Amal al Sadah, the youngest widow of Osama bin Laden, has denied information included in a confidential Pakistani document, listing details of her life with her late husband. The three-page document, obtained by NBC News, is divided into nine sections -- each one paraphrasing a statement or statements made by Amal to investigators while in Pakistani custody.

The contents of the document were first reported on Thursday by correspondent Azaz Syed of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.

According to her brother, Zakaria al Sadah -- who spoke with her after the first report was published and asked her about its contents -- Amal denies ever having given any such statements to investigators, adding that most of the information included in the document is factually incorrect. The family's lawyer in Pakistan, Atif Ali Khan, clarified that while Amal might have spoken to various investigators during her time in custody, she denies having provided the level of detail in the document. Neither he nor Zakaria al Sadah would go into detail about which specific pieces of information were incorrect.

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The document offers the most detailed narrative yet of where and when bin Laden and his family managed to move through Pakistan, ultimately landing in their final hideaway, just two and a half hours north of the country's capital of Islamabad. According to the document, Amal entered Pakistan legally in July 2000, arriving on a visa issued for seeking medical treatment from the Pakistan Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen. After crossing the border into Kandahar, Afghanistan, she was married to bin Laden and stayed with him there, along with his three other wives.

After the attacks on 9/11, the family "scattered," according to the document. Amal moved with her eldest daughter to Karachi, then reunited with her husband in Peshawar, moving with him to Swat, Haripur, and finally Abbottabad. Amal and bin Laden had five children together, whose ages now range between two and 12. The youngest daughter and son -- Zainab and Hussain, respectively -- were born in Abbottabad, but her older son, Ibrahim, and second daughter, Aasia, are listed as having been born in hospitals in Pakistan.

Amal and her children have been in Pakistani custody for 11 months, since the night of the U.S. forces' raid in Abbottabad that killed her husband. Her brother, Zakaria, is currently in Pakistan working to secure their release so he can take them back home, to Yemen.

Zakaria Al Sadah says he has been able to see his sister, nieces, and nephews nearly a dozen times over the last year during brief, supervised visits. In an interview with NBC News, al Sadah said he takes toys and books for the children each time he visits and avoids talking about the night of the raid, but ultimately just wants for them to be able to start a new life back home.

His mission has been complicated by the ongoing work of a special Pakistani commission, which needed to interview Amal and other family members as part of their investigation into Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan, and by the government's recent decision to charge the women for illegally entering and remaining in the country.

Listed in the document is a legal justification for those formal charges against Amal, which reads "she stayed in Pakistan after the expiry of her valid visa, hence, her stay in Pakistan was illegal, which is an offense under section 14 of the Foreigners Act of 1946." The government, according to this argument, has the power to deport her back to Yemen.

Zakaria al Sadah told NBC News he is now putting his faith in the Pakistani judicial system, which he trusts to do the right thing. The family is to be formally charged on Monday.

 

MAINZ, Germany – Pink? Or blue? For most parents this is the paramount question when it comes to organizing a baby shower or choosing a color for a newborn's room.

But, what happens if the exact gender of the child cannot be determined? It is estimated that in Germany alone approximately 80,000 people are intersexual, so-called hermaphrodites, who have physical features – such as chromosomes, hormones, gonads and outer sexual organs – which cannot be unambiguously attributed to just one gender. 

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Christiane Voelling, 52, is an intersexual.

She is a nurse living in Düsseldorf who was born without defining gender characteristics.

Because German law requires that a newborn's personal data – including gender specification – is registered within a week, Christiane was proclaimed a boy at birth and called Thomas after a midwife supposedly mistook her enlarged clitoris for a penis.

In Voelling's case, it was later diagnosed that her indeterminate external genitalia were the result of a rare genetic disorder of the adrenal gland, the so-called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH.

"My childhood and teenage development was often agonizing because I did not really know what was wrong with me and where I belonged," Voelling said in a recent interview with NBC News. 

Following a push from various human rights groups, Germany‘s government commissioned its National Ethics Council in December 2010 to consider the issue and come up with recommendations on how to identify intersexuals so they could live with greater dignity. The council, which in February of this year released its recommendations, even grappled with the question of whether or not a “third sex” should be introduced.  

Invasive surgery
For Voelling, her gender issues were rarely discussed in her family growing up in a small town in a rural area of western Germany since her parents were convinced that they were raising a male child. Yet, in school, she would often be reminded of her ambivalence, when she played soccer with the "other boys," but also felt very much integrated in the girls clique. 

She was experiencing an inner conflict that is rather common among intersexuals, or so-called differences of sex development (DSD) affected individuals, experts say.

"By the mid 90s, the first intersexual patients started seeking psychological help at our offices and most of them were preoccupied with feelings of shame, humiliation and a burdening tabooization of their problems," said Dr. Sophinette Becker, a sexologist and psychologist from Frankfurt.

For Voelling, her emotional trauma grew significantly larger at age 18, when physical scars were added in an unnecessary operation.

After being admitted to a local hospital for an appendix surgery, doctors diagnosed that their patient had mixed male-female genitals and an atrophied reproductive system.

But, when the young adult landed on the operating table, the surgeon found a full set of female reproductive organs, including an intact womb and ovaries.

Without consent from the patient, the organs were removed.

"I never received a truthful explanation of my condition and after the operation I felt a lot of physical and emotional pain for many years,"  Voelling said.

"Some 95 percent of all intersexuals systematically undergo genital surgery and other interventions without medical informed consent and without clear scientific proof," said Lucie Veith, the head of "Intersexuelle Menschen eV" in Hamburg, a group that represents hermaphrodites in Germany.

Gratification after legal battle
Only a couple of years later, Voelling also started receiving the regular administration of testosterone, or steroid male hormones.

"For 27 years, I was more or less exposed to severe doping," Voelling said.

"At age 47, when I felt more like a woman than a man anyway, I said enough is enough," she added.

Today, intersexual activists are trying to educate the medical community, affected families and the public about the often harsh consequences of genital reconstruction surgery and other severe medical interventions.

"These massive medical interferences plunge the intersexed child into total imbalance and lead to irreversible damages," said Veith, whose organization has nearly 600 members in Germany.

In 2008, Voelling decided to take her case to court and sued the doctor that had removed her female reproduction organs over unlawful intervention.

In its verdict, the court ordered the surgeon to pay 100,000 euro, (approximately $133,000)  in compensation for performing an operation converting a hermaphrodite into a man without consent.

"I felt very relieved and it was really more of a moral reparation than anything else, but it unfortunately did not have consequences for the legal rights of intersexuals," said Voelling.  She officially changed her gender from male to female, as well as her name from Thomas to Christiane, in a long bureaucratic process that same year.

Preparing legal framework
While experts say that Voelling's case is legally unique and will not set a precedent, the topic nevertheless started to receive more public attention after she wrote a book called "I was man and woman – My Life as an Intersexual.“

Despite some disagreements with the recommendations of Germany’s National Ethics Council released last month, Voelling and other intersexuals hope that the council’s recommendations will help give their status a legal framework in the future.

"In our recommendation to the German government earlier this year, the main message was that intersexuals are different from other human beings, but they need to be respected and belong in the center of our society," said psychologist Dr. Michael Wunder, a member of the German National Ethics Council.

Because irreversible medical interventions of gender assignment in people with ambiguous genitalia are typically conducted during early childhood years, the German Ethics Council determined that these operations present an infringement of the right to physical integrity, thus a violation of basic human rights.

The Ethics Board also said that "a non-justifiable encroachment on the personal rights and the right to equal treatment is present when people who cannot be assigned as ‘female’ or ‘male’ because of their physical condition are legally compelled to assign themselves to either category in the civil registry."

Following Australia's example, the German Ethics Council recommended that in addition to the registration of  "female" or "male," the German government should introduce the category "other" or should allow a “no entry,” until the affected person have made a personal decision themselves.

Last September, Australia  introduced new guidelines, which allow its citizens to change the sex details on their passport to female (F), male (M) or indeterminate (X).

