Both Sunni and Shi’ite opposition groups are criticizing the “declaration of principles” on long-term ties signed by US and Iraqi leaders Nov. 26, charging it would lead to “US interference for years to come.” The Iraqi parliament will have to… Read moreIraq: opposition assails pact with US
Police in Diyarbakir, Turkey, used water cannons, tear gas and batons against Kurdish protesters Nov. 25. The protesters hurled stones and burned tires after being blocked from marching through the city’s center. Protesters chanted slogans in support of the Democratic… Read moreKurds clash with police in Diyarbakir
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former US commander in Iraq, gave the Democratic Party’s weekly Saturday radio address Nov. 24, calling Bush’s Iraq adventure a failure—while emphasizing he was not representing the party. Said Sanchez: “That failure continues today…. Read moreDems close ranks with war criminal Sanchez
US Rear Admiral Gregory Smith accused Iran-backed “special groups” of being behind the bombing of a Baghdad pet market, which left 15 dead and 55 wounded Nov. 22. Two bombs hidden in a cardboard bird box exploded simultaneously at al-Ghazl… Read moreIran-backed “special groups” behind new Baghdad market blast?
Indian army troops are patrolling the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, following a wave of arson and violence this week. Protesters repeatedly clashed with police, and torched several vehicles and the local offices of the state’s ruling Communist Party… Read moreIndian army patrols Calcutta after violent protests
Boy, does this ever speak to WW4 Report‘s existential dilemma! Your struggling writer recently griped: “The dumbing-down and contraction of print media generally has dried up much of the freelance market and forced me into self-publishing on the Net. The… Read moreNYT op-ed: Pay Internet writers!
From the New York Times, Nov. 21: The American military is sending an Iraqi photographer for The Associated Press it accuses of aiding the insurgency into Iraq’s criminal justice system, according to the American authorities and The A.P. The photographer,… Read moreUS accuses Iraqi photojournalist of aiding insurgents
The Nov. 21 New York Times includes a profile of Venezuela’s recently retired army commander-in-chief Gen. Raul Isaias Baduel, a longtime confidant of Hugo Chavez who led the paratrooper raid that restored him to power following the abortive 2002 coup… Read moreAnti-Semitism in Venezuela —again?
Pakistan’s atomic weapons are secure, Muhammad Khurshid Khan, deputy director of Islamabad’s Strategic Plans Division, told a meeting of nuclear counter-terrorism specialists in Edinburgh Nov. 20. “There’s nothing to worry about the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons,” Khan… Read moreNuclear fear in Pakistan
The rural community of Cutumay Camones, in Santa Ana department, El Salvador, is demanding justice following a series of violent attacks by the national police and army troops. On Oct. 12, security forces invaded Cutumay Camones, using tear gas and… Read moreEl Salvador: water protesters demand justice
A statement by Las Abejas, the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center and other civil organizations in conflicted Chiapas state finds that the Mexican national state “is responsible for the Acteal massacre” of Dec. 22, 1997. The statement… Read moreMexican state “responsible” for Acteal massacre —and ongoing terror
A glimmer of hope—but it’s pretty terrifying that this was under consideration, even by the supposedly enlightened Chief William Bratton. Some of us remember the mass detention of Southern California Muslims by immigration authorities in 2002. From AFP, Nov. 16:… Read moreLAPD drops Muslim mapping plan
