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The Struggle for Russia The arrest last month of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the principal owner of Russia's biggest oil company, Yukos, and the richest of the country's seventeen state-anointed billionaire oligarchs, on charges of fraud and tax evasion has put Russia back in the forefront of US media attention. But is the story being reported the full, or essential, one? [Full Story] Collapse in Cancún The mid-September failure of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference in Cancún was widely cheered on the left. A Global Exchange (GX) press release described it as a "failure...for the giant transnational corporations that are manipulating the trade agenda to engineer a power grab that will dramatically reduce the strength of democratically elected government." [Full Story]
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CONFLUENCE OF THESE FACTORS DRIVING UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGE TO INTEGRATED GLOBAL ECONOMY 2 January 2008 2008 will be a year in which the integrity of election processes, the quality and resilience of cultivated soils, the availability of credit to consumers, the affordability of homes and rentals, and access to affordable vital staples like food and water, as well as the cost of transportation, will affect economies the world over. Some economic analysts have said the combination of these factors, resulting instability or environmental degradation, and migration of affected populations, could mean the world is facing an unprecedented level of economic precariousness. [Full Story] PUTIN'S UNITED RUSSIA PARTY SAID TO BE USING STATE POWER TO BLOCK OUT RIVALS Reports from across Russia indicate that by various means, state authorities are pressuring organizations and institutions of all kinds to force mass voter turnout for Pres. Putin's United Russia party. The Kremlin denies the allegations, but at least one high ranking election official has said he was given orders to ensure that United Russia receive 'double' the number of votes forecast by current opinion polling. [Full Story] REBEL SENATOR LEADS COUP ATTEMPT BY MILITARY MUTINY AGAINST ARROYO IN MANILA After a tense 7 hours, Philippines government forces, having surrounded the Peninsula Hotel in Makati, Manila's financial district, fired tear gas into the luxury hotel and were able to detain all the participants in the attempted coup d'état. Rebel senator Antonio Trillanes, Brigadier General Danilo Lim, and former vice president Teofisto Guingona are alleged to be the master-minds behind the conspiracy to overthrow Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government. [Full Story] THE TIME IS NOW FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON EMISSIONS REDUCTION Due to the science we already have, the laws we have to govern our own activity and to force government to act for the public health, we face the real possibility of being forced, in American courts, in the future, to pay for damage done to the most affected populations in other parts of the world, as a result of inaction by our government. The public voice, and those campaigning for the level of public respect needed for election to office, should bring this issue to the fore, push for real initiatives to tackle the problem boldly, in a collaborative way, now. [Keep Reading] PAKISTAN TO SEE 'CARETAKER' GOV'T & PM OVERSEE JANUARY ELECTIONS, UNDER EMERGENCY RULE Key opposition leader Imran Khan has been detained under counter-terrorism laws under the new martial law decree by Gen. Musharraf. But the beleaguered military leader says he will appoint a 'caretaker' government that will oversee a smooth transition to the next phase of Pakistan democracy, which should presumably see a legitimately elected parliament and prime minister, and Pres. Musharraf resigning as military chief and serving strictly as a civilian president. With thousands of their supporters, as well as political and judicial officers in prison, opponents are justifiably skeptical. [Full Story] BHUTTO, AGAIN UNDER HOUSE ARREST, CALLS FOR MUSHARRAF TO RESIGN OFFICE Former prime minister and current opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been placed under house arrest for the second time in one week, this time to prevent her from leading a protest march from Lahore to Islamabad. Musharraf claims new crackdown is aimed at protecting Ms. Bhutto's life, as evidence exists of a suicide campaign. Over 4,000 police are reported to be surrounding Bhutto home. [Full Story] LIBERTY & SECURITY WRESTLE IN PAKISTAN, AS ELSEWHEREWHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR DEMOCRACY IN THE 21st CENTURY? 13 November 2007 In many parts of the world, people are presently facing the question, on a societal scale, of whether or not free and open democracy can coexist with measures taken to protect against extremism. The question is an old one and goes to the root of whether it is possible, as a matter of natural law, to vote away one's rights or to vote against democracy. