A general strike that has paralyzed the island of Guadeloupe since Jan. 20 shows sings of spreading to other French holdings in the region following a one-day multi-sector walk-out in Martinique.
Hundreds of supporters of Haiti’s Lavalas Family demonstrated in Port-au-Prince to protest the barring of all 16 candidates from the party’s rival factions from running in April’s senate race.
Colombian lawmaker Sigifredo López and former governor Alan Jara, freed from seven years in captivity by the FARC guerillas, had harsh words for both their ex-captors and President Alvaro Uribe.
Ex-Argentine president Carlos Menem made his first appearance at a trial in which he is accused of clandestine arms sales to Croatia. He also faces charges in the deadly 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish center attack.
Immigrants’ advocates are demanding a federal investigation of civil rights abuses by Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and say his practices indicate the White House needs to reconsider Bush-era immigration policies.
Jonathan Freedland writes for The Guardian: “As British Jews come under attack, the left must not remain silent. It is possible to condemn Israel’s brutal action in Gaza while taking a stand against anti-Semitism.”
Muntader al-Zaidi, the journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, will face trial on Feb. 19 for assaulting a visiting head of state, with a maximum 15-year term, Iraqi officials announced.
Iraqi officials charge that twice in the last two weeks the US military violated the security agreement signed in November by attacking criminal suspects without coordinating with Iraqi forces.
US forces shot two Shi’ite pilgrims Saturday night as they walked to Karbala for the Arbaeen holy day, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
The UN Special Rapporteur on protection of human rights finds that Spain’s Law of Political Parties criminalizes as “support of terrorism” conduct that does not relate to any kind of violent activity.
In a bid to soften the impacts of the auto industry crisis, Mexican officials are offering financial assistance to foreign-owned companies with maquiladora plants in the northern border states.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) charges that Mexico’s investigation into the shooting death of US journalist Brad Will presents a scientifically flawed theory that ignores PHR’s conclusive findings.
