WHY WE FIGHT
From AP, Feb. 12: Taxi plows into crowd in San Diego SAN DIEGO — A taxi cab driver plowed slowly into a crowd on a sidewalk in San Diego’s busy Gaslamp District early Saturday, injuring more than two dozen people,… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Iraq
Iraq: ethnic warfare in Kirkuk, sectarian attacks in Dujail
A clash between Arabs and Tukrmen left three dead in Kirkuk two days after a car bomb targeted a Kurdish militia in the city, while another car bomb killed Shi’ite pilgrims in Dujail.
Iraq
Torture “routine” in Iraqi prisons: Amnesty International
Iraq operates secret prisons and routinely tortures prisoners to extract confessions that are used to convict them, Amnesty International says in a new report.
Southeast Asia
Christians, Ahmadis attacked in Java
Islamist protesters put two churches to the torch in central Java, two days after three members of the Ahmadiyya minority sect were lynched for promoting “blasphemy.”
Afghanistan
Baluchistan blasts target pipeline, NATO
Militants in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province attacked a NATO supply truck transporting fuel for US-led forces in Afghanistan, one day after blowing up a gas pipeline.
Iran
Iran hails Egyptian protesters, cracks down on Iranian protesters
Iran said that Egyptians have achieved a “great victory” in the ousting of Hosni Mubarak—as Iranian security forces rounded up opposition leaders who had called for a day of protest.
Greater Middle East
Mubarak flees Egypt; “revolution has succeeded”
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and handed over power to the army, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced in a surprise televised address.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: rage erupts at Mubarak bait-and-switch
Thousands of Egyptian protesters are facing down army troops and tanks at the parliament building and other government offices after Mubarak failed to accede to demands that he step down.
Watching the Shadows
Berkeley to welcome Gitmo detainees?
The City Council of Berkeley, Calif., is to vote this week on a resolution to invite Guantánamo Bay detainees who have been cleared of wrongdoing to resettle in the town.
Mexico
Don Samuel Ruíz, bishop who brokered Zapatista peace talks, dead at 86
Samuel Ruíz García, the bishop who arguably saved Mexico from civil war by brokering peace talks with the Zapatista rebels in the 1990s, died in Mexico City at the age of 86.
Mexico
US army high official invokes “insurgency” in Mexico
US Army Undersecretary Joseph Westphal said drug cartels are mounting an “insurgency” in Mexico—sparking a harsh reaction from the Mexican interior secretariat.
North Africa
Libya: cyber-activist detained after call for protests
Libya’s secret police have detained Jamal al-Hajji, an activist who initiated a Facebook call for “day of rage” protests against the Moamar Qaddafi regime on Feb. 17.