Europe
ETA’s new military leader arrested in France
In a joint operation, French and Spanish security forces arrested the presumed military chief of ETA and eight others at the village of Montauriol in southwestern France.
Author: CounterVortex
Southeast Asia
Thailand’s Thaksin to take refuge in Nicaragua?
Nicaragua has issued a passport for Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra—who is wanted on charges of inciting the recent riots. Thai diplomats say they will request extradition.
The Andes
Bolivia: Croatian militants in Evo Morales assassination plot?
Two men who fought for Croatian independence in the 1990s are among five the Bolivian government says planned to kill President Evo Morales. Three were killed in a shoot-out with police.
Palestine
Palestinian killed in West Bank protest
A local protester, Bassem Ibrahim Abu-Rahma, was killed after being hit by a tear gas canister during a demonstration against the separation wall in the West Bank village of Bilin.
The Caucasus
Chechnya: Russia ends 10-year “counter-terrorism operation”
Russian authorities announced they are ending the decade-long “counter-terrorism operation” in Chechnya—but sporadic violence persists, and rights groups accused militias of widespread abuses.
Africa
Somalia’s parliament votes to adopt sharia law
The Somali parliament voted to adopt Islamic sharia law as part of a cease-fire agreement with the country’s Hizb al-Islamiya and al-Shabaab rebels.
Planet Watch
EPA claims power to regulate greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare, the Environmental Protection Agency finds in a scientific review ordered in 2007 by the Supreme Court.
Planet Watch
DC Circuit halts offshore drilling programs
A three judge panel of the DC Circuit vacated the Bush-era program for leasing of land for oil and gas drilling on the US Outer Continental Shelf along the Alaskan coast.
Iran
Iran imprisons US journalist on espionage charges
The Revolutionary Court of Iran convicted US journalist Roxana Saberi of espionage, sentencing her to eight years in prison, in a trial closed to the public.
Watching the Shadows
Obama pledge not to prosecute CIA interrogators draws criticism
Human rights and civil liberties groups protested Barack Obama’s announced decision not to investigate individuals who used or authorized “enhanced interrogation techniques” under the Bush administration.
Palestine
Court: Israeli ex-security chief accused in bombing can’t be sued in US
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that former Israeli security chief Avraham Dichter cannot be sued in the US by survivors of a 2002 Israeli bombing that targeted a Hamas leader in Gaza.
South Asia
Mumbai terror attack defense lawyer alleges client was tortured
The lawyer for the accused gunman on trial for the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks moved to suppress his client’s confession, arguing it was the product of torture.