Big news is that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has brokered a ceasefire in Darfur. The small news is that no, he really didn’t. And maybe, contrary to media portrayals, the JEM is correct not to take the bait, given… Read moreDarfur: JEM denies ceasefire
We can only hope. How interesting that Iran’s opposition lawmakers manifestly have more courage than Washington’s Democrats. From the Italian news agency AKI, Jan. 9: TEHRAN – Iranian reformist lawmakers have started collecting signatures in Parliament to demand the impeachment of… Read moreIran: move to impeach Ahmadinejad
From BBC News, Jan. 11: US forces have stormed a building in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six people said to be Iranians, prompting a diplomatic incident. Iranian and Iraqi officials said the building was an Iranian… Read moreIraq: US raids Iranian consulate?
Two people were killed and more than 70 injured Jan. 11 as supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales battled with guns, sticks and rocks on the streets of Cochabamba. Fighting broke out when supporters of Gov. Manfredo Reyes Villa… Read moreBolivia: deadly unrest over autonomy plan
From La Jornada, Jan. 10 via Chiapas95 (our translation): Hundreds of inhabitants of the Sierra de Chiapas blocked trucks and machinery transporting wood from the zone, and initiated a protest vigil in front of the municipal presidency in Motozintla in… Read moreChiapas: campesinos protest deforestation
From El Universal, Jan. 10 via Chiapas95: Soaring tortilla prices have touched off a budding crisis, threatening the traditional affordability of the nation’s most politically sensitive food product. Consumers are paying an average of 8 pesos per kilo – with… Read moreMexico: soaring tortilla prices hurt poor
A little more than a year ago, it was a mysterious sweet smell that mystified New Yorkers. This time a mysterious sinister smell. A psychological warfare experiment? From Reuters, Jan. 10: A powerful, mysterious smell of gas wafted through much… Read moreSmell of fear in NYC; dead birds in Austin
From the Middle East Newsline, Jan. 8: Morocco has reported another crackdown on Al Qaida. Officials said security forces have arrested Al Qaida operatives suspected of recruiting Muslims for the Sunni insurgency war in Iraq. They said the Al Qaida… Read moreMorocco claims al-Qaeda crackdown
Another sign of Nigeria’s social breakdown—and similar tensions are reported from Ghana. From Xinhua, Jan. 9: Six persons were killed at the weekend in a bloody clash between herdsmen and farmers in Korenganuwa village in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Zamfara,… Read moreNigeria: Fulani herders in bloody clash with farmers
More than a thousand peasants and fishermen marched in Campeche, in the Yucatan peninsula, Jan. 6 to protest the degradation of their lands and waters by the state oil company Pemex. Participants included members of the National Campesino Confederation, the… Read moreYucatan: campesinos march against Pemex
Since the beginning of the year we’ve been keeping track of ghastly acts of (non-Muslim) terrorism from around the world which the media have largely played down or completely ignored. The latest entry is from India’s restive Northeast. From BBC… Read moreIndia: more ethnic terror in Assam
From Catholic Information Service for Africa via AllAfrica, Jan. 5: A message purportedly from the deputy leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network has appeared on the internet, urging the Union of Islamic Courts fighters in Somalia to launch suicide attacks… Read moreSomalia: al-Qaeda calls for resistance against Ethiopian occupation