"This amendment makes life easier and significantly reduces the administrative burden for sex and gender diverse people who want a passport that reflects their gender and physical appearance," said Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

In Germany, rights activists, representatives from the Ethics Council and intersexuals now hope that German lawmakers will soon implement regulations, which will help to protect the rights of hermaphrodites and remove discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday as annual Land Day rallies turned violent.

Palestinian activists have called for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to mark the day when Israeli Arabs protest against government policies that they say has stripped them of land.

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Arab news channel Al Jazeera reported in a live blog on its website that the Israeli army was "pushing protesters back towards Ramallah with the use of tear gas and water cannons".

It also reported that there are close to 1,000 protestors gathered in Ramallah.

Israeli forces were put on high alert at frontier crossings with Lebanon and Syria but there were no reports of any protesters nearing the border fences, unlike last year when several demonstrators were killed there in Land Day protests.

PhotoBlog: Violence on Land Day as Israeli forces and Palestinians clash

However, violence flared at checkpoints in the occupied West Bank to the north and south of Jerusalem. Witnesses also reported disturbances at gates leading into the Old City, with police looking to limit access to the revered al-Aqsa Mosque.

A Reuters reporter saw two men being carried away injured after scuffles at Jerusalem's Lions' Gate, while police said they had made several arrests at the nearby Damascus Gate.

Jerusalem is a focal point of conflict, as Palestinians want the city's eastern sector, captured by Israel in a 1967 war, as capital of a future state. Israel has annexed East Jerusalem as part of its capital and insists the city remain united.

"We are determined to march together toward Jerusalem, and hopefully we will break through and reach it," said a masked youth, calling himself Rimawi, as he faced off against soldiers in the West Bank city Ramallah, a short distance from Jerusalem.

Flag-waving crowds neared the Qalandiya crossing out of Ramallah, some of them hurling stones at the security forces, but were forced back when border police sprayed them with foul-smelling liquid from a water cannon.

Land Day commemorates the killing by security forces of six Arabs in 1976 during protests against government plans to confiscate land in northern Israel's Galilee region.

Arabs make up about a fifth of Israel's total population. Many complain of discrimination. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently called for improved efforts to integrate Arab citizens into Israel's work force.

Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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AL-WALAJA, West Bank –  Palestinian activists are calling for a “Global March to Jerusalem” this Friday to mark Land Day, an annual event that commemorates the killing of six Arabs who were protesting the Israeli practice of expropriating Arab land to build Jewish settlements on March 30, 1976.

Since then Palestinians have commemorated March 30 as Land Day and have turned it into a general day of protest against what they see as discriminatory practices by the Israeli government.

But 70-year-old Abu Nidal doesn’t need a special calendar day to remind him of the Israeli occupation and their confiscation of his land. Nidal just needs to wake up every morning and look outside his window to see how the Israelis are confiscating his land.

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 He lives in the village Al Walaja, nestled in the hills between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Half of the village of just over 2,000 is considered to be part of Jerusalem and the other half is part of the West Bank. So now the Israeli security wall snakes through the village.

“Land Day is like a music record being played over and over,” he said. “I live out of despair with no future in sight, I see no light only darkness.”

'Global March to Jerusalem': Israel's borders on high alert as huge protests loom

When the Israelis sent huge yellow bulldozers to the village in 2010 to start working on the separation wall, no one bothered to check on whether or not the wall ran through Nidal’s farm land – which it does. And it has not only been 86 olive trees that were up rooted by the approximately 26-foot high concrete barrier, but also Nidal’s family graveyard.

It was his grandmother’s wish that every family member be buried on their 11-acre farm land. But the Israelis have a different plan for the confiscated land. They are planning to build not only the wall, but a recreational park for Israelis on the other side of the wall.
As it stands now, Nidal can only look at his mother and grandmother’s graves from a distance with the dreadful knowledge that soon the wall will be his only view.

“It’s not only a question of land confiscation, but also of making our life so miserable that we will have to pack up our lives and leave,” Nidal said. “But, of course, I want to be buried alongside my mother.”

This Friday when demonstrators take to the streets commemorating Land Day, Nidal won’t join them; his battle is being waged in the Israeli courts. But he pointed out that his case doesn’t have much of a shot. “The court is Israeli, the judge is Israeli and the lawyers are Israelis.  It’s a losing battle.”

Nidal’s story is just one out of many. There are approximately 2,300 Palestinians living in the village of Al Walaja and everyone I talked to had a similarly desperate story. The common theme to all the stories is the feeling they live in a prison surrounded by a wall and Jewish settlements.
 

 

 

 

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian organizers are calling for massive demonstrations on Friday to mark Land Day, an annual event that commemorates the killing of six Arabs who were protesting Israeli land policies on March 30, 1976.

Tens of thousands are expected to participate in what organizers have billed a "Global March to Jerusalem." The plan is to have protesters from neighboring countries march up to the Israeli border to "demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and to protect Jerusalem," according to organizers.

The future status of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Palestinian movement and is the theme for the global Land Day. East Jerusalem is regarded as the likely capital of a future Palestinian state.

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Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian activist, explained some of the reasoning for the march to NBC News during a recent interview in Ramallah. 

For Palestinian farmer, a constant reminder of Israeli occupation

For many Palestinians, Land Day is an annual opportunity to demonstrate that Palestinians inside Israel, the West Bank and Gaza are united and share common goals. 

This year will mark 36 years since Israel’s practice of expropriating Arab land to build Jewish settlements provoked protests by Arab residents in the Galilee and Negev. In addition to the six people who were killed, over 100 wounded during the ensuing violence. Since then Palestinians have commemorated March 30 as Land Day and have turned the day into a general protest against what they see as discriminatory practices by the Israeli government. So it seemed an appropriate date for activists to hold their march. 

"The Global March to Jerusalem represents three things," said Barghouti. "First of all, the unity of the Palestinian people, and their struggle to achieve freedom and end occupation, for Palestinians in and out of Palestine; second, it affirms the centrality of the issues of land and Jerusalem to achieving Palestinian freedom; and third, it provides international solidarity with the Palestinian cause."

'Absolutely peaceful'
The organizers plan to send convoys of vehicles to approach Israel's borders simultaneously from four neighboring countries: Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. According to organizers, more than 600 institutions from 64 states have been involved in planning the march. Protests are also planned outside Israeli embassies in Europe and Arab countries. Organizers say they are hoping for 1 million people to demonstrate in various protests all over the world.

"The event is meant to be a non-violent protest that will include parliament members, citizens and religious figures from all over the world – including Jews, Israelis will also protest with us," Saied Yaqin, one of the march organizers, told NBC News.

Organizers of the march insist the protests will be orderly.

"This march is absolutely peaceful and non-violent, and we will try everything possible to prevent violence," Barghouti said. "Of course, if they use violence against us, the world should protest. But the march is absolutely peaceful and nobody will try to provoke violence."

But Israeli Defense Forces aren’t taking any chances.

A statement released by the IDF said they are "prepared for any eventuality and will do whatever is necessary to protect Israeli borders and residents."

Israel has also issued a stern warning to Arab countries and Palestinians to refrain from approaching the border.

Soldiers along the border have been instructed to be on high alert and they will reportedly have crowd-dispersal means at the ready and will also deploy marksmen. According to a Haaretz report, a so-called "skunk" device is being prepared that sprays a harsh-smelling substance at demonstrators. 

 

 

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MIAMI – When Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, the Archdiocese of Miami expected so much interest from U.S. parishioners wanting to witness the historic event that they booked a cruise ship to transport and house all the expected pilgrims.

But many in South Florida’s Cuban-American community were outraged by the image of a cruise ship full of Americans docking in Havana, so under pressure the archdiocese cancelled the charter.

Now, 14 years later, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski is leading a pilgrimage of 302 mostly Cuban-Americans to Santiago de Cuba and Havana to witness Pope Benedict XVI’s visit. And the Miami archbishop will even celebrate mass at Havana’s Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon.

What’s changed?

University of Miami Professor Andy Gomez says many in the exile community are beginning to embrace the idea of direct contact with the Cuban people even though they do not agree with the government. Others, who still do not agree with travel to the island, Gomez says, are just plain tired of arguing about it.

“After 53 years of that system of government on the island, we are tired,” he said.

