Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer accused by both the UN and Amnesty International of flouting embargos, was arrested at a five-star hotel in central Bangkok March 6. Thai authorities issued the warrant based on information from the US… Read moreRussian “death merchant” busted in Thailand linked to FARC?
At least 23 were killed and dozens were wounded March 3 when two car bombs, including one driven by a suicide attacker, blew up in Baghdad. In the suicide attack, a man drove a minibus into the headquarters of the… Read moreIraq: bombs in Baghdad; mass grave in Samarra
A US submarine fired three Tomahawk cruise missiles into southern Somalia March 3, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets. The missiles hit the town of Dobley, five miles from Somalia’s border with Kenya, partly destroying a house… Read moreUS launches cruise missile attack on Somalia
As of Feb. 29 the 41,000-member Teachers’ Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR) was maintaining an open-ended strike at public schools that started on Feb. 21 over wages, classroom size and health issues. Meanwhile, controversy continued over the role of Change… Read moreNew York labor boss denies designs on Puerto Rico teachers union
A man claiming to be Jaber al-Banna (also rendered Elbaneh), a Yemeni-American who is among the FBI’s most wanted terrorism suspects, showed up in a Yemeni court Feb. 23—and was allowed to walk free, surprising the attendees. Al-Banna’s appearance was… Read moreYemen lets jihadi walk free?
The third suicide attack in Pakistan’s northwest in as many days left up to 40 dead and 30 wounded near Darra Adam Khel, North West Frontier Province, March 2. The bomber struck a grand jirga of five tribes in Zarghon… Read moreDefeated at polls, Pakistan’s Islamists strike back with bombs
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vows to continue his campaign in the Gaza Strip despite an international outcry over the ground and air operation that have killed 73 Palestinians over the past two days following the death of one Israeli… Read moreGaza carnage overshadows West Bank escalation
Guatemala’s President Alvaro Colom has ordered the release of military archives from the country’s brutal 1962-1996 civil war. “We are going to make public all military archives…so the truth can be known, and so that once and for all we… Read moreGuatemala to open genocide archives
Angry protests against rising food prices in Burkina Faso spread to the capital, Ouagadougou, Feb. 28, shutting the city down as young people burned tires and clashed with police. “The choice is to demonstrate or to die of hunger,” a… Read moreProtests rock Burkina Faso
Three were killed by security forces in Cameroon Feb. 28 as anti-government protests broke out in the western towns of Bamenda and Bafang. Up to 20 are believed dead in unrest earlier in the week in the western region and… Read moreProtests rock Cameroon
Following approval by both houses of Congress, President Bush Feb. 29 signed a 10-month extension of the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), designed to discourage Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia from producing illegal drugs by allowing the four countries to… Read moreWhite House extends Andean trade preferences, threatens Bolivia, Ecuador
Several hundred Guatemalan campesinos took 30 police officers hostage [Feb. 21] in response to the jailing of a local farm leader and to demand that land they had been occupying for the last 10 years be legalized by the Guatemalan… Read moreGuatemalan land dispute ends peacefully —for now
