[At the end, parts of a speech by Ron Paul - Another World Is Possible does not necessarily share the political views of the Ron Paul campaign, however "in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king".]

When the commander-in-chief inks his name to NDAA FY2012, Americans can be on their way to the same torture cells that have kept al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked terrorists for the last decade. It’s now been revealed, however, that US citizens and anyone suspected of a crime against America can be sent all over the world. - If you’re upset that congressional approval of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 can send you away to military prisons and be tortured in America, don’t worry — it could be worse. The US could send you somewhere else. No, really. They could. And they can. Anywhere else, too. Really. While the bill that left Capitol Hill last week and awaits authorization from US President Barack Obama allows for the United States to indefinitely detain and torture American citizens suspected of aiding enemy forces, one provision in the bill specifies that that detention doesn’t necessarily have to occur domestically — nor does it have to be in a foreign prison run by the US.

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the US government demanding that Iran return the CIA spy, recently arrested by the country's intelligence agents, is outrageous. - “The US spy is a criminal and must be tried in Iran for the crime he has committed,” Kazem Jalali said on Wednesday. The lawmaker, who is also the spokesman for Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, added that US officials have shamelessly sent spies and spy drones into Iran and brazenly says they want their operative and spy drone back. Noting that President Barack Obama is in dire conditions, Jalali said, “ The severe economic crisis in the United States and the difficult times ahead of the Democrats in the upcoming presidential election, have prompted them to launch such a immature political propaganda campaign.” “How come that the Americans kidnap Iranian citizens and keep them in custody for [many] years, but…when our intelligence forces arrest an American spy, the US president [Barack Obama] says he must be freed?” he asked.

A cargo vessel detained at Kotka harbour has been found to be carrying a shipment of American-made Patriot missiles. According to information received by YLE, the missile shipment originated in Germany and is destined for South Korea. - Onboard the ship are 69 of the surface-to-air missiles with their explosive warheads and propelling charges. The National Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the missiles are onboard the ship. Both the missiles and a cargo of explosives were en route from Germany to South Korea. According to press reports, the ship made port in Finland to pick up a consignment of anchor chain for delivery to China. The ship is registered in the Isle of Man, a self-governing territory under the British Crown. Officials stopped the M/S Thor Liberty last week as its cargo of explosives had been stored incorrectly. The ship is carrying 150 tonnes of the explosive nitroguanidine. The material is in 25 kg packages some of which was found to be damaged. Because of the characteristics of nitroguanidine, the material should be carried in shipping containers. The crystalline compound, used as a propellant, is made from bird or bat guano. In the course of inspection, port authorities found that the cargo also included the shipment of military missiles.

YLE.fi: Shroud of mystery surrounds missile shipment

She has eyelashes but no eyebrows. She has all her fingers but is missing four nails. Her skin is so taut now that she can no longer frown. But she can still smile. Her face tells a story of suffering. Her name, Shakira, tells a story of a new journey. Shakira means thankful. Last week, 4-year-old Shakira arrived in the United States for what her caretaker, Hashmat Effendi, hopes will be the start of the rest of her life. Shakira, believed burned in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, will undergo reconstructive surgery in January. She will never look fully normal, but Effendi hopes the surgery will make it easier for Shakira to grow older and help others see what Effendi has seen all along: an effervescent bundle of love.

Photo: The US embassy in Baghdad is gigantic for all Iraqi's, for the entire world to see. A 100-acre compound - ten times the size of the typical U.S. embassy, the size of 80 football fields, six times larger than the UN, the size of Vatican City. The U.S. Embassy Compound, in the middle of Baghdad - the centre for U.S. domination of the Middle East and its resources. (shunpiking)

Following up on previous reports last month about plans for the US to keep a number of trainers in Iraq beyond the deadline for withdrawal, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced today in a press conference that 700 troops will remain.

Maliki insisted that the troops’ duties would be strictly training and that they would only be operating inside military barracks. His comments did not directly address the US demands for immunity for the troops, but presumably they are being given some sort of immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed inside Iraq. Maliki also reported that the number of troops at the US Embassy would “not exceed 2,000,” giving the first clear view of exactly what sort of number of boots on the ground will remain after the end of the month. In addition to the 700 trainers and the “not exceeding 2,000″ embassy troops, the US will also have 1,500 diplomats with diplomatic immunity, as well as 15,000 other employees, which presumably includes the “private army” the State Department is planning to create.

