An Israeli airstrike targeting a minivan supposedly carrying a Hamas fighter in northern Gaza City killed three people and wounded 12 on May 18. Israeli tanks also fired five shells near a housing project in the northern Gaza town of… Read moreGaza: towards re-occupation?
Tuareg rebel leader Moktar Roman of the Mouvement des Nigeriens pour la Justice (MNJ) spoke to the UN news agency IRIN May 17 about the reasons behind the resurgence of armed attacks in the north of Niger this year. “The… Read moreNiger: Tuareg rebel leader speaks
A bomb exploded in a historic mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. At least nine people have been killed and fifteen injured in the Mecca Mosque, where over one thousand people had gathered for Friday prayers [May 18]…. Read moreIndia: historic mosque bombed in Hyderabad
Mexico May 15 called upon the US to prevent weapons from landing in the hands of drug gangs that increasingly use them to kill soldiers and police. “The firepower we are seeing here has to do with a lack of… Read moreMexico: US arms narco gangs
Fidelity Investments of Boston is denying that a sharp reduction in holdings of oil companies doing business in Sudan is a result of activist pressure over Darfur. Anne Crowley, a spokeswoman for the mutual-fund giant, said the sales were decided… Read moreBig finance feels pressure on Darfur?
Big Oil went on the defensive May 16, getting grilled before a House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel and denying accusations that mismanagement and a lack of competition are the reasons behind this spring’s record gasoline prices. Gas prices hit $3.10… Read moreHouse anti-trust panel grills Big Oil
From the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), May 15: The Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki, will meet in Baghdad with a delegation of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU), led by its… Read moreIraq: oil workers threaten strike
Colombian National Police officer Jhon Frank Pinchao, held hostage by the FARC guerillas for nearly nine years, escaped his captors and spent 17 days lost in the jungle of Vaupes department before he was found by an army patrol on… Read moreColombia: FARC hostage escapes
The Maldives coastguard opened fire on a vessel suspected of carrying members of the Tamil Tigers from Sri Lanka [May 17], after a 12-hour stand-off. The boat was sunk and five people on board detained. [Maldivian authorites say the vessel… Read moreTamil Tigers in naval battle with Maldives?
Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats have taken to criticising the US-financed Middle East television channel, al-Hurra, for having broadcast “friendly coverage of camera-ready extremists” (The Wall Street Journal) such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Al-Hurra was set up in 2003 in… Read moreUS Congress condemns al-Hurra coverage
Thirteen of the 19 suspects on trial for the 2004 Madrid rail bombings that killed 191 have gone on hunger strike in protest of what they call unfounded accusations against them. Javier Gómez Bermúdez, the presiding justice, warned the men… Read moreSpain: 3-11 suspects on hunger strike
At least 14 people have been killed, and dozens more injured, amid clashes between police and drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro over the past two weeks. Vila Cruzeiro favela, one of the impoverished districts hardest hit by the violence,… Read moreRio de Janeiro: police, drug gangs turn favelas into war zones
