Mexico formally protested use of tear gas by the US Border Patrol, the Exterior Secretariat sending a letter to the US Embassy requesting a probe of an incident last month in which Cristian Saldana, 15, was struck in the nose… Read moreMexico protests US tear gas attacks
Mexico’s federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP) announced the detention of 13 “delinquents” at Rancho San Isidro, in San Andrés Larráinzar, a highland municipality in conflicted Chiapas state Jan. 30. The SSP said 45 stolen vehicles were confiscated, as well as… Read moreCrime, water wars rock Chiapas Highlands
On Jan. 25, seven adherents of the People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT) from the central Mexican village of San Salvador Atenco were liberated from the Mexico State prison at Molino de Flores, after a federal judge cleared… Read moreMexico: Atenco activists freed
From Bush’s final State of the Union address, via the New York Times: Ladies and gentlemen, some may deny the surge is working, but among the terrorists there is no doubt. Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq, and… Read moreBush asks for patience in Iraq —again
At least five were killed in Beirut Jan. 27 in clashes between Lebanese soldiers and young Shi’ite residents protesting electricity cuts. Hezbollah issued a statement holding “the de facto authorities” fully responsible for “every drop of blood shed,” and demanding… Read more“Syria-Iran axis” behind Lebanon violence?
Freedom’s on the march. From the Winston-Salem Journal, NC, Jan. 26: An inmate claiming widespread harassment of Muslims in U.S. prisons cannot sue prison guards who he says took his Qurans and prayer rug, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday…. Read moreHigh court approves Koran confiscation
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez told a Caracas press conference Jan. 26: “I accuse the government of Colombia of devising a conspiracy, acting as a pawn of the US empire, of devising a military provocation against Venezuela. A military aggression is… Read moreChávez: Colombia plotting attack on Venezuela
A three-year prison sentence was imposed Jan. 18 by a court in Minsk on Alyaksandr Zdvizhkou, former deputy editor of the weekly Zhoda, for reprinting the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that first appeared in a Danish newspaper. He was… Read moreCartoon wars back on… in Belarus
The International Energy Agency is urging OPEC to boost production, with IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka at the World Economic Forum in Davos calling global supplies “very tight.” Oil ministers from Iraq and Qatar at Davos were noncommittal, saying the… Read moreOil: $200 a barrel by year’s end?
Lest we forget… From the New York Times, Jan. 26: Woman Who Survived 9/11 Is Killed by a Car in the City It was a beautiful morning on Sept. 11, 2001, so Florence Cioffi made a decision that helped save… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
In a front-page story Jan. 25, “US Asking Iraq for Wide Rights in Fighting War,” the New York Times writes: “With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush administration will insist that the government… Read moreIraq: 100 years of occupation?
Hundreds of Afghans chanted anti-US slogans in Ghazni Jan. 24 to protest the deaths of nine police, including a district commander, who local officials said were killed the previous day in an anti-Taliban operation by coalition troops. The coalition denied… Read moreAfghans protest US air-strikes