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The debate
Gomez is among the Miami Cuban-American pilgrims traveling to Cuba for the pope’s visit. He says he chose to make the trip as an academic – to take the pulse of the situation on the island and the mood of the population. Even so, Gomez’ decision to make the trip – and the pope’s visit itself – is a source of debate among his friends and family.

 

So Gomez gathered a group – his wife and his two daughters’ in-laws – to discuss the issues and let NBC News sit-in to hear the “family debate.” The three couples are all successful professionals living in Miami who emigrated to the U.S. with their families as children shortly after the revolution.

Here are snippets from their conversation.

“For 53 years we isolated the island. We do have an embargo and Obama is the eleventh president that has tried to negotiate with the Castro brothers. Nobody has been able to negotiate with these guys. So isn’t it time maybe to build bridges with the people directly?” Andy Gomez said to kick things off.

But Maria Eugenia Smith, the mother of one his son-in-laws, disagreed. She’s not ready to go back yet. “I came to the United States when I was 3 years old. And I would like to go to my homeland and see where I was born. But I would never step there with Communism. I would never do that.”

Tony Rivas was exhausted by the whole debate. “The exile community is tired. We are tired. We have lived our entire lives outside of Cuba. Most of us came here when we were very small or teenagers. Basically, this is our country, the United States.”

Although, his wife, Virginia Rivas, felt that pope’s visit could unify the two disparate groups. “I think that is the role of the pope going to Cuba,” said Virginia Rivas. “Trying to unite, not the exile or the Cuban people there, but we are all one nation and we have to overcome all… We have to be better people.”

Will anything really change?
“I think one of the key issues here is how much space the church is going to gain after the pope’s visit,” said Andy Gomez. “Fidel Castro was very good at opening the faucet and letting the water out and then closing it. Raul has opened the faucet but these are different times, he’s not going to be able to close it.”

Tony Rivas didn’t think the Cuban people will gain much in terms of freedom and individual rights. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the pope to go, but the people are not going to be any better off than they were before the visit. [The government is] using this…but they are still putting everybody that has any disagreement against the government in jail.

“I disagree,” said Frances Serantes Gomez, Andy’s wife. “I feel that there is some type of movement right now and if anything this is an acknowledgment that they know about [the dissidents].”

But Tony Rivas countered, “In 1998 when Pope John Paul II went to Cuba, everyone was expecting great things and change. Everyone was expecting Poland all over again. And the reality was … nothing happened.”

“But you know what? It’s Fidel Castro who opened the faucet and closed it back up,” Frances Serantes Gomez. “This is Raul – things might be a little different now.”

“We hope,” said Tony Rivas.
 
“But I see it that the people there do need the Church, so we have to reach out to them,” said Maria Eugenia Smith. I have mixed feelings with this trip. I really do.”

Her husband, Jose Smith, also believed that the church could potentially be a force for change. “If you’re going to eradicate Communism, it’s going to start through the Church. The only thing is they just don’t have the power to do it,” said Jose Smith. 

“The Catholic Church is really where you are. If you want to reach out to the people, it’s really not the Vatican, it’s the local church, the local priest that has to reach out,” said Tony Rivas. “I don’t see them as being a force in the community.

Jose Smith countered, “[If you are just] 10 percent of the population, what kind of force can you be?”

“Hopefully the Church will do what they have to do. Forget about Fidel Castro and the politics involved,” said Maria Eugenia Smith. “We need to get to the people. We need to get God and faith there. Hopefully, if we get Jesus Christ, God, faith there we can motivate those people to do something about their lives.”

Pope Benedict XVI is on a state visit to Cuba this week hoping to highlight the role of the Roman Catholic Church on the Communist island, as well as making subtle push for change.

Benedict called for "renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans," during a speech on Tuesday. "I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty."

But the Cuban government was quick to say that there "will not be political reform" in the country as a result of the pope's visit.

NBC News' Mark Potter is in Havana. He answered interesting reader questions about Benedict's visit earlier today.

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Click below to replay the chat.

 

SANTIAGO, Cuba – There was an air of excitement in Antonio Maceo Plaza here in this island’s second largest city as people anxiously awaited Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival Monday afternoon.

Santiago is the first stop on his three-day visit to the island. Just 12 miles outside of town, is the sanctuary of El Cobre, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, a tiny wooden statue that is revered by all Cubans – Catholic and non-Catholic alike – and which the pope is coming to see.  

While Cuba’s communist government is ostensibly anti-religious, it is treating the papal visit like that of any other head of state. Granma, the Communist government newspaper, put Benedict’s visit on its front page Monday and every event of the visit will be televised and broadcast on state-run radio. 

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Most businesses were closed here today in anticipation of the big arrival. The pope will celebrate an open-air Mass Monday evening in the plaza which thousands are expected to attend. 

Among those most excited is architect Juan Ramon Navarro, a 36-year-old father of two who designed the giant altar under which the pope will celebrate Mass.

Navarro explained that if you look at the altar from the sides, the 45-foot high arches create an "M" for the Virgin Mary. It is decorated in red, white and blue, just like the Cuban flag, and he said the canvas cover is meant to conjure up the image of Mary's skirt.

“I am thrilled,” Navarro said about the finished product. "It's quite an honor, as you can imagine."

Battle to balance ideals
Catholic or not, many of Cuba’s 11 million citizens are hoping Benedict will push for greater economic and political freedoms on the island.

Since its 1959 revolution, which was centered here, Cuba’s Communist government has survived the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But now it is in a battle to balance its ideals – a socialist government that would care for its population from the cradle to the grave – with the realities of pressure from sanctions and an increasingly competitive world economy.

And into the breach, the church has increasingly stepped up to provide the social safety net, this despite the fact that only 10 percent of the population identify themselves as Catholics.

Government food rations here don't last the elderly an entire week. Instead, the Catholic Church now feeds and supplements medicine for the elderly.

Havana's Cardinal Jamie Ortega has also played an increasingly political role – recently he quietly helped negotiate the release of more than 100 jailed political dissidents.

The church does not flaunt its influence in Cuba out of a fear it will offend President Raul Castro, or his brother Fidel, and in the process lose all it has gained since Pope John Paul II visited 14 years ago.

But the church does not shy away from controversy either.

Prior to his arrival this afternoon, Pope Benedict told reporters on his plane from Rome that, "it is evident that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality."

HAVANA, Cuba – At the historic San Francisco de Paula church, in a working-class neighborhood of Havana, Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Petit recently walked the long hallways where priests, nuns and lay workers were busy caring for some of Cuba's elderly and infirm and also operating an orphanage. Outside the church is a sign welcoming the pope: "Bienvenido a Cuba Benedicto XVI."

Petit hopes during the pontiff's three-day visit to the island his messages will provide an important boost for the Cuban Catholic Church and perhaps even inspire some gradual changes in Cuban society.  "I don't know what the words will be, but I think they will suggest more respect for human dignity,” he said.

Since the Cuban revolution in 1959, the Catholic Church has struggled to raise its public profile here. For decades, under the Marxist government of Fidel Castro, the church was ostracized and believers were punished. The country was officially declared atheist until the government loosened that description in the 1990's.

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But, with Fidel Castro out of power now and his younger brother, Raul, in charge, the church has become much more accepted by the government. Recently, Cuban Cardinal Jamie Ortega negotiated the release of more than 100 political prisoners, although he was criticized by human rights activists after most of the prisoners were sent into exile.

"The church has now been accepted as a legitimate and important interlocutor of the government on sensitive topics like freeing political prisoners, the conditions of those in prison, the treatment of dissidents," said Jorge Dominguez, a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.  "This is a wholly unprecedented role for the Roman Catholic in Cuba for the past half century."

With funds and supplies donated from overseas, the church also provides much-needed social services now as the government struggles to reshape Cuba's troubled economy. Church-run food banks and retirement homes along with medicine distribution centers have become lifelines many of Cuba's extremely poor.

"It is very convenient for the government that the church will engage in activities providing for people in need," said Juan Clark, a Miami Dade College professor emeritus and an expert on the Cuban Church.

Still, tensions remain over the issues of religious and personal freedoms.

