In a heart-warming display of holiday spirit, the New York Times runs a Christmas Eve op-ed making the case for illegal pre-emptive military strikes on Iran.
In Indian-occupied Kashmir, Cuba, Israel and several other places around the world, marches commemorating Human Rights Day were met with official harassment and repression.
The latest US drone strike in Pakistan is reported to have not killed a supposed al-Qaeda leader whose death, capture, suicide and escape have been repeatedly reported in a maze of media accounts.
The open letter to the Nobel Committee protesting Obama’s prize as he escalates in Afghanistan is signed by Sara Flounders of the International Action Center—a supporter of war criminals and genocide.
Swiss voters approved a ban on minarets at the urging of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party. Switzerland’s 400,000 Muslims include many Bosnian and Kosovar refugees from ex-Yugoslavia.
The Karzai government’s amnesty offer to the Taliban reveals again the hypocrisy of US claims to be defending democracy, secularism and women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Aymara leader Walter Aduviri was elected governor of Peru's Puno region—just two days after the country's Supreme Court declared void a seven-year prison term against him for "disturbing public order" during a 2011 protest wave in which he was the principal leader. Aduviri had carried out his campaign from hiding, and only emerged from clandestinity with announcement of the high court ruling. He will now face a new trial on the charges related to the so-called "Aymarazo"—an Aymara uprising against an unpopular mineral development project, which was ultimately suspended. His Mi Casita Movement for Regional Integration and Development won 48% of the vote in the race, ahead of the other candidates. It also took several municipal races in Puno region. (Photo: Diario Uno)
Eight environmental activists arbitrarily detained in Iran in January and February remain in detention eight months later without clear charges, Human Rights Watch said. The organization called upon Iranian authorities to either immediately release them or charge them with recognizable crimes and produce evidence to justify their continued detention. The detained are all members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The public prosecutor for Tehran told reporters after the arrests that the detained are accused of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified strategic information. It is unclear what classified information they could potentially collect, as their organization says it only works to conserve and protect Iran's flora and fauna, including the Asiatic cheetah, an endangered species in Iran. Other sources indicated they have been accused of "sowing corruption on earth," a serious charge that carries the risk of execution. (Image via HRW)
The New York Times portrays the Venezuelan energy crisis as a result of Hugo Chávez’s nationalizations—as the Inter-American Development Bank funds a disastrous hydro-power complex.
Peter Galbraith, leading advocate of a “three-state solution” for Iraq, stands to profit from oil deals with the Kurdish regional government—but Baghdad still controls the pipeline.
Two Czech soldiers serving in Afghanistan wore the insignia of SS divisions on their helmets, as German troops are engaged in their first ground offensive since World War II.
The conspiro-sphere is abuzz with the revelation that the presumed gunman in the Fort Hood shootings worshipped at the same Virginia mosque as two 9-11 hijackers—and other anomalies.
