about the women's identity because their faces were covered," said Fatehchand Ranka, from the Maharashtra Jewellers Association.
Pune's jewellers say they have written to the authorities asking for permission to stop serving customers who refuse to show their faces to surveillance cameras from January 1.
But the move has angered a section of India's Muslim community, which says the attempt to profile customers on the basis of their attire is an attack on their freedom of religion.
#1
"Police could not find any clue about the women's identity because their faces were covered."
Do the police know there are women under the burqas or just assuming they're not male?
"But the move has angered a section of India's Muslim community..."
There's a shocker.
"...the attempt to profile customers on the basis of their attire is an attack on their freedom of religion."
No, it's not an attack on muzzie religion. It's an attempt to fend off attacks on personal property from theives posing as muslims or who are, in fact, muslim.
I suppose the muzzie community would still be angered if the store owner were to allow only one burqa clad beauty in the store at a time. That'd be like...profiling you know.
Not too far from my office there's a "Quickie Mart" run by a couple guys named Abdul and Mo. I wonder how they'd feel if a half dozen guys came into their store from the Church of the Black Ski Mask of the Holy Grail? The security cameras Abdul and Mo have set up won't do much good in terms of identifying anyone by face. Hmmm...
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/29/2006 8:59 Comments ||
Top||
When an Adolf Hitler-themed restaurant opened in a suburb of cosmopolitan Mumbai in August, many were horrified. The restaurant, Hitlers Cross, changed its name a week later to the Cross Cafe, but it is not the only example of how favourably some Indians view Hitler and his legacy.
Hindu fundamentalist groups praise Hitler's leadership skills. A university poll some years ago showed he was seen as an ideal leader. Books and videos of him are top sellers.
Most patrons still call the Cross Cafe by its previous name. Plates and cups bear the Hitlers Cross logo, with a Nazi swastika in place of the "O". "We call it 'Hitler' only," said Ashish Anant, 18, an aeronautics university student who likes to come to the cafe with friends. "We say, 'Let's go to Hitler'. It's a trendy name. It's different."
#8
Actually, an Indian I work with (he's Jain...a off brand of Hinduism) claimed this to me recently too (that Indians were the original Aryans). Most be some talking points coming out of somewhere. He added too, that the Swastika was a religious symbol of good luck to them too (didn't mention the part about it being "tilted" for the Nazis' symbol).
I thought us in the AWGSG (Angry White Guy Support Group) there in our our breakroom (a coffee club for us conservatives) were all gonna hit the floor. And, this guy has been in the U.S. for more than 30 years, so he knows what Hitler was all about.
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 10:20 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Can't wait till they open the Reggie Dyer Pub next door.
#10
I think the tracing of aryan lineage to india was one of the results of 1930's reich science - I don't have a feel for the correctness of it. Aryan in this context would be separate from Nazi, the latter being a pro-aryan AND exclusionist party.
I think you can give some credit to Adolf for the autobahn, volkwagen, bringing germany out of recession, and some incredibly good lessons in "scarcity management"
Adolf unified germany, and made it undeniably strong. Of course none of these accomplishments balance out the death camps.
On a side note:
Is it just me, or does that "hand on the hip" make uncle Adolf look extremely gay?
#12
I believe Hitler flipped the swastika to face the other way. Sort of like how the Satanists use an upside down cross and the upside down pentacle exJAG talked about not long ago. Also, India was a big deal in Socialist Non-Aligned circles for a long time, so they would've absorbed a lot of more or less casual antisemitism and anti-Zionism... just as Japan was anti-Israel as a result of being pro-Palestinian to placate the Arab oil suppliers, even though most Japanese have never so much as seen a Jew from a distance and haven't a clue what the disagreement is about.
#13
I saw swastikas on shrines in Okinawa (pre-WWII of course). They were faced to the left. I've seen other swastika symbols to the right (native american, etc.). Hitler purposely tilted the nazi swastika to make it look like to the viewer that it was moving or some such. I believe his swastika was taken to be a symbol of some sort from an aryan or norse sun god. I saw something on this on the History channel aka "the hitler channel."
#14
BH: I saw swastikas on shrines in Okinawa (pre-WWII of course).
The swastika (facing the other way) is an ancient Buddhist (and Hindu) symbol. It is still used all over Asia. Hitler adulation, however, is something Chinese, Indians and Muslims have in common.
#16
The swastika (facing the other way) is an ancient Buddhist (and Hindu) symbol. It is still used all over Asia.
In 1913 Doubleday put out an edition of Kipling's works in red cloth with a swastika on the cover. I have Departmental Ditties and Barrack-Room Ballads in this edition. Wish I could find some more of the series, before someone decides they're all eeeeevil and must be burnt.