Last year, the church convinced state security to stop harassing the "Ladies in White," a church-based dissident group. However, two weekends ago, three-dozen members of the group were detained during a protest march in Havana. Ironically, 13 other dissidents who recently sought sanctuary in a Havana basilica were turned over by church officials to police, sparking accusations the church may have actually grown too close to Cuban leaders.

Pope Benedict is now urging Cuba to find new alternatives to Marxism – patiently and peacefully – as the Catholic Church maintains a delicate relationship with the Communist government here. 

The pope’s first stop on Monday will be Santiago de Cuba, the island's second city where he will celebrate a large open-air mass. On Tuesday, he visits the town of El Cobre, home to a tiny wooden statue of Our Lady of Charity, a symbol revered by all Cubans – Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

Later that day he flies to Havana for what is expected to be a meeting with both Raul and Fidel Castro. On Wednesday morning he will celebrate another mass in Havana before departing the country.

SEOUL, South Korea -- It was a comment not intended for public consumption, and another lesson for President Barack Obama on the importance of being careful about what you say around microphones, especially in an election year.

At the end of a 90-minute meeting between Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, journalists rushed in to hear remarks from the leaders about the content of their talks.

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Journalists spied the two leaders leaning close together and talking in hushed tones.  According to those in the room, the conversation was difficult to hear but the videotape revealed Obama asking the Russian leader to wait until after the November election before pushing forward on the topic of a planned missile defense shield.

Photos: Obama and Medvedev talk nukes

"Pool" videotape provided more information about the conversation between the two leaders:

Obama: This is my last election…After my election I have more flexibility.

Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir. 

While most journalists didn't catch the rest, one Russian reporter managed to record the context with his equipment.

Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space.

Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you...

Obama: This is my last election…After my election I have more flexibility.

Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir. 

The planned anti-ballistic shield system has been one of many sore spots between the two world powers in the last few years.

Obama says US can reduce nuclear stockpile

Moscow says it fears the system would weaken Russia by gaining the capability to shoot down the nuclear missiles it relies on as a deterrent. It wants a legally binding pledge from the United States that Russia's nuclear forces would not be targeted by the system.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the overheard comments were not a departure from the Administration's stated policy and responded to the exchange with the following statement:

“The United States is committed to implementing our missile defense system, which we’ve repeatedly said is not aimed at Russia. However, given the longstanding difference between the US and Russia on this issue, it will take time and technical work before we can try to reach an agreement. Since 2012 is an election year in both countries, with an election and leadership transition in Russia and an election in the United States, it is clearly not a year in which we are going to achieve a breakthrough. Therefore, President Obama and President Medvedev agreed that it was best to instruct our technical experts to do the work of better understanding our respective positions, providing space for continued discussions on missile defense cooperation going forward.”

Medvedev may have told Obama that he understands Obama's predicament, but the White House has been under increasing pressure on the issue.  Last week, the Russian leader gave a downbeat assessment of global security and international relations, saying the "Euro-Atlantic" security community he had hoped to create remained a "myth."

Medvedev, who will be succeeded by Vladimir Putin in May, said Moscow was unconvinced by the argument that the planned missile defense shield was intended as protection against a missile attack by countries such as Iran.

"We have time (for an agreement) but it is running out, and I think that it would be in our mutual benefit to reach mutually acceptable agreements," Medvedev told a security conference.

"The main thing is that we must hear one simple thing - hear it and receive confirmation: 'Respected friends from Russia, our missile defense is not aimed against Russian nuclear forces.' This must be affirmed, not in a friendly chat over a cup of tea or a glass of wine, but in a document."

NBC News' Alicia Jennings and Kristen Welker, and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

ROME -- Venice appears to have more nicknames than street names. It’s known as the "Queen of the Adriatic," the "City of Water," "City of Masks," "City of Bridges," "The Floating City," and "City of Canals."

But is Venice destined to become "The Divers' Paradise" much faster than we thought? New research by U.S. scientists suggests it is sinking more than five times faster than experts in Venice believe.

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Saying that the city is sinking is just about as obvious as saying that the wind will always blow in Chicago. It’s just a thing of nature. And there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it.  

While Venetians and tourists know that Venice's appeal is due to its undeniable beauty, with its Gothic and Byzantine palazzos appearing to float on the canals and lagoon, much of the city's allure comes from the fact that it appears to be disappearing.

So you don’t need a scientist to tell you that Venice is sinking. In fact, sometimes they tell you otherwise. Back in the 1980s Venetians rejoiced at the news that the city had finally stabilized.  But, to use an Italian sailor’s jargon, that theory “loses water from all sides.”

It’s quite obvious to the naked eye (or rather, to the naked ankle when it floods) that parts of Venice are flooding more and more often. To tourists, walking in a flooded St. Mark’s Square might be a unique photo opportunity, but to Venetians it’s a sign of things to come. 

History, architecture, art and much more - great Italian destinations!

So Venice is sinking. But the question remains -- how long will it take before it turns from floating jewel to a playground for divers?

The answer comes from a new research by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, expected to be published on Wednesday: Venice is still sinking, and sinking at a rate of up to two millimeters per year (0.08 inches).  

City heading out to sea
There’s more. Not only is the city being reclaimed by the waters that made it famous, it now looks like it’s actually heading out to sea, as if the glorious capital of the former Maritime Venetian Republic is tired of being a tourist attraction and wants to die in the Adriatic.

According to measurements taken over 10 years, Venice is also tilting a bit, about a millimeter or two eastward per year. While this doesn’t mean that you should buy a ticket right away in order to see Venice before it disappears, it raises concern that not enough is being done to save it.   

A complex system of moving dams around Venice that took decades and millions of dollars to build is nearing completion. The new research could well call into question whether these major works will actually be enough to save the “Floating City.”

One of the biggest experts on the state of Venice, Luigi Tosi, of Italy's National Research Center, pointed out that Venice's "sinking" was actually a combination of land subsidence and sea level rise.

He said the Scripps researchers' results "tell us nothing new." "We have published a paper back in 1992 that arrived to the same conclusions," he said.

But experts at Consorzio Venezia Nuova, the group in charge of safeguarding Venice and the lagoon, told NBC News they had a lot of questions about the Scripps report, saying they thought the city was sinking much more slowly.

Italy’s Cinque Terre region readies for spring tourists

“I learned about the new research from journalists like yourself,” said an official who asked not to be named. “We have records of the subsiding of Venice for hundreds of years, and yet they haven’t called us."

But one thing is clear to the official -- 10 years of measurements might sound a lot to most people, but on Venice’s standards it’s the blink of an eye.

"We have calculated that the city has been sinking three to four centimeters (about 1.5 inches) per century," the official said.

That's not to say the people at Consorzio Venezia Nuova aren't paying attention, however.

"Now they say two millimeters per year…that means Venice would sink 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) every 100 years. That’s more than five times more than we calculated. So I’ll believe it when I see it," he said. 

It’s unclear whether the Scripps Institute team will contact the Consorzio before the research is published on Wednesday.  But one way or another their difference will have to be reconciled … and it will be, once again, just water under the bridge.

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Updated 12:35 a.m. ET: SEOUL – President Barack Obama’s speech at a university that prides itself on diversity and “producing numerous CEO’s and outstanding diplomats” was billed as an update to his comprehensive nuclear energy and nuclear security agenda he set forth in Prague in 2009.

However, even with strong words directed towards North Korea, his commitment to as one White House source put it, “reduce America's nuclear weapons and the role they play in our national security strategy” could prove to be fodder for his Republican rivals back in the states. 

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The president said he believes the United States has a “moral obligation” to act and lead the world in reducing nuclear stockpiles.  He continued, “I say this as president of the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons.  I say it as a Commander-in-Chief who knows that our nuclear codes are never far from my side.  Most of all, I say it as a father, who wants my two young daughters to grow up in a world where everything they know and love can’t be instantly wiped out.”

He announced that when he meets with Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin in May he plans on discussing taking steps so that both Russia and the United States reduce, “not only our strategic nuclear warheads, but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve.”  The president said such a step would have never been taken before.  It is also a step that is sure to be pounced upon by rivals who already see the reductions he is calling for in defense spending as a sign of weakness.

