Pakistani security forces dynamited the homes of Maulana Fazlullah and his spokesman Maulana Sirajuddin Dec. 6 in the Swat Valley village of Imam Dehri, North-West Frontier Province. The Maulana’s madrassa was left intact. “The fate of the controversial seminary of… Read morePakistan: liquor found in raid on Taliban leader
More than nine months and countless African lives ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued what critics dismissed as toothless “pseudo-indictments” against two men identified as masterminds of the Darfur genocide—Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman (nom de… Read moreICC issues another report on Darfur impunity
All the talk about how calm Iraq is now thanks to the surge only indicates how dumbed-down our definition of “calm” has become. A suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station northeast of Baghdad Dec. 4, killing at… Read morePeshmerga police Diyala; more terror in Kirkuk
An unpublished UN map leaked to the London Times in Kabul illustrates risk levels across the country for staff and aid workers with color shadings, revealing a sharp deterioration in security over the last two years. A similar map from… Read moreAfghanistan: no-go zones grow
Perhaps the revolt against the hypertrophy of the technosphere has finally begun. We’ve already noted the rebellion at a Druze village in Israel against the local siting of a cellphone antennae, and the strike by New York City taxi drivers… Read moreRural England revolts against GPS
A we’ve noted before, the National Intelligence Estimate—a body made up of analysts from 16 US spy agencies—appears to be in the corner of the “pragmatist” wing of the ruling elites. Its new report, “Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities,” finds… Read moreNational Intelligence Estimate rains on Iran war drive
Basque activists arrested in the so-called “18/98” case began appearing before a judge in Bilbao Dec. 4, following a sweep that prompted angry protests over the weekend. Spain’s High Court issued 46 arrest warrants for members of the Basque civil… Read moreBasques march against repression
On Nov. 29, troops from the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD), the National Police and the National Army attacked a group of Nasa indigenous people working on the La Emperatriz farm in Caloto municipality, in the southern Colombian department of Cauca,… Read moreColombia: indigenous attacked in Cauca, Guajira
From Newsday, Nov. 26: Tour bus runs over woman in Chinatown A New York City sightseeing tour bus ran over a woman on a Chinatown street yesterday, sending her to the hospital, where she was listed in critical condition. The… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
If you still think religion isn’t political, this should disabuse you of your illusions. Ironically, the exiled Dalai Lama moves towards modernity, suggesting his successor could be elected rather than chosen by the cosmic forces of reincarnation. China, bizarrely, attempts… Read moreChina bans unauthorized reincarnation
Gillian Gibbons, the British school-teacher sentenced to 15 days in prison in Sudan for naming a class teddy bear “Mohammed,” has been transfered to a secret location after thousands of Sudanese—many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums—marched in… Read moreNext: Teddy Bear War?
Rebels in Chad have declared war on the former colonial power France. Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye, spokesman for the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), said in a statement: “The UFDD considers itself to be in a state of… Read moreChad: rebels declare war on France
