The Caribbean
Haiti: anti-Préval protests continue
Several thousand people marched in Port-au-Prince in the latest and largest in a series of demonstrations against the government of Haitian President René Garcia Préval.
The Caribbean
Haiti: Monsanto offers “poisoned present”?
Haiti’s agriculture ministry accepted a “gift” of 523.6 tons of hybrid corn seeds and 2,067 kg of vegetable seeds from the Monsanto Company—despite activist fears that they are genetically modified.
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: cops try to isolate student strikers
Police took control of the entrances to the Río Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan in an effort to cut off student protesters on the campus from supporters outside.
Afghanistan
US biological warfare against Afghan opium crops?
Afghan opium farmers are convinced that a fungus outbreak that has damaged poppy crops is US biological warfare. The Pentagon has considered using opium-eating fungi before.
Afghanistan
NATO summit names Afghanistan as top priority
A proposed strategy document dubbed “NATO 2020” calls for an expanded readiness and capacity to operate beyond the borders of member states, and names the campaign in Afghanistan as a top priority.
Iraq
Iraq: election results confirmed after partial recount
Iraq’s electoral commission announced that a partial recount of the parliamentary vote will not alter seat allocations. Delay in forming a new government may leave Iraq vulnerable to violence.
Mexico
Mexico: narcos declare open season on politicians
Former Mexican presidential candidate and a leader of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) Diego Fernández de Cevallos was declared missing, in an attack being blamed on narco gangs.
The Andes
Ecuador: indigenous movement scores victory in water struggle —for now
Indigenous leaders in Ecuador announced the temporary lifting of their protest campaign against the pending national water law as lawmakers failed to reach a deal on putting off debate.
The Andes
Bolivia: six dead, one abducted in presumed narco attack
At least six were killed—three Serbians and three Bolivians—and one kidnapped in an assault perpetrated by suspected drug traffickers in Bolivia’s eastern Santa Cruz department.
Palestine
Noam Chomsky barred from West Bank
Noam Chomsky, once demonized as a crypto-Zionist on this website, has been barred by Israeli authorities from entering the West Bank.
North America
Detroit area mosque vandalized —again
A Detroit area mosque was vandalized twice in a week, in a possible case of backlash following the attempted Times Square terror attack.
New York City
Mosque planned for (two blocks away from) Ground Zero, jingos aghast —again
New York’s kneejerk jingos, already aghast that the “Freedom Tower” name has been dropped from the skyscraper going up at Ground Zero, are now protesting the building of a nearby mosque.