A member of Mexico’s presidential guard was reportedly arrested as a spy for the Beltran Leyva crime machine (Sinaloa Cartel) Dec. 26. An anonymous official of the federal prosecutor’s office identified Arturo González RodrĂguez as an army major who was… Read moreMexico: presidential guard, beauty queen busted in narco wars
Heavy fighting erupted in central Somalia Dec. 27, with two religious militias seeking control of the town of Guri El in Galgadud region, Radio Garowe reports. At least 10 people were killed and 12 others wounded during the battle, in… Read moreSomalia: Sufis resist al-Shabaab insurgents
Palestinians carry the body of a killed resident in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike Dec. 27. Israel’s air force fired some 30 missiles at targets in the Gaza Strip that day, destroying several Hamas police compounds and… Read moreRafah: terror from above
A statement from Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, via the independent Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 27: Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided. It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire,… Read moreGush Shalom: Israel broke Gaza ceasefire
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called Dec. 27 for a new uprising against Israel after air-strikes in the Gaza Strip killed more than 200. “I call upon you to carry out a third intifada,” Meshaal told his followers from Damascus in… Read moreHamas calls for “Third Intifada” as air-strikes pound Gaza
Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced by an Israeli military court Dec. 25 to 30 years in prison for heading a “terrorist organization.” An Israeli army statement said Saadat, also a… Read morePFLP leader Ahmed Saadat sentenced to 30 years
Some 50 Palestinians—many decked out in Santa Claus costumes—hurled stones at Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Bil’in Dec. 26 in a protest against the enclosure of village lands by the “Apartheid Wall.” Soldiers sought to disperse… Read morePalestine: Santa Claus strikes back on West Bank
Soldiers arrested Timoteo Mata Cruz, deputy police chief of the Mexican resort town of Zihuatanejo (Guerrero state), and six of his officers for allegedly protecting prominent narco-jefes at a cock fight Dec. 25. Fourteen suspected members of the Beltran Leyva… Read moreMexico: Zihuatanejo police chief busted for protecting Sinaloa Cartel
“Extreme right” opposition elements planned to assassinate Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, the government claims. News of the plot was revealed Dec. 23 by Government Minister Alfredo Rada, who said the assassination was due to be carried out at… Read moreBolivia: plot to assassinate Evo Morales?
Colombian authorities announced Dec. 19 the dismantling of a narco network linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, with seven arrested by the elite Technical Investigation Group (CTI) in the cities of CalĂ, Palmira and Bogotá. Vehicles, “communications equipment” and four weapons… Read moreColombia claims hit against Sinaloa Cartel
Nine decapitated heads were found in plastic bags in Chilpancingo, capital of Mexico’s southern Guerrero state, among 13 men assassinated in the state Dec. 21. Four were thrown off the Quetzalapa bridge in Iguala. Of the nine decapitated, eight were… Read moreMexico: army pledges to hit back after decapitations
Lipan Apache Women Defense announced Dec. 23 delivery of a letter to President-elect Barack Obama urging him to halt construction of the border wall, stop the illegal seizures of border communities’ properties, and to uphold and respect the rights of… Read moreLipan Apache to Obama: stop border wall construction
