Despite repeated denials by Prime Minister Tony Blair that the Iraq war made the UK a target for terrorists, a letter from Michael Jay, the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, to the cabinet secretary, Sir Andrew Turnbull—obtained by the UK Observer—makes… Read moreUK Foreign Office: It was Iraq
A forthcoming book by former FBI consultant claims al-Qaeda has acquired a stockpile of nuclear weapons, that some are already planted in major US cities, and the group is actively seeking more. Citing documents purportedly seized in Afghanistan, author Paul… Read moreAl-Qaeda ready to go nuclear?
The Economist writes in its Aug. 18-25 issue that last week, in a landmark speech in Diyarbakir, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first Turkish leader ever to admit that Turkey had mishandled the Kurdish rebellion in the country’s… Read morePKK ceasefire in Turkey; new attacks in Iran
After more than 20 years in captivity, 404 prisoners of war have returned home to Morocco, the last of more than 2,400 freed by Western Sahara’s Polisario Front independence movement. Two privately chartered planes carrying the prisoners, some of them… Read moreLast Moroccan POWs freed by Western Sahara guerillas
From The New Standard, Aug. 24: Responding to last month’s bombings in the London subway system, transit officials in New York City decided to hand one of the nation’s largest defense contractors $212 million to dramatically increase surveillance efforts throughout… Read moreLockheed gets subway surveillance contract
AP Aug. 24 reports that Iraq’s southern marshlands—drained by Saddam Hussein—are showing signs of rebirth; former residents are returning, and hunting and fishing are reviving. A new U.N. report sums up the progress, saying satellite imagery shows the marshes have… Read moreIraq marshlands: tentative recovery
On Aug. 24 unknown gunmen fired shots at an Oslo restaurant owned by the family of a Pakistani-born woman comedian who has won notoriety for lampooning conservative Islam. Shabana Rehman, the 28-year-old comediene whose sister owns the restaurant, called the… Read moreJihadis have no sense of humor
Greenpeace Mexico, Amnesty International and the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center presented the Sierra Club’s Chico Mendes Award to Mexican winners Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, Albertano Peñaloza Dominguez, and Celsa Valdovinos on Aug. 9. Greenpeace Mexico Director Alejandro Calvillo asked the… Read moreMexico: persecuted peasant ecologists win Sierra Club award
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is calling for support for a congressional letter to Indonesian President Yudhoyono now circulating in the US House of Representatives. The letter asks Yudhoyono to end ongoing military operations in West Papua… Read moreInvisible terror in West Papua
Mexican authorities say they suspect drug traffickers are to blame in the killing of six people in three communities in the conflicted southern state of Chiapas. The first slayings occurred late Aug. 23 on a highway linking Tapachula with Tuxtla… Read moreNarco violence in Chiapas
China’s bid to purchase the US oil major Unocal foiled by Chevron, which beat the Chinese firm CNOOC to the punch, it is now seeking a stake in the Caspian Basin oilfields of Kazakhstan–where Chevron is a major investor. The… Read moreChina seeks claim in Kazakh oil fields
Dozens of protesters shouted, “Rumsfeld, you fascist, you are the terrorist,” on Aug. 17 as US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld presented a floral offering at the Tomb of the Heroes in downtown Asuncion during a brief visit to Paraguay. The… Read moreParaguayans Protest Rumsfeld
