From Amnesty International, May 8: Arms transfers to Sudan fuel serious human rights violations Arms, ammunition and related equipment are still being transferred to Darfur in the west of Sudan for military operations. Extremely serious violations and abuses of human… Read moreAmnesty: China supplies arms for Darfur conflict
Argentine President Néstor Kirchner made a telephone call over the weekend to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, asking him not to nationalize Sidor, Venezuela’s biggest steel mill. The head of Argentina’s Techint Group, which owns Sidor, is expected to fly… Read moreVenezuela: nationalization threat opens rift with Argentina
From AFP, May 7 via iAfrica.com: Riot squads fired tear gas on Sunday at protestors throwing stones, bottles and, in one instance, acid at police in cities across France after right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential victory. Clashes took place at Paris’… Read moreFrance: riots greet “Sarko-fascist” election
On May 1, 2007, thousands of people around the US marched and rallied for immigrant rights. Media coverage focused on the fact that the demonstrations were much smaller than similar actions last spring—even though advocates knew well in advance that… Read moreMay Day mobilization: national round-up
A group of students from Oaxaca’s autonomous State University allied with the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) occupied Radio Universidad—the University radio station—on April 30. The students said it was a limited take-over to last until 8… Read moreOaxaca: APPO retakes Radio Universidad
Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa announced last week that he will increase military and security forces around oil facilities and allow the use of force to remove protestors. “We will not allow any more invasions of oil installations or the blockage… Read moreEcuador: army ordered to break up oil protests
Amnesty International published a report this week exposing Brazil’s public security crisis. “Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have reached a tragic impasse. Criminal gangs … have rushed to fill the vacuum left by the state, Balkanizing the cities into… Read moreAmnesty: Brazilian cities are “violent fiefdoms”
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) and US Labor Against the War (USLAW): Joint Report to the IFC and USLAW on the 2007 Manila International Peace Conference, April 27-29 The 2007 International Peace conference was held in Manila from April… Read moreManila peace conference calls for solidarity with Iraq’s civil resistance
The Section 22 teachers union in Oaxaca called its one-day work stoppage and direct action campaign a “success” to press demands for a resolution to the crisis in the conflicted southern Mexican state. At least 48 state government offices were… Read moreOaxaca: teachers lead day of direct action
Sudan and Chad are to co-operate with the African Union (AU) and UN in an effort to stabilize the troubled Darfur region. As part of the agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, a joint border force is to be created and… Read moreSudan-Chad co-operation over Darfur?
From Human Rights Watch, May 2, via AllAfrica.com: A criminal court in Cairo today sentenced Huwaida Taha Mitwalli, a journalist for Al-Jazeera and the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, to six months in prison on charges of “possessing and giving false… Read moreEgypt: reporter gets prison for exposing torture
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgency group consisting of various jihadi factions including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement May 3 denying the killing of its “emir,” Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but confirming the death of its official spokesman,… Read moreIraq: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi dead?
