Don’t dismiss this as a local story, as similar reports are growing around the world. From the New York Times, Aug. 23: NEWPORT, Ore., Aug. 17 — On the north shore of Yaquina Bay rests the rusty fishing fleet of… Read moreMeanwhile, the oceans are dying…
“With the world’s eyes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the deteriorating human rights situation in the country is being forgotten,” writes Robert Tait for the UK’s Guardian, Aug. 23 (emphasis added): Seven years ago, he was the symbol of a brave… Read moreIran: harsh crackdown on dissidents
The trial of Saddam Hussein is once again in the headlines. The first case against him, concerning the 1982 mass arrests and killing of Shi’ites at the town of Dujail, has been concluded. Presiding Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman charged Saddam with… Read moreSaddam trial tackles Kurdish genocide: grim test for historical memory
The Bush administration has been meeting with quite a few reversals at the hands of the judiciary lately, as we have noted. From CNN, Aug. 21: MIAMI — A federal judge in Miami on Monday dismissed a terror count against… Read moreJudge drops Padilla terror charge, calling it redundant
Simon Romero writes for the New York Times, Aug. 21 (emphasis added): Venezuela, Tired of US Influence, Strengthens Its Relationships in the Middle East CARACAS — Venezuela has long cultivated ties with Middle Eastern governments, finding common ground in trying… Read moreVenezuela-Iran alignment grows
Peru’s populist hero of the left faces charges in an atrocity from the “dirty war” against leftist guerillas in the early ’90s. From Lima’s La Republica via Living in Peru, Aug. 16: Arturo Campos Vicente, district attorney of Tocache, has… Read morePeru: Ollanta Humala charged in “dirty war” atrocity
From AP, Aug. 22: Close election in Chiapas spurs another protest TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, MEXICO – The dispute over Mexico’s presidential vote took a new twist Monday as a gubernatorial candidate backed by the ruling party vowed to protest a state… Read moreMexico’s electoral crisis: Chiapas next?
The ongoing indigenous uprising in Ontario perculates up into the New York Times, Aug. 17. The Times gets a B for at least including some historical context, but a failing grade for consistency, having largely ignored this crisis for months,… Read moreNew York Times notes Iroquois land struggle —at last
The 9,500 workers at Volkswagen’s giant plant in the state of Puebla went on strike Aug. 18 after rejecting the company’s offer of a 4.5% pay raise coupled with demands for increased “labor flexibility.” Talks remained stalled on Aug. 19,… Read moreMexico: labor struggles escalate
Some 60 masked and mostly armed men, including “porros” (provocaterus) and municipal police, took over the local office of the Oaxaca daily newspaper Noticias in the town of Santa Cruz Amilpas Aug. 20. The municipal government is in the hands… Read moreOaxaca: general strike, paramilitary backlash
From AP via the Houston Chronicle, Aug. 21: Volunteers plan to man Texas border SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds of volunteers plan to keep watch over the Texas-Mexico border near Laredo beginning Sept. 11, aiding the U.S. Border Patrol’s effort to… Read moreVigilantes plan 9-11 border mobilization
From New Jersey’s Herald News, Aug. 16, also online at DeleteTheBorder.org: Detainee report ‘too damning’ to release? Nearly eight months after the Department of Homeland Security said it would issue the first official report on the treatment of immigrants in… Read moreHomeland Security detainee report “too damning” to release?
