Author: CounterVortex
Hurricane Katrina as America’s Nakba: does anyone care?
Our September issue featured the story “Big Oil & the Big Easy: Catastrophe and Counterinsurgency in New Orleans” by Frank Morales of The Shadow, outlining military “anti-terrorism” measures to protect Gulf Coast oil infrastructure and arguing that “the federal response… Read moreHurricane Katrina as America’s Nakba: does anyone care?
Brazil: high court puts off key ruling on indigenous land rights
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) postponed a ruling Sept. 24 in a landmark case to decide if the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe indigenous people have legal rights to lands opened to farmers and ranchers 26 years ago by state authorities in BahÃa…. Read moreBrazil: high court puts off key ruling on indigenous land rights
Mexican diaspora gets bigger
New data reported by the Mexican media suggest that emigration to the United States rose sharply in 2007, the first full year of the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Based on US Census Bureau numbers, Mexico’s National Population Council… Read moreMexican diaspora gets bigger
Mexico: arrests in Independence Day massacre
Following an anonymous tip, Mexico’s Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) arrested three suspected members of the narco-paramilitary group Los Zetas Sept. 25 as the “material authors” of the Independence Day grenade attack that left eight dead and over 100… Read moreMexico: arrests in Independence Day massacre
Terror blast, mysterious assassination in Syria
At least 17 civilians were killed and 14 injured in a car bomb attack on a security post in the southern Sidi Qada suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus early Sept. 27. The explosion occurred on the intersection leading to… Read moreTerror blast, mysterious assassination in Syria
Georgia: bomb attack in Abkhaz capital
A car bomb exploded in front of the Secret Services building early Sept. 25 in Sukhumi, the capital of the separatist Georgian enclave Abkhazia, shattering the windows and causing some structural damage but no casualties. The nearby Interior Ministry building… Read moreGeorgia: bomb attack in Abkhaz capital
Somalia: pirate show-down overshadows refugee crisis
Russia has dispatched the warship Neustrashimy to intercept a Ukrainian freighter, the Faina, carrying 33 Russian-built tanks and other war material seized by pirates off Somalia while en route to Kenya for an arms delivery. US naval ships are also… Read moreSomalia: pirate show-down overshadows refugee crisis
Pakistan: terror in Karachi, Punjab
Three Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants hurled grenades in an hour-long battle and then blew themselves up after police raided their hideout in Karachi Sept. 26, with authorities saying preventing they prevented major attack in the country’s biggest city. “We have saved Karachi… Read morePakistan: terror in Karachi, Punjab
US and Pakistan: is it war yet?
Pakistani soldiers fired at US OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters that were escorting Afghan and US ground troops along the volatile border Sept. 25, sparking a five-minute ground battle between the countries’ military forces. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, in New… Read moreUS and Pakistan: is it war yet?
Kidnapped tourists held in ex-rogue state Libya
Kidnappers holding 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians moved from Sudan into Libya with their hostages Sept. 25, the Sudanese government said. Sudanese authorities said a day earlier they had them all surrounded at their encampment near Jebel Oweinat, a… Read moreKidnapped tourists held in ex-rogue state Libya
Italy: Camorra declares “war on the state”
The Camorra, the Naples organized crime machine, has declared “war on the state,” Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told the Italian Senate Sept. 24, one day after the government authorized sending 500 soldiers to the Campania region in response to the… Read moreItaly: Camorra declares “war on the state”