A UN vehicle has been hit by a remote-controlled bomb blast in the southern city of Kandahar, Afghanistan [April 17]. Four Nepalese contractors working with the UN Office for Project Services were killed, along with their Afghan driver. The vehicle… Read moreTaliban target UN workers
British International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has announced an end to the use of “war on terror” phraseology among the UK government. “What these [terrorist] groups want,” he observed, is to “force their individual and narrow values on others without… Read moreUK rejects GWOT nomenclature
Khartoum has agreed to an interim deployment of 3,000 UN peacekeepers in support of the African Union (AU) in Darfur. UN officials, however, have announced that enacting this measure may take as long as six months, while Sudan is yet… Read moreSudan accepts 3,000 UN reinforcements
The conflict in Darfur is an early sign global security threats prompted by climate change, a senior representative of the British government warned April 16 on the eve of a special United Nations debate. “Like most conflicts, it’s complex. It… Read moreDarfur crisis linked to climate change: UK
Hundreds of rural workers occupied the offices of the National Agrarian Reform Institute in Brasilia, and thousands more invaded farms and blocked roads on April 16, demanding the government speed up moves to give land to small farmers and peasants…. Read moreLand protests across Brazil
Hassan Hattab, founder of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)—now dubbed “al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb,” which has claimed responsibility for last week’s deadly Algiers bombings—called on militants to put down their weapons under a government amnesty…. Read moreAlgeria: old-school Islamists diss al-Qaeda
From AP, April 16: Racist German Army Tape Stirs Outrage BERLIN – A German army instructor ordered a soldier to envision himself in New York City facing hostile blacks while firing his machine gun, a video that aired Saturday on… Read moreGermans at it again
From the Daily News, April 16: 2 die as cars plunge from highways Two people were killed early yesterday morning in unrelated accidents that sent their cars plummeting from city highways, cops said. Gretchen Patterson, 48, of Powell St., Brooklyn,… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
On April 15, tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, to protest demands by a radical religious school which has begun a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign in the capital, Islamabad. “The people of Islamabad are insecure and under threat… Read morePakistanis march for secularism
Remember all the hype when Padilla was first arrested? Now that he is finally going to trial—on considerably less ambitious charges than those originaly floated—it is a discrete little story on the inside pages. Funny how that works, huh? We… Read morePadilla case opens —minus “dirty bomb” charge
Now that Iran has a nuclear program, other Middle East countries want nuclear power—potentially resulting in a nuclear arms race in the region, the New York Times reported April 15. “Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international… Read moreNYT: Mideast nuclear arms race seen
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca close to the city’s American Cultural Centre April 14—apparently causing no casualties other than themselves. (AlJazeera, April 14) After the blasts, the US consulate in Casablanca was ordered closed until further notice…. Read moreMorocco: police raid slum after suicide blasts
