The Los Angeles Times reported March 25 on new CIA intelligence indicating that the Colombia’s army chief, Gen. Mario Montoya, collaborated extensively with right-wing paramilitaries that Washington considers terrorist organizations. The report circulated within the CIA and obtained by the… Read moreColombia rejects CIA report on army-para ties
Early on March 20 in Tirua, in Chile’s Region VIII, police arrested Jose Huenchunao Marinan, a Mapuche community leader (werken) and activist who had been in hiding for nearly three years. Huenchunao, a member of the Arauco-Malleco Mapuche Coordinating Committee,… Read moreChile: another Mapuche leader arrested
On March 24 Salvador Garcia Ledesma, general operations director of the Mexican mining company Luismin, offered to pay the community of Nuevo Carrizalillo, Eduardo Neri municipality, in the southern state of Guerrero, an annual rent of 8,000 pesos (about $726)… Read moreMexico: Guerrero mine blockade continues
During the week of March 19, federal officials transferred all 72 children out of a Texas detention facility for unaccompanied minors amid allegations that staff there had sexually abused some of the detainees. The 72 children held at the Texas… Read moreChild immigration detainees sexually abused
Early on March 19, ICE agents raided an apartment building in the village of Mount Kisco, in the lower Hudson Valley area of New York state, allegedly searching for a fugitive. Local police said the fugitive, Estanslao Lopez, is an… Read moreICE raids hit Hudson Valley
On March 23, a three-judge panel of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Alexandria, Virginia, unanimously affirmed a civil contempt ruling against former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian activist who has refused to testify… Read morePalestinian political prisoner loses federal appeal
From Military Families Speak Out, March 23: House Votes to Continue Funding Iraq War; Military Families Tell Pelosi: “You Bought This War—Now You Own It ” Today, Military Families Speak Out, the largest organization of military families speaking out against a… Read moreMilitary families protest Pelosi capitulation
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mamediarov and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation in Washington March 22. Azerbaijan announced it is seeking political support from the US to build new gas export pipelines,… Read moreUS-Russia race for Balkan pipeline access?
At least three were killed and scores injured in clashes between Chechens and Kazakhs outside Kazakhstan’s chief city of Almaty this week. The violence apparently began with an alcohol-fueled brawl in the town of Kazatkom in Almaty Region. Akhmed Muradov,… Read moreAnti-Chechen pogrom in Kazakhstan
British soldiers are accused of shooting dead a 12-year-old boy close to the Afghan capital, Kabul. NATO told AlJazeera March 22 that an investigation into the incident is under way. The soldiers apparently opened fire on the vehicle in which… Read moreAfghanistan: Britain accused in death of child
Moktada al-Sadr’s Shi’ite militia, the Mahdi Army, is breaking into splinter groups, with up to 3,000 gunmen financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the militant cleric, Iraqi and US officials say. Two senior Mahdi Army commanders also… Read moreIran backs Mahdi Army splinter faction?
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, joined by MPs, military chiefs and diplomats, say up to 3,800 PKK fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan are preparing for attacks into Turkish territory—and Turkey is ready to hit back if the US fails to act…. Read moreTurkey rattles sabre at Iraqi Kurdistan —again
