Moisés Montero Álvarez AKA “El Coreano,” alleged leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA), was captured by Mexican federal police and charged in the massacre of 20 abducted vacationers from Michoacán who were mistaken for members of a rival cartel.
A federal appeals court rules that human genes can be patented, as the Daily Mail reveals that British scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos. Relax, popcorn-heads, it’s only a movie.
Israeli security forces restricted access to al-Aqsa mosque, fired tear gas at anti-wall protesters in the West Bank village of Bil’in, and launched air-strikes on Gaza on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Organizations that monitor attacks on the media are demanding a UN investigation of a NATO air-strike on Tripoli’s TV station. The Tripoli regime meanwhile denies rebel claims that Qaddafi’s youngest son Khamis was killed in an air-strike.
Tens of thousands of Syrians returned to the streets in towns and cities across the country for the first Friday protests of Ramadan, declaring their support for residents of Hama, where some 200 have been killed in a military crackdown over the past week.
Outside the media spotlight, youth in Belarus continue “social network” protests, including a series of silent demonstrations throughout the country—despite attacks by plainclothes police and the arrest of leaders.
Militant West Bank settlers have joined the Tel Aviv tent town protest, pitching a line that aggressive settlement of the Occupied Territory is the solution to the crisis. Will the protest movement take the bait?
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is under fire for recent brutal raids against immigrant families from California to Virginia. Obama has called off the ICE workplace raids, but continued so-called “anti-gang” sweeps.
Twelve Israeli settlers accused of setting fire to Palestinian mosques, property and vehicles have been slapped with restraining orders limiting their movement in the West Bank, the military announced on the recommendation of Shin Bet.
Saif Qaddafi, the dictator’s son, announced an alliance with Libya’s Islamists to defeat the rebels—after the regime had for months portrayed the rebels as Islamist extremists. Hugo Chávez hailed Qaddafi in a speech: “Live and be victorious. We’re with you.”
US forces are accused of slaying a tribal sheikh and several other civilians near Tikrit—just as the Baghdad regime announced negotiations to keep US forces in Iraq past the Dec. 31 deadline established by the Status of Forces Agreement.
US drones struck for the first time in 19 days in Pakistan’s tribal agencies, killing four “militants” in an attack on a compound in South Waziristan. That same day, US drones killed 15 presumed al-Qaeda militants in south Yemen.
