Mexican chief rebukes U.S.
Mexico City Mexican President Vicente Fox stepped up his attacks on the United States plan to build a fence along its southern border on Sunday, saying it was a “shameful” initiative for a democracy.
Fox said barriers between nations belonged to the last century and had been torn down by popular uprisings, referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
“This wall is shameful,” Fox said at an event for migrants in his home state of Guanajuato.
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 239-182 in favor of an immigration enforcement bill, which includes a proposal to build 700 miles of fence through parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Under the bill, soldiers and police would help stop people sneaking across, and employers would have to check the legal status of their workers.
Al-Qaida financier’s eldest son arrested
Toronto The eldest son of an accused al-Qaida financier was arrested in his family’s apartment on a U.S. warrant, weeks after returning to Canada from more than a year of detention in Pakistan, officials said Sunday.
Abdullah Khadr, 24, faces extradition to the United States on charges of procuring weapons for the al-Qaida terror network for use against U.S. forces, said the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston, where the charges were filed. He faces a maximum of life imprisonment.
Khadr was arrested Saturday and is jailed in Toronto. A bail hearing is scheduled for today.
He allegedly bought explosives, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other munitions for al-Qaida at the request of his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian who was killed in a 2003 battle with Pakistani forces.
Khadr had been held in Pakistan since Oct. 12, 2004, when Pakistani intelligence officers picked him up in a car in Islamabad. He returned to Canada several weeks ago.
Pope says Christmas’ gift is joy, kindness
Rome Pope Benedict XVI urged people to spread joy through smiles and acts of kindness, saying it was an antidote to the ills of society.
“Joy is the true gift of Christmas, not expensive gifts that cost time and money, but joy,” Benedict said in a homily which he delivered without notes for about 15 minutes in a sometimes hoarse voice.
“In today’s world, God is absent,” Benedict said. “People need anesthesia to live. They live in a dark world.”
“With a smile, an act of kindness, a little help, forgiveness, you can bring joy, and that joy will come back to you,” he said.
Truck, crane used for theft of sculpture
London British police said Sunday they found a flatbed truck and crane that were apparently used in the theft of a $5.2 million Henry Moore sculpture from the artist’s estate north of London.
Police fear the thieves may have stolen the two-ton “Reclining Figure” bronze sculpture Thursday night to melt it down and sell for scrap metal, even though it could earn far more money if sold as a work of art.
Chief Inspector Richard Harbon of Hertfordshire Police said the statue would be hard to sell because it well known.