The government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, forced to resign last month after a defeat on the issue, narrowly won a Senate vote to keep Rome’s 1,900 troops in Afghanistan March 27. But questions remain over the mission’s future,… Read moreItaly continues Afghan mission —despite protests from all sides
Marijuana is not kosher for Passover, Israel’s pot-friendly Green Leaf Party says, advising Jews who observe the holiday’s special dietary laws to take a break from smoking the weed. The Party, which has made several unsuccessful attempts to win election… Read moreIsraeli pot-heads: cannabis kosher —but not for Passover
Militant activity in Pakistan is rapidly spreading from peripheral areas such as the Afghan border zone to the Punjabi heartland. A suicide bomber blew himself up near an army camp in Kharian, 85 miles southeast of the capital Islamabad March… Read morePakistan: militant activity spreads to center
Hundreds of insurgents armed with rocket launchers, artillery and machine guns are clashing with Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. Ethiopian tanks patrol the streets, and the southern part of Mogadishu has become a no-go zone. BBC reports that Ethiopian helicopter gunships… Read moreSomalia: civilians under fire in Mogadishu
A package of amendments to Egypt’s constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a nationwide referendum March 27—but with only 27% turn-out due to a popular boycott. The country’s leading rights group, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, put the figure even… Read moreEgypt: boycott, irregularites mar “reform” vote
Masked men on a motorcycle opened fire on an army vehicle in the Bajaur region of Pakistan’s Tribal Areas March 26, killing five members of the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), including a major and an assistant director. Bajaur, one of… Read morePakistan: no peace in Tribal Areas
The New York Times‘ March 24 review of a new exhibit on the Abraham Lincoln Brigade at the Museum of the City of New York is a depressingly sinister and hypocritical piece of propaganda. Entitled “The Spanish Civil War: Black… Read moreNYT revisionism on Spanish Civil War
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis entered the Persian Gulf March 27, where it will conduct a joint exercise with the Dwight D. Eisenhower, which has been in the Gulf since October. The air wings of the two carrier… Read moreIran attack set for next week?
Abdul Malik, an al-Qaeda suspect accused of involvement in terrorist attacks in Kenya in 2002 has been handed over to US custody by Kenyan authoirites and transported to Guantanamo Bay due to the “significant threat” he represented, said Pentagon spokesman… Read moreKenya suspect to Gitmo
Two suicide car bombs exploded near the home of a tribal leader in the Abu Ghraib district west of Baghdad March 27, killing the sheikh’s son and several other people. Sheikh Thahir al-Dari, whose home was targeted, is the head… Read moreIraq: more signs of Sunni civil war
More than 18,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan have returned home since the UN High Commissioner foor Refugees (UNHCR) started this year’s voluntary repatriation to Afghanistan, officials announced March 23. “They have been given a grace period from March 1 to… Read moreAfghan refugees running out of time
The March English edition of Le Monde Diplomatique has an in-depth story on the state of the world’s oil industry, “Hydrocarbon nationalism: States claim back their energy reserves,” which sheds much light on the underlying imperatives for the Iraq adventure…. Read moreSpecter of “hydrocarbon nationalism” drives Iraq war
