From the International Crisis Group, May 10: Colombia’s New Armed Groups The disbanding of the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 2003 and 2006 is seen by the administration of President Alvaro Uribe as a vital step toward… Read moreColombia: new armed groups proliferate —despite para “demobilization”
As a campaign of nonviolent protests mount in Okinawa over construction of a new off-shore US military heliport at Henoko, an e-mail alert from the local anti-militarism group “Project Disagree” informs us that the the Japanese government has dispatched the… Read moreJapan dispatches warship to Okinawa as anti-base protests mount
John Holmes, the United Nations (UN) emergency humanitarian co-ordinator, has said that the UN will investigate accusations that human rights were violated during recent fighting in Mogadishu. Somalia has agreed to the inquiry. [AlJazeera, May 14] Aid workers are said… Read moreUN to investigate Somali rights abuses
The European Union (EU) has lifted a visa ban on several top Uzbek officials, despite a failure to make substantive advances on human rights in the country [according to international monitors]. [The four formerly on the list who are now… Read moreEU relaxes Uzbekistan restrictions; rights groups protest
Israeli troops fired shots amid clashes between Hamas and Fatah forces at the Karni crossing on the Gaza-Israel border [May 15]. [BBC, May 15] At least seven Presidential Guard personnel are thought to have been killed during the Hamas attack…. Read moreIsrael intervenes in Gaza factional fray
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer threw his support behind a proposal to curtail the president’s recently expanded powers to take charge of the National Guard in domestic crises. “Given the Guard’s growing importance in local emergencies, we are concerned about… Read moreSpitzer: No to National Guard “federalization”
The “Islamic State of Iraq,” having claimed responsibility for an ambush on a US patrol south of Baghdad May 12, has warned the US military to stop searching for three soldiers missing after the incident, if they want them to… Read moreIraq: civil war in the insurgency
A US and Pakistani soldier are purported to have been killed [May 14] after meeting Pakistani troops near the Afghan border. NATO announced that two of its soldiers, as well as two civilian employees, were injured in the incident. [BBC,… Read moreAfghanistan: US solider killed in Pakistan border clash
Excerpts from an April 22 editorial in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: A community debate over religious freedom surfaced in Western Pennsylvania last week when Dutch feminist author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who has lived under the threat of death… Read moreAyaan Hirsi Ali faces death threats —in Pennsylvania
George Monbiot writes on ZNet, May 12: Request for Climate References People who deny that manmade climate change is taking place have this in common: they do not answer their critics. They make what they say are definitive refutations of… Read moreAlex Cockburn denies climate change; George Monbiot drops gauntlet
Thousands of protesters formed a human chain May 13 in Okinawa, Japan, to protest the US military presence. The human chain symbolically encircled the 17-kilometer perimeter of the Kadena Air Base. Banners demanded a withdrawal of the 22,000 US troops… Read moreProtesters block US base in Okinawa
The First Summit of Latin Americans Migrant Communities concluded May 14 with a “Declaration of Morelia,” named for the city where the meeting was held in Michoacan, Mexico. The declaration called for modifying national and international laws on immigration, calling… Read moreMexico: migrants summit demands greater rights
