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
Police in Barcelona arrested 14 men and raided several apartments, two mosques and a bakery over the weekend. Authorities said the group included 12 Pakistanis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi, and that bomb-making materials were confiscated. Spain’s Interior Minister Alfredo… Read morePakistani militants target Barcelona?
While the Shi’ite Ashura festivals went off peacefully in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir this year, there were riots on the Indian side of the Line of Control. Islamabad’s official Associated Press of Pakistan writes Jan. 21 that “[T]he occupying Indian troops subjected… Read moreAshura violence in India-controlled Kashmir
Chad’s Alliance for National Resistance (ANR) said Jan. 19 they had shot down an army MI-24 helicopter gunship which attacked their positions at Beda near the Sudanese border. The rebels used a SAM-7 ground-to-air missile. (AFP, Jan. 19) Sudan accused… Read moreUranium wars in Chad?
The US State Department has condemned the Sudanese government for appointing purported Janjaweed commander Musa Hilal as a special advisor to President Omar al-Bashir. Said spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos: “We deplore the government of Sudan’s decision to name him to a… Read moreSudan defends promotion of Janjaweed war criminal
