Basra’s oil pipeline workers, who had been staging occupations of the facilities to demand back pay, scored a victory this week as the Baghdad administration agreed to meet with their leaders.
A jury in Kentucky convicted former Pfc. Steven D. Green in the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl, and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya. Green faces the death penalty.
A US military contractor who pleaded guilty to the 2008 shooting of an Afghan detainee was sentenced to five years probation and a $12,500 fine.
The UN Security Council condemned an offensive by rebels battling Chadian government government forces, saying “any attempt at destabilization of Chad by force is unacceptable.”
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez sent troops to take over companies that provide services for the oil industry. “This is a revolutionary offensive,” he told workers near Lake Maracaibo.
The Iraqi government is taking fresh action to attract foreign investment, including moving toward allowing foreigners to own land, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a London conference.
Gen. David McKiernan, US commander in Afghanistan, told a press briefing that the mission there is likely to fail if militants continue to gain power in Pakistan.
Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja held peace talks with Tuareg rebel leaders for the first time in the northern town of Agadez—as work commences on a giant uranium mine in the Tuareg region.
Alleged Mumbai terror attack suspect Mohammed Ajmal Kasab pleaded not guilty in an Indian court to 86 charges stemming from his participation in the November 2008 attack.
A Brazilian cattle-ranching company is seeking permission from Paraguay’s government to destroy forest inhabited by one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes.
Canadian mining company Pacific Rim announced this week that it will sue the Salvadoran government over its refusal to issue mining permits for the El Dorado silver and gold mine.
In Latin America, as in much of the world, the traditional May Day marches this year focused on the global economic crisis and especially on the unemployment rate—approaching 10% in many areas.
