President Hugo Chávez‘s Venezuelan United Socialist Party (PSUV) scored a string of victories in key state and municipal elections Nov. 23. “A new stage is beginning. For me, as the leader of the Venezuelan socialist project, the people are telling… Read moreVenezuela: elections mandate or “hard blow” for Chávez?
Despite an intense rain, some 12,000 indigenous marchers from southern Cauca department arrived in the Colombian capital of Bogotá Nov. 21, and established an encampment in the central Plaza de Bolívar. Leaders declared that they would not return to their… Read moreColombia: indigenous march arrives in Bogotá
The leaders of the 21 nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) met in Lima over the weekend, where George Bush continued to push free-trade prescriptions—prompting demonstrations at the US Embassy, where protesters in black hoods and orange jumpsuits representing… Read moreBush protested at Lima APEC summit
Former Argentine police commander Mario Ferreyra, 63, pulled out a .45 pistol from his boot and shot himself dead in the middle of a TV interview at his home Nov. 22. Ferreyra, also known as “El Malevo,” was accused of… Read moreEx-Argentine police commander in televised suicide
A confrontation between the rival Mara Salvatrucha and La 18 gangs at Guatemala’s central prison, on the outskirts of the capital, ended in seven deaths Nov. 22—with five of the dead beheaded and burned. When authorities retook the prison five… Read moreSix beheaded in Guatemala prison riot
Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi supertanker moved the vessel from its location at the port city of Harardhere, in the autonomous Puntland region, after Islamist militias threatened to attack them and rescue the ship. Both the exiled Islamic Courts… Read moreSomalia: Islamists to attack Puntland pirate bases?
Thousands of protesters surrounded Thailand’s parliament building early Nov. 24, vowing a “final battle” to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. Protesters say they will prevent MPs from discussing constitutional amendments they oppose that would rehabilitate members of… Read more“Final battle” to topple Thai regime
Icelandic protesters clashed with police in Reykjavik Nov. 23 during a demonstration against the government’s handling of the country’s severe financial crisis. Several hundred gathered outside the city’s main police station to demand the release of a man arrested in… Read moreEcono-riots rock Iceland
Rashid Rauf of Birmingham, UK, alleged mastermind of a 2006 plot to blow up transatlantic jets using liquid bombs, was one of five people reported killed Nov. 22 by a presumed US missile attack in the North Waziristan region in… Read moreUS bombs Pakistan again, kills British militant?
Shi’te followers of Moqtada al-Sadr protested Nov. 21 in Baghdad, defacing and burning an effigy of President George Bush in a display of contempt for a deal struck between the departing US administration and the Iraqi government to keep US… Read moreIraq: SOFA sparks protests, oil struggle continues
From Lebanon’s Daily Star, Nov. 3: Members of Israeli spy ring ‘related to 9/11 hijacker’ BEIRUT — Two men arrested for running an Israeli spy ring in the Bekaa Valley are relatives of a suicide hijacker who piloted a plane… Read more9-11-linked Israeli spies busted in Lebanon?
On Nov. 19, a task force of more than 60 federal and local law enforcement personnel conducted a pre-dawn raid targeting gang members at 28 locations in the Newhall and Canyon Country sections of Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles County…. Read moreICE “gang” raids in California, Wisconsin
