Officials in Georgia are seeking to use the alleged downing of a Georgian reconnaissance drone by a Russian warplane to build international support for reducing the Kremlin’s “peacekeeping” role in the separatist enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia’s Foreign… Read moreAbkhazia: new Cold War frontline?
Agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interviewed a number of Puerto Rican independence activists in a coordinated operation on April 16 at their homes in San Juan, Yauco, Penuelas, Bayamon and Guaynabo. The activists included Tania Delgado,… Read morePuerto Rico: FBI “visits” activists
After an eight-month strike, the Grupo Mexico mining company has started to shut down its San Martin copper, silver and zinc mine in Sombrerete municipality in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas, according to Jesus Jiménez, a delegate in Zacatecas… Read moreMexico: bosses end strike, close mine
According to the US-based Colombia Support Network (CSN), the Northern Block of the Black Eagles, a rightwing paramilitary group, has threatened three activists in Tiquisio, a community in the northern Colombian department of Bolivar. The threat names Father Rafael Gallegos,… Read moreColombia: paras threaten activists —for gold cartel?
Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won an historic victory in Paraguay’s presidential election April 20, ending the long rule of the conservative Colorado party with a mandate to help the nation’s poor and indigenous. Winning 41% of the vote… Read moreParaguay to join South America’s anti-imperialist bloc?
On April 8, 123 immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia were deported on a plane contracted under special charter with the ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Flight Operations Unit. The plane took off from Yuma, Arizona on April 8;… Read moreICE deportation flight to Philippines, Indonesia
Early on April 16, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out coordinated raids on poultry processing plants owned by the Pilgrim’s Pride company in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and West Virginia. A total of 311 workers were arrested,… Read moreICE arrests hundreds in poultry plant raids
Israel has announced an investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana by the IDF in the Gaza Strip following demands by the news agency and rights groups. Shana was killed while filming a central Gaza combat zone, and… Read moreIsrael to probe slaying of Gaza journalist
Spain is sending frigate to the coast of Somalia following the seizure of a Spanish tuna fishing boat, the Playa de Bakio, by pirates. Some 26 people were aboard, including 13 Spaniards and a crew of various African nationals. The… Read moreSpain intervenes against Somali pirates
From AP, April 20: Armenian and Greek Christians scuffle at tomb of Jesus on Orthodox Palm Sunday JERUSALEM – Dozens of Greek and Armenian priests and worshippers exchanged blows at one of Christianity’s holiest shrines on Orthodox Palm Sunday, and… Read moreMonastic slugfest rocks Holy Sepulchre —again!
Two small blasts hit Burma’s first city Rangoon April 20, damaging cars in the downtown area but causing no injuries. The blasts, the latest in a spate of similar incidents this year, come three weeks before a referendum on a… Read moreTerror blasts in Burma: tribal peoples push back?
Chanting “Allahu Akbar” and “Disband Ahmadiyya,” some 1,000 members of the Indonesian Muslim Forum (FUI) marched on the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta April 21 to demand President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a decree to ban the “deviant” Islamic sect. “We… Read moreIndonesian fundamentalists march against Ahmadiyya Islam
