The rights group Global Witness charges in a new report that cocoa profits fueled the brutal civil war in Ivory Coast just as diamonds did in Liberia, with both the government and rebels profiting from the trade. The study finds… Read moreIvory Coast: “blood chocolate” fuels civil war
A Sri Lankan probe into rights abuses blamed on both security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels fails to meet international standards, foreign observers say. Experts appointed by the international community to observe the presidential commission’s investigation charge the most serious… Read moreSri Lanka: abuse probe inadequate
Buddhist monks and other Thais rallied over the weekend to have Buddhism enshrined in the constitution as the national religion of Thailand. [Some 5,000 blocked traffic outside the parliament building in Bangkok.] With ongoing violence in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim south,… Read moreThailand: clash of chauvinisms?
The Philippine military has deployed helicopters and spy drones with the help of US intelligence to search for Muslim rebels who kidnapped Italian Catholic priest Carlo Bossi of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in the Zamboanga peninsula. Bossi… Read moreMindanao: drones scan jungle for kidnapped priest
A bomb blast outside a shop in Istanbul wounded at least 14 people [June 10]. Turkish security forces believe that Kurdish separatists are behind the attack. [Reuters, June 10] Ongoing fighting in the Turkish southeast between the army and Kurdish… Read moreBombs and clashes in Turkey
From Reuters, June 10: TEHRAN – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who wants more aid from the United States, called on Sunday for a new world order to replace “capitalism and imperialism”, at the start of a trip to arch U.S…. Read moreDaniel Ortega schmoozes ayatollahs
Police in the Kashmiri city of Srinagar have found a propaganda CD by a group claiming to be “al-Qaida fil Hind” (al-Qaeda in India), with the aim of launching a jihad beyond the borders of Kashmir into all of India…. Read moreAl-Qaeda in India?
Afghan president Hamid Karzai survived the third assassination attempt on his life on [June 10] when Taliban militants fired rockets at a building in which he was giving a speech [outside Kabul]. [The president is known as the “mayor of… Read moreAfghanistan: Karzai dodges rocket attack
In the west and central regions of Iraq, heart of the supposed “Sunni insurgency”, US forces are equipping and training former Sunni insurgents to fight al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in a bid to turn local and tribal groups against the presence of… Read moreIraq: US arms Sunni militants
For those who remember when Albania was a hermetically sealed communist dictatorship under Enver Hoxha, the spectacle of George Bush receiving a hero’s welcome in Tirana was a surreal one. An easy appeal to ethnic nationalism on the issue of… Read moreBush does Albania; exploits Kosovars, Uighurs for cheap propaganda
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), publisher of the journal Science, has teamed up with Amnesty International for a project to monitor the Darfur conflict by satellite. From Medical News Today, June 10: A pioneering AAAS program… Read moreRights groups monitor Darfur villages by satellite
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has accused UK Prime Minister Tony Blair of overriding the devolved powers of the Scottish parliament in negotiating a deal with Libya on prisoner transfer. In a statement to Scotland’s parliament, Salmond said that it… Read moreUK: Libya deal sparks constitutional clash with Scotland
