Amnesty International published a report this week exposing Brazil’s public security crisis. “Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have reached a tragic impasse. Criminal gangs … have rushed to fill the vacuum left by the state, Balkanizing the cities into… Read moreAmnesty: Brazilian cities are “violent fiefdoms”
A thoroughly uncritical May 6 AP account of the controversial Dead Sea “recovery” program portrays the new progress on the project as a straightforward victory for diplomacy in the interests of ecology. Some excerpts: GHOR HADITHA, Jordan — Jordan, Israel… Read moreDead Sea “recovery” project back on track —despite ecologist dissent
In a new video posted on the Internet by al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, as-Sahab, the organization’s number-two man Ayman al Zawahiri mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of US troops in Iraq. “This bill… Read moreIraq: al-Zawahiri opposes pull-out
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Lahore to cheer on the suspended chief justice, Iftakhar Mohammed Chaudhry. They threw flowers in the path of his motorcade, and banged drums to welcome him. Addressing a crowd of lawyers… Read morePakistan: democrats rally, Taliban block roads
We hate to exploit this horrific double-tragedy for political propaganda. And maybe if Jocelyn Mercedes understands our point, she won’t see it as exploitation—just providing the inevitable context. Ultimately, both of her loved ones were killed by the same thing…. Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Celebrations were held May 5 at the Gereida displaced persons camp in Darfur, to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the “Darfur Peace Agreement” (DPA). Significantly, the camp is controlled by the Minni Menawi faction of the Sudan… Read moreDarfur one year after “peace accords”: worse than ever
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) and US Labor Against the War (USLAW): Joint Report to the IFC and USLAW on the 2007 Manila International Peace Conference, April 27-29 The 2007 International Peace conference was held in Manila from April… Read moreManila peace conference calls for solidarity with Iraq’s civil resistance
The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit people on terrorism watch lists from buying firearms. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA director Chris Cox said… Read moreNRA defends terror suspects’ gun rights —as milita terrorists rearm
The Section 22 teachers union in Oaxaca called its one-day work stoppage and direct action campaign a “success” to press demands for a resolution to the crisis in the conflicted southern Mexican state. At least 48 state government offices were… Read moreOaxaca: teachers lead day of direct action
One year after the confrontations between inhabitants and Mexico state police at the village of San Salvador Atenco, 174 of the 204 originally detained still face charges, mostly of “attack on the means of communication” (road blocks), and 25 on… Read moreAtenco: one year later, still no justice
The May 3 attempted hijacking at the Havana airport by two conscripts who killed an officer they had taken hostage may have been a CIA-sponsored adventure, or merely evidence of desperation to get out of Cuba. (A month earlier, three… Read moreCuba: who are the “terrorism sponsors”?
We’ve noted speculation that the paramilitary scandal in Colombia will do in Bogotá’s prospects for a free trade deal with Washington. When Uribe was in Washington yesterday to petition for the deal (and continued economic and military aid), he was… Read moreDemocrats dress down Colombia’s Uribe —sort of
