Nepalese police fired tear gas and charged with batons in clashes with pro-democracy activists in Kathmandu Jan. 21. Street battles lasted for two hours around Durbar Square. The protests came after the house arrest of political leaders campaigning to force… Read moreNepal protesters defy repression
From the AP, via Israel’s Ha’aretz, Jan. 22: CARACAS – Hundreds of Venezuelan intellectuals expressed “shock and consternation” in a public condemnation Saturday of allegedly anti-Semitic remarks made recently by President Hugo Chavez. “These dangerous tendencies must be denounced and… Read moreVenezuelan intellectuals speak out on anti-Semitism flap
Once again—how convenient is this? As bumping off Iran’s regime becomes more of a strategic necessity for Washington, suddenly Tel Aviv accuses Tehran of being behind the latest suicide bombing. Tehran, for its part, denies the charges—while publicly embracing Islamic… Read moreIran rejects link to Tel Aviv blast
In three days, the Tokyo stock market lost almost $400 billion in value. (ABC, Jan. 20) The crash comes at a moment of converging multiple crises for the Japanese state. On Jan. 19, some 800 protesters, mostly connected to Shinto… Read more“Tokyo Panic” to fuel nationalist backlash?
From the public health watchdog website Newsinferno, Jan. 16: Many Believe Toxic Ground Zero Site Responsible for Growing Number of Deaths among Cleanup Workers Last week we reported on the death of James Zadroga, a 34-year-old homicide detective who was… Read moreNYC: 5,000 in suit over WTC illness
From BBC, Jan. 19: France ‘would use nuclear arms’ French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it. Speaking at a nuclear submarine base in… Read moreFrance threatens nuclear strikes
From the AP, Jan. 19: Al-Jazeera on Thursday aired an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden, who says al-Qaeda is making preparations for attacks in the United States but offering a truce “with fair conditions.” The tape’s release came days… Read moreAl-Qaeda bigs killed in Pakistan? Osama offers truce?
Glorify ’em as heroes and martyrs for war propaganda—then screw ’em. It’s the American way. From NY1, Jan. 17: Supreme Court Rules 9/11 Families Cannot Sue Over Faulty Radios Families of New York City firefighters won’t be allowed to sue… Read moreSupreme Court shafts 9-11 widows
Subcomandante Marcos said Jan. 14 that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation will not accept the invitation by Bolivian president-elect Evo Morales to attend his Jan. 22 inauguration. During a meeting with supporters on the Zapatistas' "Other Campaign" in Chetumal,… Read moreZapatista tour reaches Yucatan; supporters harassed
The international community has been attempting to restore peace to West Africa, long torn by multiple inter-related ethnic and civil conflicts. Now, just as Liberia is hailed as a success story—with the country’s first post-war president, and Africa’s first woman… Read moreIvory Coast violence: new “great game” for West Africa?
Suicide bombers killed 26 people in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province Jan. 16, heightening fears that Taliban militants are copying the tactics of Iraqi insurgents. An attacker riding a motorcycle blew himself up as a crowd left a… Read moreUS losing control of Afghanistan?
The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) issues this response to “The Afghanistan Miracle” by Diane Tebelius, an op-ed which ran in The Seattle Times Oct. 4, 2005: The “Miracle” or a Mockery of Afghanistan? Ms. Diane Tebelius,… Read moreRAWA rejects “Afghanistan miracle”
