The most prominent separatists in Italy have long been the right-wing Lega Nord, who want to create an independent state called "Padania" in the prosperous Po Valley (yet are, ironically, part of Italy’s ruling coalition). But now word comes of… Read moreSardinian separatists crash Berlusconi’s villa
In response to a high-profile petition by historians, C-SPAN canceled its planned broadcast of a speech by David Irving; instead it aired a program (on April 3 and April 4) in which Book TV executive producer Connie Doebele admitted it… Read moreC-SPAN caves in on Irving imbroglio
From the AP, April 1: Washington – The government requested and won approval for a record number of special warrants last year for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies, 75 percent more than in 2000, the Bush… Read moreWiretaps up under Patriot Act
Writes the NY Post: April 8, 2005 — Two teenage New York girls are in prison as illegal aliens after stumbling into a federal probe of recruiters trying to sign up homicide [suicide] bombers, The Post has learned. The unidentified… Read moreFear in New York City
The April 7 nail-bomb attack on a bazaar jammed with foreign tourists in Cairo left three dead, including a French national and a U.S. citizen. A previously unknown group, the Islamic Brigades of Pride, has claimed responsibility. (Al-Jazeera, April 9)… Read moreTerror re-emerges in Egypt
"Middle East Peace Finally Reached," reads the April 4 headline in the quasi-satirical Swift Report. Leaders of the world’s three major faith groups—Christianity, Judaism and Islam—have agreed to call a cease fire in a dispute that dates back thousands of… Read moreBigotry unites monotheistic faiths
The opposition is threatening a new wave of protests in Lebanon, with the country still in political deadlock. Parliament has refused to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami (which had been a key victory of the protests), and… Read moreLebanon deadlocked, closer to brink
Reports the Chinese news agency Xinhua April 6: Saudi Arabia might increase its crude reserves by 200 billion barrels, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali bin Ibrahim al-Nuaimi was quoted by the SPA news agency as saying on Tuesday. "There… Read moreSaudi petro-producers still can’t get it down
By any objective standard, the wave of deadly gunplay in Saudi Arabia in recent days is an internecine dispute between rival Wahhabi fundamentalist factions—although that is not how it is being portrayed in the media. Today’s claims by Saudi authorities… Read moreInternecine Wahhabi violence in Saudi Arabia
As Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution is being consolidated, with a modicum of order returning to Bishkek, the capital, ousted president Askar Akayev has emerged in Moscow, and formally resigned–after having pledged from hiding that he wouldn’t. He said that he hopes… Read moreKyrgyzstan: pawn in the new Great Game?
Pope John Paul II, who died April 2, leaves a mixed legacy. In his native Poland, and elsewhere in the Communist world, he was a catalyst of revolutionary change in the ’80s, but this same anti-Communism caused him to ally… Read morePope leaves mixed legacy—will successor be Black?
From the LA Times, April 1: Fred Korematsu, the Japanese-American whose court case over his refusal to be interned during World War II went to the U.S. Supreme Court and became synonymous with this nation’s agonized debate over civil liberties… Read moreFred Korematsu dead at 86
