Bill Weinberg

Greater Middle East

Campesinos block spray equipment

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a report condemning pervasive sexual and gender-based violence that has occurred over the past seven years in the Syrian conflict. The report, based on interviews with more than 450 survivors and other affected individuals, details systemic rape, torture, and other acts of sexual violence perpetrated by Assad regime forces and affiliated militias at checkpoints, in detention centers, and during interrogations. (Photo: WikiMedia Commons)

Iran

Strait of Hormuz new Gulf of Tonkin?

Iran is contesting Washington’s version of the Jan. 5 incident in the Strait of Hormuz. From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 11: Iran releases its own tape on Hormuz ship incident BEIRUT — Iran released a videotape Thursday to support… Read moreStrait of Hormuz new Gulf of Tonkin?

National protests against subpoena of Puerto Rican activists

Protests have been announced in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California and Puerto Rico against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over subpoenas issued to activists in a grand jury investigation of the Boricua Popular Army–Macheteros. The protests will… Read moreNational protests against subpoena of Puerto Rican activists

Mexico

Chiapas: Zapatistas host Women’s Encuentro —amid ongoing violence

Zapatista women at La Garrucha To celebrate the 14th anniversary of their New Years Day uprising, Mexico’s Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) hosted a Women’s Encuentro (“encounter” or “meeting”) at the jungle settlement of La Garrucha, Chiapas state. Officially dubbed… Read moreChiapas: Zapatistas host Women’s Encuentro —amid ongoing violence

Africa

Marabout wars in West Africa?

Hundreds of thousands of mourners have gathered at the holy city of Touba to pay last respects to Senegal’s late spiritual leader, Serigne Saliou Mbacke, who died at the age of 92 on Dec. 28. Saliou was the last surviving… Read moreMarabout wars in West Africa?

Iraq

Iraq: al-Qaeda strikes back?

Two suicide attacks in Iraq killed at least 56 and wounded at least 42 this week—days after the US military delivered an upbeat report on security in the country, boasting that levels of violence had dropped over the past year…. Read moreIraq: al-Qaeda strikes back?

North Africa

Al-Qaeda claims Algeria blast

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the Jan. 2 suicide bombing in Algeria that killed five and injured 20. At 6:45 AM, a small truck laden with explosives drove at high speed towards a police station in… Read moreAl-Qaeda claims Algeria blast

Africa

Genocide in Kenya?

President Mwai Kibaki’s government accused rival Raila Odinga’s ODM party of unleashing “genocide” in Kenya Jan. 2, as the death toll from violence since the disputed Dec. 27 election passed 300. “It is becoming clear that these well-organized acts of… Read moreGenocide in Kenya?

Central America

Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Nicaragua to scout “Dry Canal” project?

As part of a new partnership with Nicaragua’s Sandinista President Daniel Ortega, Iran and Venezuela have announced a plan to help finance a $350 million deep-water port at Monkey Point on the country’s remote Miskito Coast—envisioned as the first step… Read moreIranian Revolutionary Guards in Nicaragua to scout “Dry Canal” project?

South Asia

India: Christmas terror in Orissa —as Hindu militants gain ground

At least four people are dead following sectarian clashes that broke out over Christmas celebrations in Kandhamal district of the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Hindu and Christian residents put each other’s homes to the torch in the Christian-dominated village… Read moreIndia: Christmas terror in Orissa —as Hindu militants gain ground

Afghanistan

Musharraf behind Bhutto assassination?

Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi is completely shut down after rioters burned dozens of cars and set fire to stores in outrage at the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. All the city’s petrol stations are sealed off and… Read moreMusharraf behind Bhutto assassination?

The Andes

Colombia’s Uribe linked to 1984 assassination of justice minister

Rodrigo Lara Restrepo, chief of the Colombian presidency’s anti-corruption program, resigned Dec. 12—days after Miami’s El Nuevo Herald reported documents showing his father, Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, had warned before his 1984 assassination that relatives of current President Alvaro… Read moreColombia’s Uribe linked to 1984 assassination of justice minister

CounterVortex

Author: Bill Weinberg