Omar Osama Bin Laden and Wife Zaina al Sabah

Omar Osama Bin Laden, the fourth of the 19 sons of Osama Bin Laden, has not been granted political asylum in Egypt either.

At the beginning of this week he flew from Cairo to Madrid and, as soon as the plane landed, Omar and his wife, Zaina al Sabah, filed a petition for political asylum to the Spanish authorities.Two days later, the petition was denied and yesterday he and his wife were embarked on a plane headed for the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

During their stay in the International Airport of Cairo the couple was not allowed to have any contact with the press. When they received the news that their petition had also been rejected by the Egyptian Authorities the couple, traveling with Saudi Arabia passports, boarded on another flight, this time to Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Omar Osama Bin Laden claims to be the pacifist son of Osama, and he says he fears for his life for having criticized his father’s actions and for being against the Islamic fundamentalism.

Seeing that he possesses Saudi Arabian citizenship, there should be no problem for him to enter Qatar territory and get the political asylum; nonetheless, he has filed another petition to British authorities, which will not be answered until February 2009.

Nuclear Submarine Layout

At least 20 people got killed in an accident that took place on board of a Russian nuclear submarine of the Pacific fleet, according to the declarations of Captain Igor Dygalo.

The accident was caused by a malfunction of the fire extinction system during some training procedures at sea. Russian officials have not given details on the submarine’s name or location, but they ensure that the nuclear reactor is fully functional and it has not been affected by the incident.

Admiral Vladímir Vysotski gave orders for the procedures to be ceased immediately, but gave no details on their nature.

The victims probably died asphyxiated, as on submarines the fire extinction procedures consist in hermetically sealing all the exits and spraying chemical substances that neutralize the oxygen in the affected area. In such cases, in order to survive, those present should wear gas masks.

According to sources from the Army, on board of the submarine there were 208 persons, out of whom only 81 were military; the rest were specialized workers.

Juan Camilo Mouriño

The Mexican Government has totally ruled out the possibility of Mouriño’s plane crashing because of a bomb attack.

They are not yet certain it wasn’t an attack; they just said they did not find any trace of explosives on board. The aircraft’s black boxed have been sent to Tucson, Arizona for further investigation.In a press conference held in Ciudad de Mexico, the Minister of Transports and Communications, Luis Tellez, has announced that there is no indication of a technical error either, since the engines were working at the same intensity.

Juan Camilo Mouriño, close friend of the Mexican President, died on the 4th of November in a plane crash, together with José Luis Vasconcelos, the President’s Security adviser.

The accident also caused the death of five civilians who just happened to be on that street in downtown Ciudad de Mexico when the plane crashed.

Gilberto López Meyer, the Director of ASA (Airports and Auxiliary Services), has announced that the remains of the airplane will be taken from the crash site in maximum 48 hours.

The human remains of Juan Camilo Mouriño (1971-2008) have been taken to the memorial house of a cathedral situated in Campeche, Southern Mexico, where he had spent his childhood.

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas Leader

Obama’s election has been received extremely well by the majority of world leaders and institutions.

Latest events come to show that even terrorists groups like him more than they did President Bush; during his mandate, the United States have totally rejected the idea of keeping contact with the Islamic terrorist groups, and they did not seem willing to do so either.

In order to try to solve the political problems in the Middle East, Hamas have announced their availability to discuss with the President-elect Barack Obama.

Representatives of the Islamic movement have ensured that, as long as Obama will respect their rights and political convictions, they are willing to meet with him.

Obama has visited Israel this past July and has told Hamas leaders that the only way to have better relations with the US was to stop the acts of violence and officially recognize the existence of Israel as a separate state.

School Collapse, Haiti

After the collapse of the suburban school in Puerto Principe, Haiti, yesterday, the authorities are still digging up bodies of children trapped under the walls.

The crash, which might have been caused by an earth slide, has killed at least 50 persons and injured quite as many, according to the rescue teams.At the time of the accident the almost 700 students, with ages between 10 and 20, were in their classrooms and in the school yard.

The parents of the children studying there are desperately digging through the piles of cement in search of their bodies. The police and the UN peace forces are doing the best they can to retrieve all the bodies.