#18
Germany's economy was coming out of the Depression before Hitler took power -- he just piggybacked on the efforts of Weimar economists... and of course he didn't impose any painful measures on a populace grateful for that much relief from the craziness of the times.
The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city's cathedral, a former mosque. Juan Jose Asenjo rejected the request made by Spain's Islamic Board in a letter to the Pope. It had asked that the cathedral become an ecumenical temple where believers from all faiths could worship. The bishop said such a move would not contribute to the peaceful co-existence between people of different religions. On the contrary, he said in a statement late on Wednesday, the joint use of temples and places of worship would only generate confusion amongst the faithful.
Shared use of places of worship could make sense in airports or an Olympic village, said the bishop, but not in a consecrated Catholic cathedral.
Shared use of places of worship could make sense in airports or an Olympic village, said the bishop, but not in a consecrated Catholic cathedral.
Spain's Islamic Board, which represents a community of some 800,000 in a traditional Catholic country of 44 million, argued in its plea to the Pope that such a move in Cordoba could serve to "awake the conscience" of followers of both faiths and help bury past confrontations. "What we wanted was not to take over that holy place, but to take it over create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical space unique in the world which would have been of great significance in bringing peace to humanity," the letter said.
"Kumbayah and all that, man. Can you dig it?"
The board's general secretary, Mansur Escudero, said Muslims came from around the world to see Cordoba's cathedral. But Fluffy bunny alert, get out yer hankies
security guards often stopped Muslim worshippers from praying inside the old mosque, he added. The Cordoba mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral in the 13th Century after the city was conquered by King Ferdinand III in the war to drive the Moors from the Iberian peninsula. It is now a Unesco world heritage site.
When I get back to Spain, Cordoba is definitely on the list.
#2
all you need to know about the origins of that mosque --when Arabs invaded in the early 8th century, they tore down the church of Saint Vincent and began building their great mosque...
There is a generic response to be used whenever Moslems demand this or that in the name of the Koran, Peace, and Past Glory. Nuts!
#6
...could serve to "awake the conscience" of followers of both faiths and help bury past confrontations.
Is that in reference to the (dreaded) Crusades, to getting your arses handed to ya by King Ferdinand, or more recent "confrontations" like train bombings in Madrid? Methinks the only "confrontation" the Spaniards should bury is the one presented to them by that train bombing.
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 10:10 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Hand over the Hagia Sophia and the remains of Solomon's Temple and we can talk about your former mosque...
Posted by: john ||
12/29/2006 11:57 Comments ||
Top||
#8
And ironically, Aisha, mother of the last Moorish Sultan Boabdil settled the Granada matter long ago..
As he looked back towards the Alhambra palace, she reproached him..
"Well you may weep like a woman, for what you could not defend like a man!"
Posted by: john ||
12/29/2006 12:00 Comments ||
Top||
#9
"Mansur Escudero, said Muslims came from around the world to see Cordoba's cathedral," and they can, FROM THE STREET!
British scientists are on the verge of producing a revolutionary flu vaccine that works against all major types of the disease. Described as the 'holy grail' of flu vaccines, it would protect against all strains of influenza A - the virus behind both bird flu and the nastiest outbreaks of winter flu. Just a couple of injections could give long-lasting immunity - unlike the current vaccine which has to be given every year.
The brainchild of scientists at Cambridge biotech firm Acambis, working with Belgian researchers, the vaccine will be tested on humans for the first time in the next few months.
A similar universal flu vaccine, being developed by Swiss vaccine firm Cytos Biotechnology, could also be tested on people in 2007 - and the vaccines on the market in around five years.
Continued on Page 49
#4
Are you kidding? March of Dimes is still around; now they focus on birth defects.
You name a medical charity that's gone out of business the last fifty years even though the disease they originally targeted has been cured/controlled. Name one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 10:48 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Sorry, I was kidding. Do you know why the March of Dimes is focused on birth defects? After the vaccine for polio was discovered by Dr. Koprowski and administered broadly, the MoD realized it had to change focus. So they asked themselves, "What is the disease least likely to be cured?" Birth Defects! Our new goal to stay in business by curing the uncurable. Sort of reminds you of the incentives to poverty pimps to lift people out of poverty or the incentives of teachers to actually educate children. Rentiers all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 11:03 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I can remember the first time I got a polio vaccination - in the second grade, in 1953. My class had great incentive - two of our classmates had had polio earlier. One had a leg brace, the other was always short of breath and very sickly. I haven't gotten a flu shot since I left the military, 16 years ago (haven't had the flu, either). If this thing works, I might be tempted.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/29/2006 23:33 Comments ||
Top||
A corporation that the government accuses of reviving "deviant" Islamic teachings outlawed more than 10 years ago, has filed a RM150m ($42.5m) defamation case against Malaysian Islamic authorities. Islamic authorities in Selangor recently detained some members of Rufaqa Corporation on allegations of rekindling the outlawed al-Arqam sect.