The president also boasted about steps taken in the last few years to “reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy” and derided the Cold War stockpiles as being ill-suited for combating the type of terrorism America faces.

But while pushing a message that the United States has to lead the world on reducing nuclear weapons and materials throughout the world, he took time to speak directly to Pyongyang about the choice the North Korean leaders have if they continue to provoke South Korea and the rest of the world.

Obama: North Korean rocket test would isolate regime

Echoing his comments from a press conference yesterday he said, “your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek; they have undermined it. Instead of the dignity you desire, you're more isolated.”

He continued, “There will be no rewards for provocations.  Those days are over.  To the leaders of Pyongyang I say, this is the choice before you.  This is the decision that you must make.  Today we say, Pyongyang, have the courage to pursue peace and give a better life to the people of North Korea.”

The reports that North Korea has moved a long-range rocket to a launch pad this weekend, that could be used to carry a nuclear weapon is just the latest provocation that strained new talks between the US and North Korea.

And once again the president seemed to call for the North Koreans to call for a different way of life:

“This much is true:  The currents of history cannot be held back forever.  The deep longing for freedom and dignity will not go away.  So, too, on this divided peninsula.  The day all Koreans yearn for will not come easily or without great sacrifice.  But make no mistake, it will come.”

Obama calls Korean DMZ 'Freedom's frontier'

The speech at Hankuk University comes right before President Obama is scheduled to meet with the leaders of Russia and China where the thorny issues of North Korea, Syria and Iran are expected to be discussed.  Later in the day he will attend the beginning of the international Nuclear Security Summit. The summit includes 53 countries and four international organizations that have pledged a commitment to securing nuclear materials around the world.

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• Gunman in Afghan army uniform kills 2 NATO troops
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• Retired Turkish general faces terrorism trial
• Transgender candidate booted from Miss Universe Canada

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Zakaria al-Sadah, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, said he is worried for the health of his sister, who was shot in the raid that killed the al-Qaida leader.  

Speaking to NBC News in Islamabad on Tuesday in his first interview with an American television network, al-Sadah talked about his fight to free his sister, Amal al-Sadah, who has been held, along with her five children, by the Pakistan government since the May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs.

"I want to get them out as soon as possible," al-Sadah said, "because kids, they can forget the past in the right environment. They will carry on."

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Favorite wife
Twenty-nine year old Amal al-Sadah, originally from Yemen, had an arranged marriage with bin Laden when she was 17 or 18, in 1999 or 2000. She lived with him and their five children, now between three and 12 years old, in the Abbottabad compound made notorious by the U.S. forces' nighttime raid in which her husband was killed.

Al-Sadah said he was at home in Yemen when he got the news of the American raid and that his sister's presence at the compound shocked him and his family. 

"We didn't know that our sister was with him at the time," he said. "My mother, my father, my whole family was surprised that this had happened and she was actually there."

He explained that his family had been largely estranged from Amal after her marriage to bin Laden. Any communication between them was infrequent, and usually came through couriers. He didn't even know she or bin Laden were living in Abbottabad.

Bin Laden is believed to have been married six times, but divorced two of his wives. Amal was the last to marry him, his youngest wife, and reportedly also his favorite. Bin Laden reportedly spent the last years of his life mostly with Amal, with whom he lived and slept in the top portion of the compound.
Amal was shot in the leg during the U.S. operation, and her brother believes her physical condition may be worsening. 

"I've seen them eight times, each visit for an hour, maybe an hour and a half," he said. "But the last visit was two and a half months ago."  

Al-Sadah said the last time he saw his sister, she had lost the use of her injured leg. He is concerned authorities are deliberately keeping him from visiting to hide her deteriorating health.

Long list of charges
For al-Sadah, the process has been a long and drawn out one. He said that after questioning by the special government commission investigating bin Laden's presence here, Amal’s return to Yemen seemed imminent.

But he said that with each step forward has come with two steps back. In the latest twist to the widows' story, Pakistan recently announced that all three women are being charged with illegally entering and staying in Pakistan and would continue to be confined to a house in Islamabad.

Al-Sadah, who has retained a lawyer to help secure his sister's freedom, says he's written to Pakistan's chief justice for permission for his sister, nieces and nephews to return with him to Yemen.

"Everyone knows that women and children – they're innocent," he said. "[Bin Laden] made them busy with the kids, taking care of the kids' needs. They were not included, none of them were included, in any of his agendas."

But the Pakistani government says it has its reasons for holding the women.

“The widows are facing charges of illegal entry, harboring an offender, impersonation and abetment,” said a senior official in Pakistan’s Ministry of the Interior, explaining the charges against Amal and the other widows. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. “The punishments carry different kinds of sentences, so it is now up to courts proceedings. How much time it will take, no one can say.”

Another Pakistani intelligence official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, explained another reason why the women’s case may be moving so slowly. “Since the Saudi and Yemeni governments have not made up their minds to take them back, the legal process could take a long time to keep them away from public scene.”

However, Aamir Khalil, the lawyer for Al-Sadah working on Amal’s case, of course sees things differently. “The case was filed after 10 months which is illegal; already we have filed a petition to quash the case and acquittal.”
 
He added that Islamabad’s High Court has directed the Director General of Pakistan’s ISI, Pakistan’s premiere intelligence agency, and the Ministries of Interior and Defense to arrange a meeting between Amal and her brother as soon as possible. 

‘Next time’
For now, al-Sadah said all he can do is try to provide some sense of hope for his nieces and nephews, most of whom can only remember life inside the compound walls in which their father was killed.

Al-Sadah said he had taken them toys when he was allowed to see them – soccer balls, balloons, and books – and that at the end of each visit, the children would beg him not to go.

"I always lied to them, whenever they asked me to stay," he said. "I would lie and say, 'Next time we'll go to the park,' 'Next time we'll go outside.' I keep telling them they're going to come back home soon."

NBC News' Fakhar Rehman contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM – The Har Menuchot Cemetery looked like it was painted in black Wednesday. Hundreds of mourners, many of them men dressed in the black suits and broad-brimmed hats worn by orthodox Jews, came to pay their respects for the four Jews killed by a gunman in Toulouse, France, on Monday.

The bodies of 30-year-old Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his sons, Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 4, and 8-year-old Myriam Monsenego were laid on stretchers after being flown to Israel from France.

Small white cards were placed on each body indicating their names.

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The announcer asked dignitaries to limit their speeches to five minutes due to the heat and out of respect for the bereaved families.    

In tears, Shlomo Amar, the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, was defiant. "We will keep on fighting and teaching our youth with our heads high up,” he said. “Our enemy will not defeat us.”

A woman started shouting and other weeping women soon followed. Someone brought a large cotton cloth to cover the victims’ families from the sun.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe sat still with a somber face throughout the speeches; eventually, he spoke in French, which was translated into Hebrew. "The French nation is in shock,” he said. “I came here today to show the French nation's respect. We will do our out most to protect the Jewish community in France. We will not tolerate terror."

Monsenego's grandfather was asked to say a few words, but he couldn’t find the strength to stand up and talk.

Photo Blog: Jerusalem funeral for victims of French school shooting 

But Myriam's eldest brother, Avishai, offered some words. He wailed and had one last plea for his dead sister” "Please give strength to father and mother to overcome this tragedy.”

Then the slain rabbi’s father, Shmuel Sandler, spoke about his son, "You were a magnificent person killed by a barbaric person," he said. Unfortunately, the middle of his speech was interrupted by police using a megaphone asking the owner of a Daihatsu car to move the vehicle because it was blocking the road.

While the bodies were taken to be buried, I spoke to David Naor, a relative of the Sandler familyr. I asked him about the news coming out of Toulouse that the suspected gunman had been found.

“Finding the killer won’t help the dead children,” he replied. “But it helps to know that he won’t kill again.”

CAIRO – Thousands of mourners dressed in black gathered in Cairo on Tuesday for the funeral of Egypt's Orthodox Christian Pope Shenouda, who was revered my millions throughout the country as a leader for all Egyptians.

Copts felt like "they were nobodies" after Shenouda's death, mourner Mina Hany Naeem, 17, told NBC News.