The Haitian president, Rene Preval, and the Prime Minister, Michel Pierre Louis, have attended the accident site; they have ensured all those present that the government will do everything in their power to help all the families affected by this tragedy.

Cristina Fernández , President of Argentina

The Argentinean Congress has agreed on the nationalization of the pension funds, despite the opposition’s contrary opinion.

The Government run by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has won yet another political battle yesterday, by obtaining the approval of the Congress on the nationalization of the pension funds.
With 160 votes for and 75 against , the controversial law project has eliminated the private pension funds and has reinstated a single pension system.

The law project will now go through to the Senate, where President Fernández hopes things will go fast and without any problems.

The Government said that the main reason for this whole process is that they wanted to stop the financial groups from charging such high account administration taxes.

The political debate on the extinction of the so-called Administrators of the Jubilation and Pension Funds went on with great difficulties and there have been virulent discussions between the participants.

Arrest

The Mexican police have apprehended a regional leader of the Gulf Mexican drug cartel and a great amount of arsenal.

The Federal Police have captured Jaime González Durán, one of the leaders of the drug cartels in the Gulf of Mexico area, also known as the “Hummer”.

During the same operation, they have confiscated 5,000 cartridges, approximately 500 weapons of different calibers, and more than 86,000 dollars in cash.

The arrest took place in a neighbourhood of the town of Reynosa, in the Northern state of Tamaulipas.
Hummer is considered to be one of the main partners of Heriberto Lazcano and of Miguel Treviño Morales, leaders of the drug trafficking group “Los Zetas”.

The chief of Federal Police told the press that Jaime González joined the Mexican Army in 1991, but quit in February, 1999 in order to join Lazcano and Morales in the Gulf Drug Cartel.

Gonzalez was wanted in the United States and in Mexico for conspiracy, and production and distribution of cocaine.

Liposuction

One might think that being one of the most wanted members of the Italian Mob and searched by the police occupies one’s mind; to prove the contrary stands Domenico Magnoli.

He is one of the members of the mob group of the Southern region of Calabria, in Italy.

The French police had issued a search and arrest warrant for him, on charges of drugs trafficking, but he did not seem to see that a priority and went to a medical clinic to have a liposuction in a clinic in Southern Italy.

Minutes after he regained consciousness from the anesthetics, he was apprehended by the Italian police in Cosenza, Calabria.

Apart from the drug trafficking charges raised by the French police, Magnoli is suspected of being involved in illegal activities with the “Ndrangheta”, the powerful Calabria mob group, which coordinates drugs trafficking networks from South America and Eastern Europe.

Gomorra, Film Poster

At the 2008 European Film Festival, in Sevilla, Spain, director Matteo Garrone’s film will be presented during the festival’s opening night.

The film, called “Gomorra”, is based on the book with the same name, written by the Italian journalist Roberto Saviano.

Underneath the fictional elements, the film shows the underworld of the Italian Mafia, and there is nothing pretty about it: no heroes, no pretty actors, nothing to hide the violence associated with this social phenomenon. The film shows reality as it is, and how the Camorra affects the lives of people living in Naples.

Garrone decided to make this film years ago, even before the book became a best-seller and even before the Camorra threatened to kill its author. He says the film is neither a critic, nor a praise. It just tells things as they are nowadays in Naples.

The film received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival and has been chosen to represent Italy at the Oscars, in the Best Foreign Language Film.

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

The monarchy of Butan and it population have welcome Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, their new king.

He is only 28 years old and he has been crowned king in the country with the shortest history of democracy.

The coronation ceremony started at 08:30 local time (03:30 GMT), at the exact moment chosen by the astrologists of the Royal House, and under the strict supervision of the Prime Minister, Jigme Thinley.

The new monarch has received an Oxford education, and has also studied in the United States and India.

He represents the new spirit of Butan, a small kingdom situated in the heart of Asia, bordered by China and India.

His purpose is to try to leave behind conservatory ruling methods and continue the work of his father who abdicated in 2006 in order to make Butan a democracy.

Omar Osama Bin Laden

The fourth of the 19 sons of Osama Bin Laden, Omar, has requested political asylum in Spain immediately after landing on Barajas Airport, in Madrid.

He arrived on Spanish territory on Monday, accompanied by his wife, UK citizen.

After two days of analysing the request, Spanish authorities have decided to reject his petition, as everybody expected.

