The Dutch government on Dec. 9 formally apologized for a massacre of at least 150 non-combatants in the village of Rawagede, in West Java, 64 years ago that day. The apology comes after a long legal battle by survivors and widows.
At least four Palestinians are dead in new Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip—including a home-owner and his 12-year-old son, whose house was destroyed in apparent “collateral damage” from a raid on a nearby Hamas safe-house.
Some 2,000 protesters filled Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square to demand withdrawal of the militia forces that have been in the capital since the fall of Qaddafi. Jurists and police were among the march leaders, accusing the militias of terrorizing residents.
As Egypt’s military rulers say they will appoint a council to oversee the drafting of a new constitution to balance the influence of Islamists, pro-secular protesters demand a broad-based, all-civilian “national salvation” government.
Reports from Homs suggest an outbreak of sectarian killings, with numerous bodies—many tortured or mutilated—left on the streets. A pro-government militia called the Shabiha is apparently arming Alawite militants and attacking Sunni protesters.
Ashura celebrations saw multiple bomb attacks on Shi’ite pilgrims in Iraq, leaving at least 20 dead. Attacks on public Ashura celebrations in the Afghan cities of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar meanwhile left 58 dead.
Norma Andrade, a critical voice demanding justice in the long string of “femicides” in Ciudad Juárez is stable condition after being shot twice Dec. 2, as she drove home from her job as a teacher in the violent Mexican border city.
Honduran radio journalist Luz Marina Paz Villalobos and her driver were killed in a hail of bullets fired by men on two motorbikes in Tegucigalpa. Her morning news program had frequently taken on drug trafficking and corruption.
Heads of state from 33 countries met in Caracas for the first summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a new regional bloc that, unlike the OAS, includes Cuba—but excludes the United States and Canada.
Talks are underway between the government in Argentina’s Neuquén province and local indigenous Mapuche communities after a days-long protest occupation of a natural gas plant owned by the Houston-based Apache Corporation.
President Ollanta Humala of Peru went on national TV to announce that he has imposed a state of emergency in Cajamarca region, the scene of a general strike in opposition to a mega-scale mining project that threatens local water resources.
Following 13 self-immolations by Tibetan monks since 2009, principally in Sichuan province, one was reported for the first from within the Tibet Autonomous Region itself. The monk is said to have survived and is hospitalized.