"With him I felt like I was wearing white and everyone looked at me, and without him I feel naked and everyone is looking at me," he said. "When he was Pope nobody ever said Muslim and Christian – we were all Egyptians."

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Shenouda, who died on Saturday at age 88, promoted religious harmony, winning respect among the Muslim majority, but his last years witnessed a growth in sectarian tension that worsened with the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

"Pope Shenouda was a father to us all, to all Arabs, a very patriotic person," mourner Saber Farag Saleh, a 50-year-old construction engineer, told NBC News. "He protected us from divisions. He taught us to love the other and all religions."

Religious figures from several countries, including a Catholic delegation from the Vatican, and foreign ambassadors massed in the Orthodox Cathedral as long-bearded Coptic priests wearing bulbous black miters prayed over Shenouda's body lying in an open coffin, a golden miter upon his head and a gold-tipped staff in his hand.

Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt's Pope Shenouda III

A delegation from the ruling military council and several candidates for Egypt's upcoming presidential elections attended the funeral. Security was tight, with dozens of police and army trucks scattered around the cathedral and plainclothes police posted on bridges and in streets nearby.

The prayers were led by Bishop Bakhomious, head of the church of Bahaira, a district in the Nile Delta north of Cairo, who will temporally hold the post of pope for two months until a new leader is elected.

'Fix all problems with prayer'
Some mourners worried who would follow Shenouda, who spent his final years trying to comfort a community disturbed by the rise of political Islam.

"It's a big loss, he looked after us all, it's a big loss for all Christians and Muslims," teacher Jaqueleen Mikhail, 25, told NBC News. "Nobody will ever be like the Pope Shenouda, he was humble and full of love and wise. He would fix all problems with prayer."

Egypt has seen less of the religious violence and discrimination that prompted members of ancient Christian communities to migrate from Iraq and other Arab countries.

But Coptic Christians, who comprise about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, have long complained of discrimination and in the past year stepped up protests, which included calls for new rules that would make it as easy to build a church as a mosque.

Shenouda strongly opposed Islamic militancy but strove to quell growing anger among Copts at Islamic extremism, attacks on churches and sectarian clashes often sparked by inter-faith romances and church building permits.

Photo blog: Egypt's Coptic Christians mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III

Many Muslims were among the mourners. He was a familiar figure for generations of Egyptians and Muslim Egyptians respected him as a staunch nationalist, an outspoken critic of Israel and a social conservative.

Dr. Essam Arian,  a member of parliament and the deputy of the Freedom and Justice Party (the Muslim Brotherhood's political party) said that he was planning to attend the funeral. "We hope the next pope can continue in the path of  reconciliation.  History will judge him.”

Sheikh Zachariah Mohammed Marzouq, the second Imam of Al Azhar Mosque, echoed those comments. 

“He was a wise man and a national figure.... He managed by his wisdom to dissolve any kind of conflict between the sects of the nation, the Christians and the masses of Muslims," said Marzouq. "He was a man inviting peace and love and brotherhood.  We send our condolences to our brothers the Copts on the loss of Pope Shenouda."

Thousands have paid their respects at the cathedral since he died. For much of the time, Shenouda's body was put in a seated position on a ceremonial throne dressed in gold and red embroidered vestments.

On Sunday, the cathedral had to close its doors several times in an attempt to contain the crowds. Two mourners died killed in the crush, medical sources said.

The burial is expected to take place at the Wadi el Natrun monastery in the desert northwest of Cairo, where the late pope had requested he be interred.

NBC News' Charlene Gusbash and Taha Belal, msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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BEIJING – The sudden appearance and rapid disappearance of dissident artist Ai Weiwei on China’s version of Twitter has provided a window into the zany, fast-paced and utterly incomprehensible world of social media censorship in the communist state.

Ai told NBC News that he had been told that -- since new rules were introduced over the weekend on the mandatory real-name registration of every account on the Twitter-style Sina Weibo website -- his name was no longer being blocked on the site.

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“Before if you looked up my name on Sina Weibo you got a message that said that it was a ‘sensitive or illegal word being used,’” Ai told NBC News Monday. “Yesterday a friend told me that my name was no longer being blocked, so we thought we’d give it a try.”

Ai, whose outspoken criticism of China’ ruling Communist Party and alleged tax-evasion led to his detention for 81 days last year, has had his name censored by China’s “Great Firewall” and his physical travel has also been restricted.

So the sudden discovery that his name was suddenly viewable and searchable on Weibo spurred him to experiment.

“I just wanted to see if this policy really applies. They [new internet rules] said if you use your real name and identity, you can open your own Weibo account,” Ai said, “so we tried and found that it worked.”

"Ai Weiwei testing, 3/19/2012" would be Ai’s first and last post under his Weibo account.

Account deleted
In a little under two hours, 10,680 people flocked to follow him online before censors deleted his account.

Though unsurprised by the number of followers he attracted in such a short time, he still can’t explain why he was suddenly able to open an account.

“I have no idea. Some people said it may just be a mistake, I have no idea,” he said. 

Read more news from Behind the Wall

Curiously, the introduction of the new rules was followed shortly afterward by the banning of the Chinese term for “real-name registration.”

Weibo users had been comparing notes regarding whose accounts had or hadn’t been suspended for not providing their real names. The blocking of “real-name registration” appeared to happen because the discussion of the topic became so widespread.

Sildeshow: History of US-China relations

Sina has provided some information about how many of its users have opted to register their Weibo accounts with their real identities. The last official statistic released was a week ago when the company announced that it anticipated 60% of its users would be registered by last Friday’s deadline.

Earlier Monday, NBC News attempted to create a new Weibo account using an anonymous identity. While the site seemed to accept the information filled in, no confirming email required to start using the account ever showed up in our inbox.

'Jasmine Revolution'
However, some users who say they have not submitted any identification to Sina claim they have the ‘V’ badge that all users who verify their identity have on the site.

China’s government is sensitive about the destabilizing potential of social media sites as seen in places like Egypt, Libya and most recently Syria.

Chinese TV show 'Interviews before Execution' stirs controversy

An anonymous call for a “Jasmine Revolution” early last year sparked a tightening of restrictions on such sites and increased calls by Chinese regulators and officials for real name registration.

Another newly banned word was “Ferrari,” amid intense gossiping over the potential identity of the owner of a Ferrari who crashed their car early Sunday morning in Beijing, killing one and injuring two others.

The topic that was quickly censored after users speculated that the victim could have been the child of a high-level Communist official.

NBC News’ Bo Gu contributed research to this report.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

BEIRUT, Lebanon – On a freshly paved road that runs from Baalbak to Ersal in northern Lebanon stands a towering billboard.
 
On one half of the billboard is Syrian President Bashar Assad, in military uniform. On the other half is a portrait of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese political and paramilitary organization that has been labeled a terrorist group by Washington.

The conflict in neighboring Syria has put Hezbollah, the staunch regional resistance movement, in a tough spot. Despite praising the Arab Spring democracy movement in many other countries, Hezbollah and its leader Nasrallah are standing by the Assad regime, even as it kills thousands of its own people to preserve power.

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While Hezbollah supports Assad’s regime, the broader Lebanese population is divided and hesitant to take sides. Nonetheless, there is growing concern that this distance will be increasingly difficult to maintain as the conflict spirals on.

In fact, both pro- and anti-Assad groups have traded accusations that the other is receiving material support from inside Lebanon

Rivals or bedfellows?
On the surface, Assad and Nasrallah appear to be opposites.

Assad is the president of a country that is increasingly isolated in the international community and is widely unpopular on the Arab street. His government is embattled and his grip on power challenged.

Nasrallah, on the other hands, is the head of a popular Lebanese resistance movement and a domestic political force. He enjoys widespread support on the Arab street, particularly for his staunch resistance to Israel and Western imperialism in the region.

Nasrallah’s organization is considered the strongest non-state actor in the Middle East. It commands respect for its firepower and discipline. Nasrallah’s leadership of Hezbollah is not in doubt. Ideologically, Nasrallah and his organization draw on their Shiite Muslim religious beliefs as the steadfast backbone of their convictions.