The Ministry of Interior advised Omar Osama Bin Laden of their decision yesterday, hours after having received an official UN report on his situation.

Both institutions have come to the conclusion that there is no reason for Mr. Osama to live in Spain, since there is no evidence suggesting his life might be endangered if he continues to live in Saudi Arabia, where he was born and raised.

But Osama Bin Laden’s pacifist son can still do something to change this decision; he can make an appeal within the next 24 hours and, if his petition gets denied again, he can appear before an administrative court.

If the request gets rejected again, Omar Osama Bin Laden will have to leave the asylum hall of Terminal 4 and leave Spanish territory.

Juan Camilo Mouriño

After conducting initial investigations, the Mexican Government states that they do not know fur sure whether Juan Camilo Mouriño’s death was an attack or just a terrible accident.

The plane by which were travelling Mouriño, Mexican Minister of Interior, and 1several other people, including the most fierce fighter against narcotics trafficking, has crashed over Ciudad de Mexico yesterday, leaving no survivors.

They were returning from San Luis de Potosi when, for no obvious reasons, the aircraft crashed in the center of the Mexican capital city.

Juan Camilo Mouriño, aged 37, was born in Madrid, Spain and was the son of Celta de Vigo football club owner.

He was married and the father of three children, and one of the most important people of President Calderón’s campaign. There was a close friendship between him and the president which went beyond their official relationship.

The Mexican Minister of Transport and Communications, Luis Tellez, has announced that they will do all the necessary investigations in order to determine the exact causes of the crash, and that they have already flown in experts from UK and the United States.

A2 Autobahn

A bus fire in Germany, on a highway leading to Hanover, caused approximately twenty victims.

Reports say the bus was coming from Berlin on the A2 Autobahn (highway) when the fire started, apparently out of the blue. After further investigation, Oliver Pehl, the company owner’s son, has told the press that the fire had been caused by a cigarette forgotten in the bus toilet, after somebody has secretly smoked in there.

Investigating experts have not revealed any official information to the press yet.

Up to 20 people lost their lives and several others suffered injuries; most of the victims were elderly persons.

Ten people survived, as they managed to get out of the bus in time, but three of them suffered very serious burns.

Letters of condolences have been sent to the families of the victims, both from the owners of the coach company and the German Minister of Transport, Wolfgang Tiefensee.

Omar Osama Bin Laden

One of Osama Bin Laden’s 19 sons has requested political asylum yesterday, on Barajas Airport, in Madrid.

Omar Osama Bin Laden, aged 28, arrived from Cairo on a plane that was headed to Casablanca, and asked to be granted political asylum immediately after his plane landed.Bin Laden’s son lived with his father for the first twenty years of his life but he now says he totally rejects and disapproves his father’s actions and that he is the peaceful member of his family.

The young man, married with a British citizen called Jane Felix Browne, aged 52, is not at his first attempt to obtain political asylum. Earlier this year he tried with UK, but the British Embassy in Cairo rejected his application.

After realising what was happening, the Spanish authorities decided they will analyze Osama’s file, but in the meanwhile he is to remain in the transit hall of Barajas Airport’s Terminal 4.

Anti-Camorra Demonstration

Five young boys, with ages between 12 and 16, have been the target of a Camorra armed attack last Sunday in Secondigliano, one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods of Naples, Italy.

The boys were hanging out at a games club when four armed men, riding motorcycles and wearing helmets started shooting at them without warning.
According to the police, they fired about 30 shots and the incident was nothing more than one of the usual personal vendettas of the Naples mob group, called Camorra.

The parents of the five boys only suffered light injuries; four of the boys were the games club owner’s nephews and the police suspects the revenge was against him.

All those present in the games club managed to escape alive by hiding as fast as they could behind the billiards tables.

Luckily this time nobody got killed; but this only comes to show that in Naples and in the region of Campania violent acts are more and more frequent.

People have often demonstrated against this phenomenon and the government has sent some 500 soldiers in the area last year, but things seem to be exactly as they have always been, or even worse.

Mexico, Map of Main Drug Cartels

The violent confrontations between police forces and Mexican drug dealers cause several injured and even deaths every day, in Tijuana, Northern Mexico.

