Sikh protesters blocked a rail line through Amristar in protests across India’s Punjab this week to demand the arrest of Ram Rahim Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, which combines spirituality with social work—but which orthodox Sikhs accuse… Read moreIndia: Sikh killed in sectarian violence; Punjab rail line blocked
In the new “Failed States Index” compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Somalia has displaced Sudan at the top of the list. Sudan is number two, followed by Zimbabwe and Chad. Iraq, which ranked second last… Read moreSomalia tops “Failed States Index”
Activists on the NO-G8 e-mail list report that three “citizen reporters” from the Hong Kong alternative website In-media, arriving for the upcoming protests against the Hokkaido G8 summit, have been detained by Japanese authorities at the Tokyo airport. Korean activists… Read moreChina and Japan: partners in repression?
Seven Maori tribes signed New Zealand's largest-ever settlement on grievances over the loss of lands and fisheries during European settlement in the 19th century. Hundreds of Maori, some wearing traditional feather cloaks, gathered at Wellington to watch the agreement being… Read moreNew Zealand: Maori sign deal on land rights
From Human Rights Watch, June 25: Russia: Stop ‘Dirty War’ Tactics in Ingushetia Killings, Torture, Disappearances in Chechnya-Style Counterinsurgency Moscow – The Chechnya armed conflict has spread human rights abuses and instability across the North Caucasus, and particularly in Ingushetia,… Read moreRussia wages “dirty war” in Ingushetia
Islamabad has angrily denied findings by Afghanistan’s intelligence agency that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the “real schemer and organizer” behind the failed April 27 assassination attempt on President Karzai at a military parade. (Gulf Daily News, June 26) That… Read moreConsensus growing for attack on Pakistan?
The National Intelligence Council (NIC) has completed a new classified assessment that explores how climate change could threaten US security in the next 20 years, causing political instability, mass movements of refugees, terrorism, and conflicts over water and other resources…. Read moreNational Intelligence Council sees climate threat
The Supreme Court on June 25 dealt a blow to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, cutting the $2.5 billion in punitive damages award for the worst oil spill in US history to $507 million. The court ruled 5-3… Read moreSupreme Court reduces damages in Exxon Valdez case
One is reported killed and over 80 people, including at least 30 police, injured in clashes when protests over the transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine trust exploded into street-fighting in Srinagar and Ganderbal district, Kashmir, June 23…. Read moreOne dead in Kashmir riots over Amarnath shrine lands
NATO forces in Afghanistan shelled insurgent targets in Pakistan in two incidents June 22, following rocket and artillery attacks launched into Khost and Paktika provinces from sanctuaries across the border. Four Afghan civilians were reportedly killed in the insurgents attacks,… Read moreNATO shells Pakistan
On June 11 and 12, ICE agents from the Rhode Island Fugitive Operations Team arrested 42 immigrants from Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico in the areas of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Half of those arrested—21 people—were identified by ICE as… Read moreRhode Island: 42 arrested in ICE “fugitve” raid
On June 10, sheriff’s deputies in Maricopa County, Ariz., raided two water parks in the Phoenix area and arrested nine workers on charges of suspicion of identity theft and using forged documents to obtain employment. The raid followed a four-month… Read moreTest-case busts in Arizona anti-immigrant measure
