Israeli air-strikes continued on Gaza for a second day Dec. 28, bringing the death toll to 292, with more than 1,000 injured, 180 of them seriously. (Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 28) At the 36-hour point in Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead,”… Read moreGaza Strip death toll approaches 300 in two days of air-strikes
A Greek government official’s car was firebombed Dec. 26 while a petrol bomb was thrown at a bank and another group attacked a police car, authorities said. The car, used by a junior environment minister, Stavros Kaloyannis, was hit in… Read moreGreece: anarchists attack police, banks, officials
China’s official media reported the arrest of 59 Tibetans Dec. 25 on charges of inciting protests during the March unrest in the region. Reports cited Xin Yuanming, deputy director of the public security bureau of Lhasa, as saying “some people… Read moreTibet: more arrests, forced relocations
A deadly US military raid on an Afghan house Dec. 25 sparked protests and produced conflicting reports over who was killed. The US said the dead were 11 armed Taliban militants, part of a bomb-making cell in the Maiwand district… Read moreAfghanistan: US air-strike sparks protests —as White House escalates
A suicide bomber on a bicycle in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul targeted a protest against the Israeli air-raids on the Gaza Strip, killing one civilian and wounding 16 on Dec. 27. The protest was sponsored by the Sunni-backed Iraqi… Read moreIraq: pending troops agreement background to sectarian struggle
UN rights officials praised the Nicaraguan government’s decision to give the indigenous Awas Tingni community official title to its traditional lands, marking the culmination of a decades-long struggle by the group to gain recognition and protection of its ancestral territory…. Read moreNicaragua: indigenous rainforest community wins title to ancestral lands
A member of Mexico’s presidential guard was reportedly arrested as a spy for the Beltran Leyva crime machine (Sinaloa Cartel) Dec. 26. An anonymous official of the federal prosecutor’s office identified Arturo González Rodríguez as an army major who was… Read moreMexico: presidential guard, beauty queen busted in narco wars
Heavy fighting erupted in central Somalia Dec. 27, with two religious militias seeking control of the town of Guri El in Galgadud region, Radio Garowe reports. At least 10 people were killed and 12 others wounded during the battle, in… Read moreSomalia: Sufis resist al-Shabaab insurgents
Palestinians carry the body of a killed resident in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike Dec. 27. Israel’s air force fired some 30 missiles at targets in the Gaza Strip that day, destroying several Hamas police compounds and… Read moreRafah: terror from above
A statement from Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc, via the independent Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 27: Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided. It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire,… Read moreGush Shalom: Israel broke Gaza ceasefire
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called Dec. 27 for a new uprising against Israel after air-strikes in the Gaza Strip killed more than 200. “I call upon you to carry out a third intifada,” Meshaal told his followers from Damascus in… Read moreHamas calls for “Third Intifada” as air-strikes pound Gaza
Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced by an Israeli military court Dec. 25 to 30 years in prison for heading a “terrorist organization.” An Israeli army statement said Saadat, also a… Read morePFLP leader Ahmed Saadat sentenced to 30 years