In comparison, Assad's Baath party, which rules Syria, is staunchly secular. 

But when it comes to understanding why the two men share the same billboard, as well as campaign posters at pro-Assad rallies,  there is only one measuring stick, according to a Hezbollah official who spoke on the condition of anonymity: "What is the specific party's proximity to the resistance of Western and Israeli aggressions and occupation in the Middle East?” He added, "Nothing else matters.”

Shared enemy
For years, Syria was a conduit by which Hezbollah was able to acquire support from its main backer Iran (also a close ally of the Syrian regime). Because Syria aided and supported Hezbollah's top priority – perpetuating resistance to Israeli occupation – it was considered an ally despite their differences.

While the organization supports the democratic aspirations of all people in the region, there cannot be a "conflict of priorities.”
Hezbollah’s "only priority is the perpetuation of resistance” to Israel, the official said.

That helps explain why Assad and Nasrallah are pictured on the billboard and other posters around Lebanon conveying a message of solidarity. The two men are allies because they are celebrated as pillars of Arab resistance and enemies of Israel. It is the classic "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" scenario.

In fact, Nasrallah made a rare public appearance in December to address his followers and make clear his support for the Syrian regime.  

"We support the reforms in Syria and we stand with the regime against the resistance movement," Nasrallah said at a rally in Beirut on Dec. 6. He has rarely been seen in public since Hezbollah’s war with Israel in 2006 out of fear of an Israeli assassination attempt.

His appearance was meant to reiterate not only his support for Assad’s regime – but also to diminish any sense that Hezbollah had been weakened by the ongoing conflict in Syria. 

It was also meant to thwart what the Hezbollah official said is seen as a major outgrowth of the "Arab awakenings" – inviting more Western influence and interference, if not dominance, in the region. For the Arab revolutions to succeed, he believes, “Western meddling and interference in the region must be rejected and true Arab sovereignty established.”

To Hezbollah, losing Assad means losing an ally; so by their calculation, it is more important to avoid losing their ally Assad than gain a pro-democratic and Western-oriented Syria.

This has been Hezbollah's position towards the Western-led invasion of Iraq, the Western-backed airstrikes on Libya and it would be the same for any Western action against Iran, the official added.

Not fighting other people's wars
What would Hezbollah do if Iran is attacked by Israel and/or the U.S.? Would it fire back at Israel? Target American or Israeli interests? Remain on the sidelines?

"Constructive ambiguity" is how the Hezbollah official described their approach. "Why would Hezbollah tell its enemies what it will do?"

"We have the right to self-defense.” But he quickly added, “We are a resistance movement that is Lebanese, we don't fight other peoples’ war, we fight to defend ourselves.”

 

Afghan teen boxer Sadaf Rahimi has already come a long way from death threats in Afghanistan for being a female athlete. She used to train in a Kabul stadium used by the Taliban for executions.

Now she’s training at an international training camp for boxers preparing to compete at this summer's London Olympics. She hopes her achievements will be an example to others in her war-ravaged country. NBC News’ Kiko Itasaka reports.

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 See a recent story on Sadaf when she was still training back in Afghanistan: Afghan girls punch their way to equality

 

 

RAMTHA, Jordan – One year ago, Syrian engineering student Emad Maho's future plans revolved around finishing his university degree and then starting a family.

The Arab Spring changed that. The 23-year-old says he was tortured by Syrian authorities for protesting against President Bashar Assad's regime.

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Maho is among the thousands of Syrians who have fled their homeland. According to the United Nations, at least 8,000 people have died in Syria over the past year due to the government's violent repression of the uprising.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 5,000 Syrian refugees have registered with them in Jordan. But the Jordan government says the number is much higher and that as many as 80,000 Syrians have crossed into the country since the revolution started.

1,000 refugees flood out of Syria in 24 hours

Speaking from the northern Jordanian town of Ramtha, which borders Syria, Maho told of his arrest, torture and humiliation at the hands of Syrian authorities.

'I always hated the regime'
Maho had never thought about becoming an activist -- but says he had "always yearned for freedom."

“I always hated the regime and wished I could have the minimal freedom other people in the world enjoy,” he said. “When I received an invitation on Facebook to participate in a demonstration in front of the Libyan Embassy in Syria to support the Arab Spring, I was very excited and I remember thinking: ‘When will the Syrian people demand their own freedom?’”

From the front line to front page: Syria's image war

After more than 40 years of oppression, Syrians were not immune to the revolutions sweeping the region. Syria has been ruled with an iron fist by the Assad family since the current president's father, Hafiz Assad, seized power in 1970. Last March, Syrians decided it was their turn to demand their freedom.

“From the start of the revolution till the 9th of July 2011, I participated in more than 150 demonstrations all over Syria,” Maho said. “I made flags, wrote banners and reached a point where I was organizing the demonstrations, capturing footage on my mobile [phone] and sending the videos to Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya TV channels,” he said. 

The Assad regime does not sanction protests – so those who have taken part in demonstrations have reportedly suffered the worst forms of torture, including electric shocks. Activists have also had their homes stormed and family members taken hostage. Many of their relatives have been tortured, killed or simply disappeared.

“I became wanted by the Syrian security forces," Maho recalled. "So I left my home and went into hiding for a few months. But my mistake was that I missed my mother terribly.

"I went home to see her; she prepared breakfast for me and then we argued because I was tense. I knew I was going to be arrested that day. I took a quick shower then walked 200 meters to my father’s shop to say hello and get some money.

Country music, Harry Potter: Leaked emails reveal Assad's tastes

“My mother came running into the store to tell me she spotted six 'shabeeha' – armed men in civilian clothing who assault protesters – walking towards the store.”   

Maho said he immediately realized he would be arrested, but that his main fear was for his father.

'My mother was crying'
“I tried to attack them so that they will only arrest me and forget about my father. I threw my phone away because it had all the videos I shot in recent demonstrations. I managed to hit two of them, but I was outnumbered and was arrested. My father was arrested, too. My mother was crying behind,” Maho said.

Maho said he spent 20 days imprisoned at the General Headquarters of the Military Intelligence in Damascus’ Kafer Soussa neighborhood. He said he was physically tormented for at least six days – beaten, tortured with electric cables and deprived of sleep. He said he still has nightmares.

“I was forced to stand naked on a wall with my hands tied to the ceiling for seven hours. Every 30 minutes they would spill cold water on me and electrocute me. On the third day of my arrest, they realized I wasn’t saying anything, so they blindfolded me, put a stick in my mouth and escorted me to a room. I heard a man screaming. As soon as they took the blindfold off my eyes I saw the man was my father. He was yelling and I started crying. He was on the floor and three men were beating him. That was the worst moment,” he said.

Syria laying landmines on route used by fleeing civilians, group says

Finally, after days of torture Maho confessed what his captors wanted him to confess: That he was a spy for Al-Jazeera since he was filming the demonstrations and sending them to the TV network, as well as the fact that he was an activist and protest organizer. After his confession, he says they continued to torture him, but finally released him.

But even upon his release, Maho says he returned to the demonstrations.  He said his father was arrested for a second time, along with some cousins, in order to pressure him to turn himself to the Syrian authorities.

Report: Emails indicate Assad got advice from Iran

“I knew that if I stayed in Syria, they would never leave my family in peace.  And I believed I could be of more help to my people alive, rather than dead. I went to Daraa [near the Jordanian border] and was smuggled into Ramtha, Jordan.”

For now, Maho says he does not want to return home. He wants to help Syrian families in Jordan.

But he said he would like to see Assad leave the country. “We will not judge him, history will.”  

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• From university campus to torture chamber: A Syrian's story
• Afghanistan's answer to 'Million Dollar Baby'?
• Ex-US officials probed over speeches to Iran terror group
• Poachers slaughter 200 elephants in Cameroon park
• PhotoBlog: From frontline to front page: Syria's image war
• Chinese political boss loses face, gets ousted
• Lawsuit: US evangelist inspired deadly hate against Uganda gays
• In 'KONY' town, video is hardly a sensation

 

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

NEWS ANALYSIS

BEIJING – Wednesday’s conclusion of the National People’s Congress seemed to signal the end of Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao’s chapter in Chinese history.