Top US scientists have defended their bid to stop details of a mutant bird flu virus from being published and called for global co-operation to ward off an uncontrollable pandemic. - Meanwhile, scientists involved in the experiments said they were co-operating with government officials and the editors of the journals Science and Nature to pare down their research for publication in the coming weeks. The controversy arose when two separate research teams — one in the Netherlands and the other in the United States — separately found ways to alter the H5N1 avian influenza so it could pass easily between mammals. Until now, bird flu has been rare in humans, but particularly fatal in those who do become ill. H5N1 first infected humans in 1997 and more than half of those infected died, for a total of 350 deaths. There is concern the virus could mutate and mimic past pandemic flu outbreaks such as the "Spanish flu" of 1918-1919, which killed 50 million people, and outbreaks in 1957 and 1968 that killed three million.

Russia Today: Man-made super-flu formula to be published?

The Independent: Too late to contain killer flu science, say experts - Attempts to censor details of controversial influenza experiments that created a highly infectious form of bird-flu virus are unlikely to stop the information from leaking out, according to scientists familiar with the research. The US Government has asked the editors of two scientific journals to refrain from publishing key parts of research on the H5N1 strain of bird-flu in order to prevent the information falling into the hands of terrorists intent on recreating the same flu strain for use as a bioweapon. However, scientists yesterday condemned the move.

The oil company says up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta. - Nigerian coastal and fishing communities were on Thursday put on alert after Shell admitted to an oil spill that is likely to be the worst in the area for a decade, according to government officials. The company said up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled on Wednesday while it was transferred from a floating oil platform to a tanker 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta. All production from the Bonga field, which produces around 200,000 barrels a day, was last night suspended. "Early indications show that less than 40,000 barrels of oil have leaked in total. Spill response procedures have been initiated and emergency control and spill risk procedures are up and running," said Tony Okonedo, a Shell Nigeria spokesman.

Bank of America has agreed to pay a record $335million to settle civil charges that it discriminated against minority homebuyers. - The banking giant agreed to the payout following an investigation into the policies of a separate financial institution before it was bought out by Bank of America in 2008. As the financial and housing crisis deepened in 2008, Bank of America bought the Countrywide, which specialised in so-called subprime mortgages and focused on loans to those with lower credit ratings. Customers were charged higher interest rates and payments that suddenly increased after two or three years. The settlement covers Countrywide's conduct between 2004 and 2008, before the acquisition by Bank of America, and involved a range of alleged wrongdoing, including charging African-Americans and Hispanics higher interest rates and fees than non-minorities.

A mosque in Burqa village near Ramallah which was
burnt by Israeli settlers.

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (15 – 21 December 2011)

Shooting: During the reporting period, a Palestinian civilian was killed when fell from his bicycle as he was attempting to escape Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip. Two Palestinian civilians, including a fisherman, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip, and a third civilian was wounded in the West Bank. n the Gaza Strip, on 16 December 2011, a Palestinian civilian was killed as he fell from his bicycles as he was attempting to escape Israeli gunfire in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. On the same day, a Palestinian fisherman was wounded by Israeli gunfire in the northern Gaza Strip. On 21 December 2011, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF fired at a number of Palestinian workers in the northern Gaza Strip. During the reporting period, IOF arrested 4 Palestinian fishermen and confiscated a fishing boat in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, during the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, a Palestinian civilian was wounded. Dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. IOF also arrested a Palestinian civilian. Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 25 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 9 Palestinian civilians, including two children. The detainees include a leader of Islamic Jihad who was arrested in Jenin. During house raids, a dog belonging to IOF bit a Palestinian woman in Hebron. Restrictions on Movement: Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

IMEMC: Settlers Attack Child In Jerusalem, Clashes Reported
IMEMC: Palestinian Worker Wounded By Army Fire In Gaza
PIC: Israeli soldiers round up 4 Palestinians, assault paramedic
PIC: Israeli scheme to displace thousands of Palestinians in Al-Khalil
Desertpeace: Rabbi Froman: Deport mosque burners
Amira Hass: Palestinians are heroes, braving Israeli dictatorship

Stephen Lendman: Israeli Delegitimization - At issue isn't its legal nation state legitimacy. Its lawless ideology is illegitimate. It is corrosive, destructive, racist, extremist, undemocratic and hateful. It claims Jewish supremacy, specialness and uniqueness as God's "chosen people." It espouses violence, not peaceful coexistence. It chooses confrontation over diplomacy. It employs strength through militarism, intimidation, and naked aggression. It is contemptuous of moral values and ethical principles.

