A report released by the B’Tselem human rights group Dec. 22 states that the West Bank settlement of Ofra, northeast of Jerusalem, is in fact an “illegal” outpost even under Israeli law. Ofra, part of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council,… Read moreReport: West Bank settlements illegal —under Israeli law
Tuareg guerillas killed at least at least nine soldiers in an attack on an army post in Mali’s remote north Dec. 22. The government claimed 11 rebel fighters were also killed when when gunmen in more than 20 four-wheel-drive vehicles… Read moreMali: Tuareg rebels attack
Media accounts are generally not recalling the similar incidents earlier this year. Why is nobody seeing patterns here? From Network World, Dec. 22: Undersea robot searches for severed cables A robot submarine was scouring the seabed 200 meters under the… Read moreMediterranean Internet cables spliced —again
At least two missiles believed to have been fired from a US drone struck villages near Wana in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region Dec. 22, killing seven people. Tribesmen reportedly opened fire on the drones after the attacks. US forces have… Read moreUS bombs Pakistan —again
Read the fine print. "Five Muslim immigrants from South Jersey were convicted today of plotting to kill American soldiers, a crime that prosecutors said demonstrated how Al Qaeda was using the Internet to recruit, train and incite supporters for attacks… Read moreConvictions in Fort Dix pseudo-terror case
On Dec. 12 a judge in Mexico’s Coahuila state ordered the release of Carlos Pavón Campos, political affairs secretary of the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMRM), on 5.611 million pesos bail (about $426,600)…. Read moreMexico: miner leader still in jail
From Dec. 15 to Dec. 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries held overlapping meetings of several regional groups in Costa do Sauipe, a luxurious tourist complex near Salvador in the eastern Brazil state of Bahia. The overall intention was to… Read moreBrazil hosts Latin American summit on economic crisis
On Dec. 10 a Haitian court sentenced journalist Joseph Guyler Delva to one month in prison for alleged defamation and public insults against former senator Rudolph Boulos. Delva and his lawyer were not present at the trial, since it had… Read moreHaiti: reporter threatened
In an interview this month with the left-leaning Mexican daily La Jornada, Cuban National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcón said that Cuba isn’t counting on a major shift in US policy towards Cuba when Barack Obama becomes US president on Jan…. Read moreCuba: no “turning point” with US
Mexican President Felipe Calderón said Dec. 19 his government “does not and will never negotiate” with the drug lords, and vowed to press ahead with his military crackdown on the cartels. Drug-related deaths have doubled this year, to more than… Read moreMexico: Calderón pledges “no negotiation” with cartels
A Canadian mining company intends to sue El Salvador’s government for several hundred million dollars if it is not granted permission to open a widely unpopular gold and silver mine that scientists warn would pollute local water supplies. Pacific Rim… Read moreCanadian mining company threatens El Salvador with CAFTA suit
At 4 AM on Dec. 16, indigenous leader Edwin Legarda Vázquez was killed by the Colombian army as he was driving a pickup truck belonging to the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC), in which his partner, Aida Quilcué often… Read moreColombia: army kills indigenous leader
