The US Marine Corps announced it will not bring criminal charges against two officers in command of a unit involved in the shooting deaths of up to 19 civilians near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, last year after a car bomb struck the… Read moreUncertain justice (or none) in Afghanistan, Iraq atrocities
Japanese media report that Tokyo may end its supply support mission for US-led forces in Iraq next year, under pressure from the powerful opposition. Japan has some 210 Air Self-Defense Force personnel in Kuwait, from where they airlift supplies to… Read moreJapan to end Iraq mission in 2009?
From the Iraq Freedom Congress and the Opening for Peace, Equality and Nexus (OPEN), Japan, May 19: Joint Statement to Stop ‘Gender Cleansing’ in Iraq under the name of ‘honor killing’ and other gender-based violence against women, and to Demand… Read moreStop “gender cleansing” in Iraq
The founder and chief commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Manuel “Tirofijo” (Sureshot) Marulanda, has died, the Colombian government announced May 24.”Through military intelligence, we learned Pedro Antonio Marin, alias Manuel Marulanda or Sureshot, the principal chief… Read moreFARC commander Mario Marulanda dead: Colombia
From Reuters, May 22: Tito Santana, one of the last tribal kings in the Americas, has been driven into exile from his lands deep in the Panamanian jungle by a fight over a hydroelectric project that has divided his tiny… Read moreHydro development exiles indigenous king in Panama
As part of an emergency appropriations bill, the Senate May 22 approved $350 million in drug war aid to Mexico, with an adittional $100 million for Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Reducing the Bush administration’s request for $500… Read moreCongress scales back “Plan Mexico”
ETA commander Francisco Javier López Peña AKA “Thierry”—on the run since 1983 and held responsible for ending the last ceasefire—was arrested late May 20 in Bordeaux in a joint operation involving the French Gendarmerie and Spanish Guardia Civil. Arrested with… Read moreETA leader arrested in France
Three Tibetan nuns from Tehor Nyagay Nunnery in Kardze county, Sichuan province, were arrested by Chinese security forces for staging a peaceful protest May 20. The three nuns, identified as Achoe, Soe Choekyi and Tashi Yangtso AKA Taga, marched 20… Read moreTashi Yangtso
Iraq's first parliamentary elections since the defeat of ISIS were supposed to herald a return of stability to the country after 15 years of practically incessant war. But turn-out was at a record low, and candidates were openly aligned with foreign powers playing for influence in Iraq. Incumbent Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, backed by the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, appears to be squeaking past more populist tickets seen to be in the sway of Iran. These include the coalition of vice president and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. The ruling Dawa Party split into rival coalitions as Abadi and Maliki fell out. But the surprise so far is the strong showing of Shi'iite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in an unlikely alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party. Sadr played to resentment against the cronyism and corruption endemic to both factions of the Dawa Party. (Map: CIA)
The Chinese government is refusing to issue visas to thousands of Hindus seeking to make the traditional summer pilgrimage to a Tibetan mountain said to be the home of Lord Shiva. The Indian foreign ministry, which is working with Chinese… Read moreChina blocks Hindu pilgrims from Tibet
