The only good news here is that is that it has sparked an international outcry—which comes just in time to embarrass the barbaric Saudi regime at the Riyadh OPEC summit. (AFP, Nov. 16) From The Telegraph, Nov. 17: A Saudi… Read moreSaudi Arabia: rape victim gets 200 lashes
A remotely detonated car bomb attack on the Batasan complex that houses the Philippines House of Representatives at Quezon City in Manila Nov. 13 killed four, including the suspected target—Rep. Wahab Akbar (Basilan), a former Muslim militant who backed operations… Read moreAbu Sayyaf behind Manila blast?
Colombians went to the polls on Oct. 28 to elect 18,527 local and regional officials, including mayors, governors, municipal council members and deputies. As has been usual in regional elections, turnout was low. The campaign was marked by the murders… Read moreColombia: left holds on to Bogotá
Peruvian miners began an open-ended strike on Nov. 5, affecting copper, tin, iron and zinc mines owned by Southern Copper Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Newmont Mining Corp., Doe Run Resources Corp, Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SA, Minsur SA,… Read morePeru: strikes, protests continue
The US House of Representatives voted 285 to 132 on Nov. 8 to approve the Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA, or TLC for its initials in Spanish). The agreement, which eliminates tariffs and establishes new rules for foreign investment, was… Read morePeru: FTA advances in Washington
On Nov. 7 Chilean authorities suddenly moved prisoners JosĂ© Huenchunao and Patricia Troncoso Robles to the hospital in Angol in Region IX, apparently because of the effects of a 28-day hunger strike. Along with three other prisoners—JosĂ© Millalen, Jaime Marileo… Read moreChile: Mapuche prisoners hospitalized
From the all too appropriately named political blog Morons.org, Nov. 12: We apparently have a new Attorney General…. Last Thursday, Judge Michael Mukasey was confirmed as Attorney General by the Senate in a vote of 53-40 in the dead of… Read moreMichael Mukasey and the politics of capitulation
Some 400 neo-Nazis were blocked from marching in Prague by a group of approximately 2,000 anti-fascist activists Nov. 10—the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Six were reported injured in clashes between the two camps. The far-right Young Nationalist Democrats (MND) received back-up… Read moreNeo-Nazis, anti-fas clash in Prague —on Kristallnacht anniversary
The government of Niger reports three soldiers were wounded and four are missing after Tuareg rebels attacked a civilian convoy escorted by the military Nov. 9. The rebel Movement of the People of Niger for Justice (MNJ) claimed it had… Read moreForeign uranium interests fuel Tuareg revolt
Uzbekistan’s incumbent President Islam Karimov was unanimously nominated to run for a third seven-year presidential term this December by his Liberal Democratic Party Nov. 6. Karimov is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, and the New York Times writes… Read moreUzbek despot to become torturer-for-life?
In our last post on China, we noted that it is now the key nation falling under the rubric of the 1992 Pentagon “Defense Planning Guide” drawn up by Paul Wolfowitz and Scooter Libby which said the US must “discourage… Read moreChina emerges as “peer competitor” —in race for global oil
Nearly two dozen high school students in Illinois have been suspended and face possible expulsion for holding a peaceful protest against the war in Iraq. On Nov. 1, students at Morton West High School in the town of Berwyn locked… Read moreIllinois high school students face expulsion for anti-war protest