A top Argentine official was found hanged in his hotel room in Montevideo during a summit meeting of the South American trade group Mercosur, police said. - Ivan Heyn, 33, the undersecretary of trade, was found dead around 3:00 pm (1700 GMT) at the Radisson Hotel downtown, police spokesman Jose Luis Rondan told a news conference. "He apparently died by hanging" with a belt, Rondan said. He said police were trying to determine whether it was a suicide, a crime or an accident. A Uruguayan official earlier said Heyn had committed suicide. A source close to the case told AFP on condition of anonymity that Heyn was naked when he was found, nearly six hours after his death. An investigating judge told local media that the circumstances surrounding Heyn's death remained unclear. News of his death shocked the Mercosur summit, attended by the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Military chiefs are dusting off their plans for the defence of the Falklands after South American countries banned ships from the islands docking in their ports. - Sources fear Prince William's six-month deployment to the South Atlantic as an air-sea rescue pilot next year could provoke more sabre-rattling. Yesterday Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed Britain was ready to use its military to steal natural resources 'anywhere, anyhow'. She said: 'They're currently taking our oil reserves and fish stocks from the Falklands but when they need more natural resources they will come and use force to steal them wherever and however they can.' Mercosur, the South American trading block which also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay have agreed to ban boats sailing under the Falklands flag from docking at their ports – even though Paraguay does not even have a coastline. The ban affects around 25 ships – some of which are fishing vessels working for a Spanish company.

The British government has asked Washington to hand over a man held by US forces in Afghanistan after the appeal court ordered a writ of habeas corpus be issued seven years after he was detained. The court ordered the writ last week after hearing that Yunus Rahmatullah was detained by UK special forces in Iraq in 2004, and then handed over to US forces who flew him to Bagram prison, north of Kabul. The court heard on Wednesday that the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence had asked the US government to transfer Rahmatullah to British custody so that he could be released. However, the US defence department replied three days later that the responsible official "is currently on travel", and that it would respond at some unspecified date in the future.

John Glaser: Britain Asks US to Hand Over Bagram Detainee

Interview with Shlomo Sand Author of The Invention of the Jewish People 2/2

They should just prohibit Palestinians from participating in everything, and be done with it:

● "Swiss museum cancels competition after prize-sponsor Lacoste rejects Palestinian artist";
● "UPDATE! Musée de L’Elysée suspends prize because Sansour barred as ”too pro-Palestinian”"; and
● are you as surprised as I am at the real reason: "Owner of Lacoste, which censored Palestinian artist, is major donor to Israel, Zionist causes"?

It is not 'joie de vivre' they are worried about. Breivik knows what the crocodile/alligator/gargoyle - or whatever the hell it is - means: "Stop Anders Breivik wearing our clothes, Lacoste reportedly ask police". So if you don't want to be identified as an Islamophobe, you know what not to wear.

The Palestinians are heroes, and that's not simply a flowery journalistic phrase. It's a fact not intended for the thugs, but rather for people who shut their eyes - and they are many. Those who shut their eyes do so because they seek normalcy. What they don't see doesn't exist and doesn't bother them. Israeli normalcy longs for the Palestinians to disappear, or at least to remain silent and finally surrender. But Palestinian bravery will continue to thwart the longings of Israeli normalcy. - The Palestinians are heroes, and that's the only fact that's relevant after the slight shock of the hilltop thugs. The hands are the hands of thugs, and the head? The head is the head of the hostile regime under which the Palestinians live and which harasses them every moment of every day, week after week for decades. To live this way and remain sane - that's heroism. "And who says we're sane?" Palestinians answer me. Well, here's the proof: self-irony. The thugs of the hills are only the icing on the cake. Most of the work is being done by thugs wearing kid gloves. Unlike the people who threw the stone at the deputy brigade commander, these are fan favorites in Israel. The flesh of our flesh. Officers and soldiers, military jurists, architects and contractors in the service of the army, Interior Ministry and National Insurance Institute clerks. The hands are their hands. The head is the head of the demos, the Israeli-Jewish people, who by the democratic process send governments to be the dictator over the Palestinians.

In a wildlife video that’s making the rounds today, an explorer treking through Uganda’s Bwindi National Park has a hair-raising encounter with a pack of wild baby gorillas as a big male Silverback watches silently.

Was Kim Jong-il murdered in power struggle with North Korean military? - Suspicion of North Korea runs deep in South Korea, so it wasn’t a surprise that within hours of the announcement of Kim Jong-il’s death Monday, some South Korean newspapers were asking if the Dear Leader had been murdered. While North Korea’s Central News Agency reported Monday that Mr. Kim died of a heart attack last Saturday on a train while heading to an unidentified destination, Seoul’s Korea Times newspaper ran a headline, “Suspicions arise over cause of death”. According to the newspaper, North Korean defectors doubt Pyongyang’s state-controlled media reports of Mr. Kim’s death. They cautiously suggested the dictator may have been murdered.