The Malaysian government banned al-Arqam in 1994 on grounds that it was heretical for projecting its leader, Ashaari Mohammed, as a messiah who had the authority to forgive the sins of Muslims.
The Malaysian government banned al-Arqam in 1994 on grounds that it was heretical for projecting its leader, Ashaari Mohammed, as a messiah who had the authority to forgive the sins of Muslims. Ashaari also heads Rufaqa, which runs multi-million-dollar businesses from restaurants to schools. It has operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Jordan.
Rufaqa filed its defamation case against Mustapha Abdul Rahman, the director of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department; Abdul Rahman Palil, the chairman of Islamic Affairs of Selangor; and Zabidi Shariff, former legal adviser to al-Arqam. Aziz Hashim, the economic and corporate adviser of Rufaqa, told Al Jazeera on Thursday: "Saying Rufaqa is trying to revive [al-Arqam] is simply not true. As a company we don't have any belief. We don't practise religion. We are a company only. We don't have a religious agenda. If we have religious agenda, we wouldn't register as a business."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Suspected Tamil rebels have abducted two members of a rival group of former separatists from their office in a northern town, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. A group of armed men stormed into the office of the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam in the seaside town of Puttalam late Wednesday and seized Pakaisara and Karikalam, an official at the ministrys Media Center for National Security said. Tamils often use only one name.
Remaining members of the former rebel group, which renounced violence decades ago and joined the political mainstream, told Puttalam police that Tamil Tiger rebels abducted the two men, the officer said on condition of anonymity because of army regulations.
Calls to the rebels headquarters in the northern district of Kilinochchi rang unanswered Thursday. Several armed Tamil separatist groups were formed when the campaign for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lankas north and east began in 1983. Most of those groups, including the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, laid down their weapons and sought a peaceful solution in 1987 under an India-brokered deal. But the Tamil Tiger rebels, formally called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, have maintained their armed campaign and occasionally target members of rival Tamil parties, accusing them of collaborating with government forces to fight the rebellion.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela will not renew the license of an opposition-aligned TV station when it expires next year, President Hugo Chavez said Thursday, accusing the broadcaster of backing plots to topple him. ``There will be no new concession for that coup-plotting television channel named Radio Caracas Television,'' Chavez said in a year-end speech to troops.
A Bolivian court has ruled that a Cuban dissident who criticized improved relations between Bolivia and Cuba should be deported to the communist country. 
Guffaws were heard around the world last month when it was reported that North Korea's Dear Leader Kim Jong Il had scored 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf.
Prime Minister John Howard says he is not afraid of having a nuclear power plant built next door to his Sydney home.
Gerald R. Ford's state funeral is missing some of the grandeur of the one for Ronald Reagan two years ago, a reflection of the 38th president's modest ways and lesser imprint on the nation, according to further planning details released Thursday. Part of it will be missing President Bush, too. The president will not attend Ford's state funeral in the Rotunda on Saturday night, but will return to Washington from his Texas ranch on Monday, pay respects to Ford while his remains lie in state at the Capitol, and speak Tuesday at services for Ford at the National Cathedral.
Sen. Tim Johnson turned 60 on Thursday, two weeks after emergency surgery to repair a brain hemorrhage that has left him in critical condition. Julianne Fisher, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota Democrat, said Johnson won't be present in the first days of the new Congress next week but is continuing to improve. She said he is responsive to directions from his wife but has not yet spoken. 
When an Adolf Hitler-themed restaurant opened in a suburb of cosmopolitan Mumbai in August, many were horrified. The restaurant, Hitlers Cross, changed its name a week later to the Cross Cafe, but it is not the only example of how favourably some Indians view Hitler and his legacy. 
British scientists are on the verge of producing a revolutionary flu vaccine that works against all major types of the disease. Described as the 'holy grail' of flu vaccines, it would protect against all strains of influenza A - the virus behind both bird flu and the nastiest outbreaks of winter flu. Just a couple of injections could give long-lasting immunity - unlike the current vaccine which has to be given every year. 
A corporation that the government accuses of reviving "deviant" Islamic teachings outlawed more than 10 years ago, has filed a RM150m ($42.5m) defamation case against Malaysian Islamic authorities. Islamic authorities in Selangor recently detained some members of Rufaqa Corporation on allegations of rekindling the outlawed al-Arqam sect. 
Suspected Tamil rebels have abducted two members of a rival group of former separatists from their office in a northern town, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. A group of armed men stormed into the office of the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam in the seaside town of Puttalam late Wednesday and seized Pakaisara and Karikalam, an official at the ministrys Media Center for National Security said. Tamils often use only one name. 
