An international commission of human rights observers announced Jan. 21 that at least 23 people were killed and a number of cases of physical abuse and sexual assaults against women were recorded during the months-long conflict in the southern Mexican… Read moreOaxaca: government disputes rights report; police block religious gathering
In his first published interview with the foreign press since he became Mexico’s president last month, Felipe Calderon told the Financial Times: “The United States is jointly responsible for what is happening to us… [I]n that joint responsibility the U.S…. Read moreMexico: Calderon appeals for more Drug War aid; Chiapas in crosshairs
Honduras announced Jan. 12 that it will temporarily take control of oil storage terminals as part of a program to lower fuel prices and combat “energy terrorism.” “It is not a nationalization, it’s a temporary use of the storage tanks… Read moreHonduras seizes oil facilities
Some 45 Jews in Sa’ada, Yemen, have fled their homes after being threatened by radical Muslims and are seeking aid from the government, according to a Jan. 21 report in the Saudi daily Al Wattan. The Jews apparently received letters… Read moreAnti-Jewish pogrom in Yemen
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid diplomatic visits to three Latin American countries Jan. 13-15, starting with Venezuela on Jan. 13. He and President Hugo Chavez reviewed accords they had signed in Caracas in September and signed new accords which were… Read moreAhmadinejad tours Latin America
From the Editor & Publisher, Jan. 22: Conrado de la Cruz Jiménez, the publisher of the most influential daily in the Mexican state of Chiapas, has died in Miami, where he fled to escape prosecution by the state government, the… Read moreExiled Chiapas newsman dies in Miami
On Jan. 18 center-right Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and a group of business executives signed an agreement to hold the price of corn at 8.5 pesos ($0.78) per kilogram. The plan for de facto price controls, a shift from… Read moreMexico: Calderon responds to “tortilla crisis”
From the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), Jan. 22: To: Kurdistan Regional Government International Campaign to remove Article No 7 from the Kurdistan regional constitution! Article 7 of the proposed constitution for Kurdistan is an open threat to… Read moreIraq: campaign to repeal sharia law in Kurdish constitution
This is what George Bernard Shaw called “the extreme form of censorship.” From the New York Times, Jan. 19: ISTANBUL — The editor of Turkey’s only Armenian-language newspaper was assassinated today on an Istanbul street. The editor, Hrant Dink, 53,… Read moreArmenian editor assassinated in Turkey
From the China Daily, Jan. 18: An online campaign initiated by a television host to drive Starbucks out of the Forbidden City has won the backing of more than half a million netizens, who see the presence of the coffee… Read moreBloggers in the news: China
From the AP, Jan. 19: CAIRO — An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt’s first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from… Read moreBloggers in the news: Egypt
Another glimmer of hope—or is someone going to rain on our parade by demonstrating that these people are all domesticated neocons or State Department dupes? From the AP, Jan. 19: NEW YORK – In a statement to be published next… Read moreIranian activists condemn revisionist confab
