We noted one year ago a heart-rending case of indigenous peasants in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas dying after eating a stew of apparently poisonous mushrooms. The peasants were driven by hunger and failed harvests to gather wild mushrooms (which… Read moreChiapas mushroom poisonings point to ecological crisis
In a 10-2 decision released late on Aug. 9, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, turned down an appeal on behalf of the “Cuban Five,” a group of Cubans sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2001… Read moreCuba Five appeal denied
On Aug. 9 the US Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a 237-page report on the killing of Puerto Rican nationalist leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios in the western town of Hormigueros on Sept. 23, 2005, by agents… Read moreFBI cleared in Ojeda Rios assassination
On Aug. 3, some 600 demonstrators, including many people of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, marched in Bogota to protest Israel’s military aggression against Lebanon. The march was called by the Platform of Colombians in Solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon, a… Read moreColombia: police attack march for Lebanon
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli soldiers fanned out across the Litani river, and between 10 – 30,000 may remain in Lebanon, creating certain logistics problems. According to Ha’aretz, Aug. 14: IDF general: Soldiers may steal food from south Lebanon stores “If… Read moreIsraeli general: troops in Lebanon should steal food, get ready for winter
From La Jornada, Aug. 10 via Chiapas95 (our translation, links added): Iguala, Guerrero — During the term of Vicente Fox, the Mexican government has not complied with recommendations of the UN to instate consitutional reforms on the rights of indigenous… Read moreUN: Mexico does not comply on indigenous rights
From El Universal, Aug. 12 via Chiapas95: SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, CHIAPAS — A judge has imposed long prison terms on 50 indigenous defendants convicted of carrying out one of the most heinous crimes in past decades – the… Read moreChiapas: Acteal killers get 25 years
Online at Media Monitors, but forwarded to us from Gush Shalom (which we like a lot better): What the Hell has happened to the Army? So what has happened to the Israeli army? This question is now being raised not… Read moreUri Avnery on Lebanon aggression: “defeat can be a blessing”
One year after the hysteria that followed the London bombings, we are treated to yet another terrorist scare emanating from the UK, with the alleged plot to blow up airliners mid-flight by mixing combustible liquids, supposedly discovered in the nick… Read more2nd Circuit upholds subway searches
From Scripps Howard, Aug. 12: The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year, according to global climate watchers gathering data from… Read moreSatellite data: Greenland ice cap melting fast
Lopez Obrador, the leftist presidential candidate who is leading militant protests in Mexico to challenge what he calls a fraudulent defeat in the July 2 elections, takes his case to the New York Times op-ed page Aug. 11: Recounting Our… Read moreLopez Obrador takes case to NYT op-ed page
Protesters held four people captive for hours Aug. 11, charging they were behind the assassination of a protester in the conflicted southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The Federal Agency of Investigation said protesters were finally induced to turn the captives… Read moreOaxaca: escalation follows assassination of activist