It’s been widely reported though not yet confirmed that Wen—along with President Hu Jintao—is due to step down later this year. 

But little did we know Wen would take the opportunity to carry on a tradition enjoyed by his meddling predecessors: publicly shaking up the political field one last time and consequently sparking the biggest political scandal the nation has seen in years.

At his final press conference yesterday, the senior Chinese leader caused a stir when he criticized the leadership of Chongqing, one of the world’s largest municipalities, for its handling of the Wang Lijun incident, when the former deputy mayor of the western megacity allegedly tried to defect to the United States.

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Shattered leadership dream
The comment was viewed as an ominous sign for the future of Chongqing’s Communist Party secretary, Bo Xilai -- Wang's former boss. Bo, a tough but charismatic crime-fighting politician rapidly became a national figure through self-promotion more often associated with Western politicians.

In particular, Bo’s ruthless crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing and his promotion of Communist rhetoric and values through vehicles like “red songs,” soon gave him a national following that seemed to position him for ascension to the ultimate seat of power: China’s nine-member standing committee, which will be selected later this year.

That dream shattered this morning.

Fall from grace: China leadership contender Bo Xilai sacked

China’s state news service, Xinhua, issued a terse statement announcing that Bo had been replaced by Zhang Dejiang – currently vice premier of China’s state council – as Chongqing Party chief.

The announcement of Bo’s fall from grace was a bombshell for China’s public, who rarely get such a clear look at the political battles Chinese leaders prefer to fight behind closed doors. Bo’s dismissal quickly became the top trending topic on China’s Twitter-like service, Sina Weibo, generating an astounding 4 million tweets in the hours following the announcement.

While some netizens were quick to mock the alleged corruption of a supposedly virtuous politician, others were quick to defend Bo, whose campaign against organized crime captured the imaginations of disenfranchised people nationwide.

“I just want to have a safe and stable life… Bo gave us hope,” wrote one person on Weibo.

Si Weijiang, a Chinese lawyer, countered,  “There's no need to be happy....Sometimes people do need what the leftists offer.”

It’s a dramatic political fall for the 62-year-old Bo, who just weeks before appeared to be on the cusp of becoming part of the Communist Party elite.  

Rapid rise to top
The first public sign of faltering emerged when his vice-mayor Wang Lijun spent the night at the U.S. consulate back in February. It was widely believed that he was seeking refuge after coming under a government investigation for corruption.

Prior to becoming vice-mayor, Wang had spearheaded Bo’s signature political moment: a three-year campaign against criminal gangs in Chongqing that resulted in thousands of arrests and 13 executions. Dubbed the “Smash Black” campaign, the stunt was warmly received by Chongqing’s citizens, who had long bristled at the brazenness of organized crime in the region.

Despite the acclaim that came with their success in smashing organized crime in Chongqing, the two were not immune to criticism. Like so much here in China, the line between business and governance was blurred, and Wang soon found himself embroiled in an economic war between two local moguls.

When one of the Chongqing businessmen was arrested earlier this year, the man claimed he had an audio tape of Wang threatening him and warning him to leave the other mogul alone.

Wang was soon the focus of an investigation that threatened to bring an end to his political career. The very fact that the inquiry was allowed to happen – an act that can only occur with specific authorization from the highest levels of the Communist Party – may have signaled to Wang that his fate was sealed.

He snuck off to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, where both Chinese and embassy officials confirmed he spent the night before leaving on his own accord. However, officials on both sides have declined to comment on what was discussed between Wang and U.S. consulate officials that night.

Nonetheless, the slightest possibility that Wang might have revealed sensitive secrets about the Communist Party’s inner workings was not only a massive embarrassment to his boss Bo – who had handpicked Wang as his right-hand man years before – but also a crisis that made Bo a potential political liability with China’s greatest economic rival, the United States.

The incident also opened Bo up to criticism from the ruling elite’s more liberal factions who were outraged by his anti-crime campaign, the manner of which critics say demonstrated a blatant disregard for the criminal process.  In addition, his embrace of leftist policies in everyday life through “red songs,” text messages and a friendly approach to state-owned enterprise helped paint Bo as a polarizing threat to China’s liberalizing voices.

And it appears that Wen Jiabao may have shared those concerns.

Charismatic as he is controversial, Bo had been a wildcard with the potential to alter the dialogue in China’s influential nine-member standing committee, which sets economic and social policy for the nation.

Bo’s dismissal means that a potential voice of opposition to the economic and social map that Wen and Hu have laid the groundwork for over the past eight years has been removed.

Proving once again that in the world of Chinese politics, national stability reigns supreme.

NBC News’ Bo Gu and Isabella Zhong contributed research to this report.

GULU, Uganda – Young Jacob Acaye’s declaration that he would rather die than continue to lead his life in fear has broken the hearts of the tens of millions of people around the world who have watched “KONY 2012,” an Internet advocacy documentary about the misdeeds of a Ugandan warlord.

But about nine years later – and just a week or so after the video became an online sensation – one of the most talked-about people of current days is a picture of anonymity.

In his hometown in northern Uganda, the 21-year-old seemed relaxed, and perhaps a little reserved, as he wandered down the street where he used to huddle under blankets along with up to 800 other children for protection from advancing rebels.

I stood with him, gazing down a busy sidewalk waiting for someone to catch his eye – to question him, to thank him or to embrace him. There's nothing.

We had traveled to Gulu to assess reaction to the 30-minute video, which has become one of the most successful online campaigns of all time. As of this writing, it’s up to 78 million views on YouTube.

But tweets, status updates and trending topics mean very little here. In downtown Gulu, it has pretty much missed many of those people who have been most affected by the bloodshed.

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Western campaign
It shouldn’t be a surprise. With access to the Internet limited, very few people here have seen the “Invisible Children” campaigners’ call to make Joseph Kony famous, a move they hoped would, in turn, make him infamous.

After all, he is already despised in these parts:  His face and his name are known by everyone and have haunted this place for decades. It seems that everyone can name one of his victims – someone who was slaughtered, orphaned or abducted by his army of thugs.

Why make Kony famous? Video rubs some raw Ugandan scars 

In fact, many people in Gulu are far from excited by the campaign; they have heard it discussed on local radio and feel that it has its heart far from the dusty roads of rural Uganda. This is a campaign by Westerners, “the white men,” said one resident.

What divides opinion is whether that really matters. To Jacob it doesn’t, he would welcome attention from anyone, anywhere. To many others it feels like a patronizing challenge to national pride. “KONY 2012” doesn’t really feel like their campaign.

In Gulu, there are memorials to a series of massacres, the most recent in 2004. But while the legacy of fear created by a generation of violence certainly endures, in many ways this place has moved on. Confidence has grown with peace.

Moving on
Sitting around making small-talk, a group of men asked me to join them. Their conversation is about Kony, as often seems to be the case. Fueled by bravado and, perhaps, a little beer, they said it would be impossible for the warlord to return. They spoke of him only in the past tense, despite rumors that he was in the area over Christmas for a brief visit.

“We don’t expect anything. We don’t expect him anymore in the country,” said one man, who is convinced that Kony is in hiding in the Central African Republic or South Sudan.

In other parts of the town, some told me that there is no need for a campaign at all, as Kony’s men have moved on. Others don't want to hear his name. “Why re-open these wounds?” one man asked me once he learned of my reason for being in Gulu.

Some fear that too much talk of Kony might bring him back and risk their community's relative calm. Others worry that their homeland is being characterized around the world purely as a place of terror – “Konyland” as one aid worker described it.

Most of all, they wonder why the world has suddenly started to worry about them now? It’s not necessarily that they don’t welcome the attention, but many cannot subscribe to the newfound enthusiasm of the campaign’s supporters abroad. They have long tired of asking for attention and being ignored.

Acaye, however, is as passionate as when he was as a boy and believes that the video is important and valuable.

“Kony has not yet stopped killing young ones,” he said. “Kony has not yet stopped abducting people. Kony has not yet stopped forcing young girls into sex slaves.

“And that is what we are fighting for. We want it stopped.”