The Andes
Bolivia: Evo Morales headed for election sweep
Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, appears to have won a second five-year term in general elections with 61-63.2% of the vote.
Europe
Greek police arrest 150 on eve of shooting anniversary
Greek police conducted raids in Athens in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year’s violent protests as the first anniversary of the police shooting of Alexis Grigoropoulos approaches.
Afghanistan
Blackwater black ops behind Pakistan terror wave?
A Pakistani judge demanded the Interior Ministry reply to a petition requesting disclosure on the activities of Blackwater in the country, alleging a corporate role in the relentless terror attacks.
Africa
More than 65,000 Eritrean refugees languish in Sudan
Sudan hosts more than 66,000 Eritrean refugees, the first of whom arrived in 1968 during the war of independence against Ethiopia. They say they now fear persecution in Eritrea and refuse repatriation.
Palestine
UN “dismayed” at Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon “expressed his dismay at the continuation of demolitions, evictions and the installment of Israeli settlers in Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem.”
Greater Middle East
Torture systematic in Egypt: rights groups
Egypt has become a police state where citizens receive no protection from torture, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) charges in a new report.
Bill Weinberg to speak in Oakland on indigenous struggle in Peru
This year in Peru, government plans to privatize indigenous lands to oil companies in preparation for the new FTA sparked a popular uprising. Journalist Bill Weinberg reports back Dec. 6 in Oakland, CA.
Watching the Shadows
Four Gitmo detainees transferred to Europe; two to stand trial in Italy
The US has transfered four detainees from Guantánamo Bay to three European countries: Italy, France and Hungary. Two of the former detainees will stand trial in Italy.
Iraq
Ex-soldier appeals civilian trial in Mahmudiya rape-murder case
Former US soldier Steven Green challenged the law used to convict him in civilian court for his role in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s secular opposition dissents from Obama’s troop surge
Opposition Afghan member of parliament Malalai Joya warns, “If Barack Obama heralds an escalation of the war, he will betray his own message of hope and deepen my people’s pain.”
Central America
Honduras: did abstention win the vote?
Honduran de facto authorities announced that Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa of the right-wing National Party had won the presidency—but resistance leaders claim 70% abstentionism.
Central America
Guatemala: campesinos continue land protests
Thousands of campesinos blocked highways in Guatemala to press demands for new allocations to the National Lands Fund for renting farmland to be used by more than 100,000 families.