The situation in Tijuana seems to be more uncontrollable as days pass by. Drug dealers are fighting for the supremacy over one of Mexico’s largest drug cartel, and they also fight with police forces.Only in the past month there have been about 180 people reported dead in shootings, personal vendettas, drugs gangs’ encounters.

Death has become such a common event in Tijuana that nobody seems to be surprised at seeing dead bodies on the street or in public places. Two days ago the police have found two bodies wrapped in blankets on a Tijuana beach, a gas station worker killed after she had attended a drug dealer and a used car dealer. Also, two other bodies were found on the street. With these six murders, the number of victims over the past week rises to more than 30.

On Sunday, even a police station and a highway patrol car have been assaulted in the Southern State of Guerrero. Seven police officers have suffered injuries after being shot at by several heavily armed gang members.

There seems to be nothing that can stop this phenomenon….will Mexico become a no-law land? It is certainly headed that way.

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The visit of Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to South-Eastern Turkey- a region with mostly Kurdish population- has caused severe clashes between the police forces and Kurdish protesters.

The Kurds in the area do not like the Prime Minister’s methods and have demonstrated against his visit.The most violent encounters have been reported in Yuksekova, a town situated at the border with Iraq. The riot police had to face about 3,000 angry demonstrators and had to use tear gas to keep the crowds under control and away from the members of the official delegation.

The Prime Minister visited the area in order to participate at the opening ceremony of a hospital in Yuksekova, one of Turkey’s poorest towns.

The South-Eastern region of Turkey has seen many violent acts lately, mostly caused by rebel attacks on Turkish soldiers and the military’s counteractions by bombing the Iraq based camps of the PKK (Party of Kurdistan Workers).

The Kurdish community feels discriminated and claims they do not have the same rights and facilities as all other Turkish citizens.

UN Escort

The on-going Congo crisis has made the EU and UN officials seek for fast and effective solutions.

David Miliband and Bernard Kouchenr, Foreign Ministers for UK and France, have drawn the alarm signal and declared something must be done as soon as possible.

During their meetings with the presidents of Congo and Rwanda they have managed to get them to agree to the organization of a regional summit meant to find the correct way out of this situation.

Over the past week, people have been leaving their homes because of the rebel troops loyal to General Laurent Nkunda who have now taken over even the areas surrounding Goma.

Thousands of refugees have been forced to live on minimum provisions of food and water and have even had to search the woods for plant roots and wild fruit.

On Monday, they should be receiving food and medical supplies sent by the UN.

Rupiah Banda

Ever since the death of President Levy Mwanawasa in August, Zambians have had to decide who will be their head of state for the next three years.

The winner of last week’s election is Rupiah Banda, and he has already been officially accepted as the new Zambian President until 2011.

He was a diplomat and also the vice-president of the country during President Mwanawasa’s mandate and he has based his campaign on promises to continue with what his predecessor had started.

Also running for the presidential chair was Mr. Michael Sata, but he came in second, with only 38.1% of the votes.

He was extremely displeased with the result and even wanted to demand an official recount, but the regional electoral monitors assured him the results would stay exactly the same.

Mr. Sata’s supporters have found the results as difficult to accept as their candidate, and there have been reports of violent confrontations between them and the riot police in the country’s capital, Lusaka.

Alitalia Aircraft

Alitalia, Italy’s national airline company, has been in a critical situation ever since two years ago. Several attempts have been made to save the company since then, and airlines such as Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways have been involved in the process.

On Friday, the Italian investors’ group CAI (Compagni Aerea Italiana) has made a 1 billion Euros offer for Alitalia and they hope that in the future they will be able to join one of the major European Airlines.

Unfortunately, this offer has a down size, as this purchase will mean that more than 3,000 people will lose their jobs. Some Alitalia trade unions are still against this offer, although negotiations have been carried out for a long time.

The rescue plan states that CAI will have 12,500 people working for Alitalia, 3,500 less than now. Apart from the personnel cut, they will also cease activity on unprofitable routes and will get rid of some of the older aircrafts.

Experts advise the deal must follow EU competition rules; otherwise Alitalia is sure to declare bankruptcy.
The Italian government has even made modifications to the bankruptcy laws in order to keep the national airline alive, and the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is most keen to settle a deal as soon as possible.