Thousands of supporters of the Popular People’s Assembly of Oaxaca again took to the streets of southern Mexico’s Oaxaca City Dec. 22 to demand the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz, as well as the release of “political prisoners” arrested in… Read moreInternational mobilization for Oaxaca
This is why the European laws against Holocaust denial are completely counter-productive. They just provide a media spotlight (and therefore a voice) to these sinister charlatans—and worse, allow them to legitimately accuse the establishment of silencing them. Every turn in… Read moreDavid Irving free to spread lies, media lap it up
As Christianity and Islam vie for the title of “religion of peace”… From AP, Dec. 21: THESSALONIKI – Rival groups of monks wielding crowbars and sledgehammers clashed yesterday over control of a thousand-year-old monastery in a community regarded as the… Read moreMonastic slugfest rocks Greek abbey
Shaikh Abdul Ameer al-Jamri, a Shiite cleric who led pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in the 1990s, died Dec. 18 at the age of 67. Shiites throughout the small island state went into mourning, hanging black flags and banners outside their… Read moreBahrain’s top Shi’ite cleric, opposition figure dies; streets filled for funeral
This Dec. 22 account from the Russian daily Kommersant reveals another recent win for Moscow in its bid to rebuild influence in the “near abroad” of Central Asia, and beat the American and European competition to the punch in securing… Read moreTurkmenistan: dictator’s death throws gas leases into question
Iraq’s government is drafting a new hydrocarbons law that will chart the course for the country’s oil sector and determine how its revenues will be apportioned. The law would put much of Iraqi oil into the hands of foreign companies,… Read moreIraq drafts new oil law; greater access for multinationals
The quaint traditions of Saddam’s Iaq survive in the US-created new order. From
Fighting exploded between Islamic Courts Union (ICU) forces and the “official” Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia Dec. 20, just as the ICU’s deadline for Ethiopian troops to quit the country or face a declaration of “jihad” expired. Rocket, mortar… Read moreSomalia: “jihad” against Ethiopian forces opens
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Ecuador’s president-elect Rafael Correa met in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Dec. 21, where they spoke in support of a regional integration that goes beyond trade. “This integration must be based on a new model, on… Read moreNew Ecuador-Venezuela bloc —against US drug war
Nine years after the Dec. 22, 1997 massacre of 45 unarmed Maya Indians at the Chiapas highland hamlet of Acteal, Chiapas, the confessed intellectual author of the attack, Antonio Vazquez Secum, remains free and was never called to testify in… Read moreActeal nine years later: still no justice
Subcommander Marcos of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) is back on the rebels’ home turf of southern Chiapas state after a months-long tour of Mexico, known as the “Other Campaign” in reference to this year’s presidential campaigns. Marcos arrived… Read moreMarcos back in Chiapas; Zapatistas prepare global “encuentro”
Even as the Mexican federal government is starting to release some of the hundreds detained during the Oaxaca protests, new harassment and repression is reported from the conflicted state. On Dec. 18, Florentino Lopez Marti’nez, spokesman of the Popular Assembly… Read moreOaxaca: repression continues as rights report released
