CNN reports Hu Jintao is touring Latin America to build China's political and investment ties.
Jintao stopped in Cuba to talk to former president Castro and current president Castro. other stops on the trip includes Costa Rica and Peru
Cuban state TV announced signing of Cuba-China trade pact
Cuba was devastated recently by three hurricanes which did $10 billion worth of damage, Jintao has promised $350 million to help.
CNN reports Pirates in the Arabian Sea took a Saudi-owned oil tanker with 25 crew aboard.
The article says that two of the crew are British, but doesn't say the numbers of the other nationalities aboard. That seems a little racist to me. I can understand if they were American, maybe even Canadian, but Britain is not us, and it implies that we really only care about white English speaking people and everyone else can go to hell.
A multinational naval force has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden to stop pirate attacks.
Sunday a Japanese 20,000 ton vessel was seized off Somalia's coast.
eleven vessels are being held for ransom by pirates.
The BBC reports that Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino, 37, became known as the president's strongman as he lead the battles against Mexico's drug cartels.
Mexico's president paid tribute to him as one of his best friends.
"With his death, Mexico has lost a great Mexican, intelligent, loyal and committed to his ideals and his country," Mr Calderon told a news conference.
Despite adding 36,000 troops added to fight the drug cartels, violence has soared
The BBC reporter Paul Wood says "Souad Khousaim lay very still on her hospital bed and in a quiet voice wracked with pain told me she was one of the innocent victims of Sunday's raid by US special forces." she went outside to get her son when an American soldier five feet away shot her as she scremed in terror. Want to know something really funny?!? "Her husband was among the seven Syrian men who died, but hospital officials have not told her this yet. "
Americans, who think they have the right to do anything, went five miles into Syria to find Abu Ghadiya, an Iraqi Al Qaeda cell leader who has brought thousands of jihadist fighters into the country.
A loclal said that two helicopters rained bullets onto a compound while two others landed and let soldiers get out.
Within minutes after searching they were gone. All that was left were bullet casing and a few dead men that villagers say were innocent civillians. one was a nightwatchmen (Khousaim's husband) five others were all related a father and his four adult sons who had just finished laying the foundation for a house.
A relative said ""The world must see what the Americans have done here," he shouted, close to tears, while men from the village nodded in agreement. "
The world probably wont : (
The BBC reports that a Vietnamese court has sentenced a vietnamese journalist for two years for reporting on a corruption case.
Another journalist who pleaded guilty was given two years probation.
Two police officers who gave the journalists the information were sentenced to one year in jail.
The reporting brought down several high level politicians, but authorities said their reporting was innacurate and harmful. they were charged with "abusing freedom and democratic rights".
'Media watchdog Reporters without Borders has condemned the trial, calling it the Vietnamese government's "revenge" against "daring journalists who revealed embarrassing cases and brought greater freedom to the Vietnamese press". '
BBC reports that a US federal court has blocked a judge's order that 17 Chinese prisoners at Guantanamo Bay should be released. A district court decided it was wrong to hold prisoners that have not been charged and that there is no evidence against. The White House appealed saying the ruling "could set a dangerous precedent."
They were to be released within the US to stay with members of their community in the Washington area.
Reuters UK reports that the prisoners have remained in Guantanamo because the US cant find a country to take them.
The Uighurs, as they are called, were cleared for release in 2004. but may face persecution if released back to China.The White House doesn't want to set a precedent that would allow sworn enemies entry into the US. but there is no evidence that these 17 have any thing to do with any "enemy."
Beijing has demanded all Uighurs at Guantanamo be repatriated to China.
"Beijing has waged a campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities. "
CNN reports that at a U.N. nuclear conference of 145 nations Israel was indirectly criticized for refusing to put its atomic program under international purview.
Israel is believed to have nuclear arms but has a “no tell� policy.
Iran lead the attacks against Israel at the conference.
On Saturday delegates voted 82-0 to establish the Mideast as a nuclear-free zone.
CNN reports that the U.S. and European Union blocked efforts by Muslim nations to submit a resolution more directly critical of Israel and its “nuclear capabilities.�
One question that I have is what nations this reporter is talking about when they say Muslim nations. Does he/she mean all the Mideast countries that aren’t Israel? I think its important to clarify the actual nations than to make this issue be something about religion when it very likely isn’t.
CNN reports that a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 Soviet T-72 tanks and ammunition was seized by pirates.
The ship was headed to Kenya, The weapons were sold to Kenya by Ukraine.
The ship tried to steer clear of Somalia because there is a lot of sea piracy happening there.
A Russian ship is in pursuit of the pirates.
Forbes reports that US Navy ships have also been deployed to retrieve the seized Ukrainian vessel.
Forbes says that there has been a "worldwide renaissance" of sea piracy over the last 10 years.
An assosciated press article from the Star Tribune reports that deadly bombings outside the American embassy in Yemen included snipers and as many as five explosions.
Yemeni authorities that first responded were met with heavy sniper fire. One locally employed embassy security guard was killed, as well as four Yemeni troops guarding
the embassy and five other people, the official said. In all 10 Yemeni police and civilians were killed.
CNN reports that six attackers, including a suicide bomber were also killed.
"This attack is a reminder of the continuing threat we face from violent extremists both at home and abroad," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
CNN said "Yemen believes al Qaeda is responsible for the attack, al-Basha said. Media reports said Islamic Jihad in Yemen -- which is affiliated with al Qaeda -- has claimed responsibility for the attack, but CNN could not independently confirm those reports."
The White House has vowed to increase counterterrorism efforts.
The BBC reports that after 13 years and 5 billion pounds the Large Hadron Collidor(LHC), a machine housed in a 27 km-long tunnel on the swiss-french border, has been succesfully switched on.
The LHC is designed to smash particles together and recreate the moments after the big bang.
"Eventually, two proton beams will be steered in opposite directions around the LHC at close to the speed of light, completing about 11,000 laps each second.
At allotted points around the tunnel, the beams will cross paths, smashing together near four massive "detectors" that monitor the collisions for interesting events.
Scientists are hoping that new sub-atomic particles will emerge, revealing fundamental insights into the nature of the cosmos," The BBC reports.
Ordinary matter, such as you, me, galaxies, gas stars and planets make up 4% of the universe. Dark matter and dark energy, stuff that virtual.ly nothing is known about other than the fact that they are ther. Physicists think the LHC will provide clues to the nature of this stuff.
National Geographic reports that some people are worried that the LHC will create black holes that could swallow up and destroy the earth or the whole universe.
physicists connected to the LHC and independent of, say there's no reason for alarm.
""Collisions just like those the [atom-smasher] will make have been produced by cosmic rays bombarding the Earth throughout its existence," said a statement from the American Physical Society."