A dynamite charge was set off in the early hours of Dec. 18 in front of Radio Atlántica, a station owned by Guido Guardia, an opposition senator in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz, leaving a sizeable crater and… Read moreBolivia: opposition radio station attacked
Researchers meeting at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco said liquefied coal could ultimately have a greater impact on global climate than oil, as it starts to come on line in response to shrinking petrol reserves. “Oil and gas…don’t… Read moreClimate scientists warn of coal threat —is Obama listening?
Sweden joined the Netherlands this week in suspending new aid payments to Rwanda after a UN report accused the central African country of supporting guerillas in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. President Paul Kagame responded: “The people of Rwanda… Read moreRwanda aid suspended over Congo war
A Jordan-based Iraqi rights group announced this week it has filed 200 lawsuits against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US security firms for their roles in torturing Iraqis. Ali Qeisi, head of the Society of Victims of the US… Read moreIraqis sue Rumsfeld over torture
Japanese and South Korean forces both ended their missions in Iraq this week. The approximately 200 Japanese troops in Kuwait for an air support mission in Iraq are to return home by the end of the year. Japan withdrew its… Read moreJapan, South Korea end Iraq mission
Activists called for protests across Europe on Dec. 18 in solidarity with the uprising in Greece, unfurling banners at the base of Athens’ landmark Acropolis urging international demonstrations and declaring “Resistance” in several languages. In the northwestern Greek city of… Read moreYouth protests, strikes keep rocking Greece, spread to France
A lone protester at El Paso’s Rio Bosque Wetlands Park temporarily halted construction of the US government’s border fence Dec. 17, before being arrested by the Texas Rangers. Judy Ackerman, a local Sierra Club activist and founding member of Friends… Read moreProtester halts border wall construction in El Paso
We recently noted that the ACLU is calling for President-elect Barack Obama to close Guantánamo Bay prison camp his first day in office. Now the Pentagon says it is working on a plan to close the camp—but, based on a… Read moreObama to close Gitmo —in two years?
A new report by the US Army War College‘s Strategic Institute warns of massive domestic unrest in the wake of converging crises that it terms a “strategic shock,” and discusses the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used at… Read moreUS Army War College issues report on martial law
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega at the Kremlin Dec. 18, as a group of Communists in St. Petersburg called for naming one of the city’s new subway stations “Nicaragua” or “Sandinista” as “a sign of Russia’s… Read moreNicaragua: ’80s nostalgia in wake of contested elections
A Niger guerilla faction led by dissident Tuareg insurgent leader Rhissa Ag Boula announced Dec. 16 it had abducted Canadian UN special envoy Robert Fowler, who disappeared with an aide while driving some 30 miles northeast of the capital Niamey…. Read moreNiger: Tuareg rebels seize UN envoy?
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 15 that the route of the West Bank “separation barrier” cannot be based on plans to expand Jewish settlements. The court rejected a plan that would route the wall through Bil’in village, on the… Read moreIsraeli high court orders “Apartheid Wall” rerouted at restive village
