Fighting between the government and Sh’i’te insurgents in Yemen’s northern mountains has killed 25 soldiers and 20 guerillas over the last five days. The government has set up camps to shelter about 10,000 people displaced by the violence. Sporadic clashes… Read moreSectarian war rocks Yemen
From Newsday, April 8: Two hit-and-runs in two different boroughs A pedestrian in Manhattan and a motorcyclist in Brooklyn were each critically hurt after hit-and-run drivers struck them Saturday, police said. The Manhattan incident happened after a 24-year-old man had… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
An Ethiopian judge dismissed charges of attempted genocide and treason against 111 people arrested after 2005 election protests. Among those cleared were journalists and publishers. Amnesty International called the charges “absurd,” and adopted the accused as “prisoners of conscience.” The… Read moreEthiopia: journalists cleared of “genocide”
Three months after the White House successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea over that country’s nuclear test, the Bush administration “allowed” Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from Pyongyang in what appears to… Read moreNYT: US “allowed” North Korea arms sale to Ethiopia
Thousands of Turkish troops backed by helicopters battled Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgents near the Iraqi border April 8, in clashes that left 10 soldiers and seven guerillas dead. The fighting was centered in the provinces of Tunceli, Bingöl, Bitlis… Read moreTurks charge US betrayal on PKK; Barzani threatens Turkey
More than a dozen detainees have launched a new hunger strike at Guantánamo, and the military has responded by starting to force-feed the detainees, according to an April 8 New York Times report. Lawyers for the hunger strikers said the… Read moreJournalist force-fed in Gitmo hunger strike
Amado Ramírez Dillane, 50, Acapulco-based correspondent for Mexico’s Televisa network and host of the daily news program “Al Tanto” on local Radiorama, was shot to death near the city’s main square April 6. He had apparently just left Radiorama’s studio… Read moreMexico: journalist gunned down in Acapulco
When Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was freed from Taliban captivity last month in exchange for prisoners, it made global headlines—if only as an opportunity to portray the Italians as weak-willed. The Afghan journalist he was abducted with was sold down… Read moreAfghanistan: Taliban behead journalist
We certianly hope that the expressions of Shi’ite-Sunni solidarity in this story are not exaggerated—or insincere. From AP, April 10 via Turkey’s Zaman: Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched through the streets of two Shiite holy… Read moreIraq: Sunnis join Moqtada’s march against occupation
Lawmen are warning that growing violence along the Mexican border poses a threat to national security. Chief Lynne Underdown, retiring Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley sector, told reporters at a press conference in Edinburg, TX, April 6,… Read moreMexican border violence: lawmen see homeland security threat
From AP, April 8: Mother’s high-speed chase leads to baby’s death 9-month-old ejected from SUV when woman crashes trying to evade police ALVARADO, Texas – A woman led police on a 25-mile high speed chase until she crashed into a… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Gunmen opened fire on Shi’ites April 6 in Parachinar, a remote town in northwestern Pakistan, triggering gunbattles between majority Sunni and minority Shi’ites that have left at least 40 dead and 43 wounded. Some Shi’ites retaliated, burning down Sunni-owned shops… Read morePakistan: sectarian warfare rocks Tribal Areas
