The Pentagon conducted a test March 28 of a new ultra-powerful 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The MOP, carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives, delivers more than 10 times the explosive… Read morePentagon tests new bunker-buster —for Iran?
The government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, forced to resign last month after a defeat on the issue, narrowly won a Senate vote to keep Rome’s 1,900 troops in Afghanistan March 27. But questions remain over the mission’s future,… Read moreItaly continues Afghan mission —despite protests from all sides
Marijuana is not kosher for Passover, Israel’s pot-friendly Green Leaf Party says, advising Jews who observe the holiday’s special dietary laws to take a break from smoking the weed. The Party, which has made several unsuccessful attempts to win election… Read moreIsraeli pot-heads: cannabis kosher —but not for Passover
The construction of a Georgia’s second “NATO standard” military base less than 20 miles from Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, is being protested by separatist leaders. Ossetian leaders charge that construction of the base near Gori is a… Read moreGeorgia preparing attack on South Ossetia?
Militant activity in Pakistan is rapidly spreading from peripheral areas such as the Afghan border zone to the Punjabi heartland. A suicide bomber blew himself up near an army camp in Kharian, 85 miles southeast of the capital Islamabad March… Read morePakistan: militant activity spreads to center
Iran’s embassy in London has stated that the British sailors captured last week were 0.5 km inside Iranian waters when they were taken by the Revolutionary Guard. British officials insist that their sailors were 1.7 miles within Iraqi waters. The… Read moreIran and UK debate cartography
Hundreds of insurgents armed with rocket launchers, artillery and machine guns are clashing with Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu. Ethiopian tanks patrol the streets, and the southern part of Mogadishu has become a no-go zone. BBC reports that Ethiopian helicopter gunships… Read moreSomalia: civilians under fire in Mogadishu
A one thousand year-old Armenian church on the island of Akdamar in Lake Van has been renovated and now reopened by Turkish authorities. Though Armenia and Turkey do not maintain regular diplomatic relations, a delegation of Armenian architects and government… Read moreTurkey: historic Armenian church re-opens in peace gesture
In a move calculated to win more support in the Arab world, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia described the American occupation in Iraq as “illegal” and urged the leaders gathered at the ongoing Arab League summit to unite in order… Read moreAngst on Iraq at Arab League summit
Yemeni forces shot down a foreign drone flying over the south of the Arab country, government officials said March 28, and local media reported that the aircraft was Iranian. “Yes, a drone was brought down,” a government official told Reuters…. Read moreIranian drone shot down in Yemen?
Terrifying reports are mounting of imminent US aggression against Iran, and we have been hearing for months ominous rumblings that Israel will actually strike first. Our March issue featured an interview with Bina Darabzand, a leader of Iran’s embattled left… Read moreUS aggression against Iran: one reader writes
A package of amendments to Egypt’s constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a nationwide referendum March 27—but with only 27% turn-out due to a popular boycott. The country’s leading rights group, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, put the figure even… Read moreEgypt: boycott, irregularites mar “reform” vote