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF ARRESTS OVER 3,500 LAWYERS, DISSIDENTS, ACTIVISTS IN NATIONWIDE MIILITARY ACTION Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has signaled his willingness to resort to force to put a stop to protests against his exercise of power, suspending the constitution, rounding up opposition leaders, judiciary officials, human rights activists, and saying democracy will be restored upon his decree. Several days into a martial law decree, protests are mounting and police violence against demonstrators shows no signs of abating. [Full Story] WHY MUSHARRAF'S USE OF FORCE AGAINST CIVIL REFORMERS IS DANGEROUS FOR PAKISTAN, THE REGION When Pervez Musharraf came to power in a military coup d'état in 1999, he promised to restore democracy fully within 3 years' time. Symbolic elections were held under a temporary constitution, beginning his first 5-year reign. Now, under a civilian constitution, Musharraf has been re-elected to a 2nd 5-year term, though the Supreme Court was about to issue a ruling on the legitimacy of his re-election, as he had not relinquished control of the military. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF DECLARES MARTIAL LAW, SUSPENDS CONSTITUTION Pakistan pres. Pervez Musharraf, a general who came to power by 'bloodless' military coup in 1999, has been facing opposition from a national lawyers organization that says he has delayed too long in restoring the democratic process, and was facing a Supreme Court ruling that might invalidate his recent re-election. Musharraf claims he had no choice but to suspend the constitution, because Pakistan's "sovereignty" was under threat from "paralysis of government by judicial interference". [Full Story] CHILEAN TOURIST HELD HOSTAGE BY ARBITRARY PROSECUTION IN RUSSIA Russian law prohibits transporting anything deemed a "cultural treasure" out of the country. Roxana Contreras, a Chilean-born tourist from St. Louis, Missouri, traveling in the Russian countryside, understands little Russian and was unaware of this law "when a street vendor persuaded her to buy some unexceptional Red Army medals and old ruble notes", as reported by the International Herald Tribune. [Full Story] AT WAR: FACING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AS SECURITY THREAT New efforts are being encouraged to recategorize climate change, shifting public focus away from science and shedding light on its vital importance by comparing global warming to a global security threat. According to British climate change ambassador John Ashton, there is a need to approach global warming from a war stance. We are in a war, and our soldiers —people, plants, animals, the very Earth itself— are down for the count. [Full Story] GREECE SAVAGED BY BRUSH-FIRES, AT LEAST 51 PEOPLE KILLED Fires across Greece have taken at least 51 lives over three days, and the government has declared a state of emergency in all parts of the country. Media, ministries, and scientists are attempting to understand how so many forest- and brush-fires could appear in so many places so quickly. The southern Peloponnese peninsula has been called the "epicenter" of the catastrophe, with fires now threatening major ancient monuments and the capital, Athens. [Full Story] WATER RESOURCE STRESS: GLOBAL ECONOMIC-ECOLOGICAL FACTOR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Water is one of the "fundamental building-blocks of life", as is often said in science, in biology classrooms, in medicine, theology, environmental policy debates, and in cosmology and space exploration. It is also a commodity whose economic reality is increasingly defined by chronic scarcity and often intensely uneven distribution. [Full Story] CHINA DETAINING, INTIMIDATING JOURNALISTS IN EFFORT TO CONTROL PUBLIC IMAGE ABROAD As China officially began the countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games, various groups report foreign journalists have been intimidated, harassed and even detained, while trying to do their work in China. There is an apparent campaign from the highest levels to limit the ability of Chinese citizens to speak out about corruption, state violence, ecological crisis and authoritarianism; the state is apparently not embarrassed by being seen as a closed totalitarian system. [Full Story] DARFUR REBEL GROUPS LOOKING FOR AGREEMENT TO COOPERATE WITH UN FORCES Arusha, Tanzania, played host last week to leaders from "more than 10 Darfur rebel groups", as the groups held talks to work out common ground and a structure for negotiating peace with the Sudan government, in light of the coming deployment of 26,000 UN-mandated peacekeepers for Darfur. The conflict which began as an effort to stamp out regional differences and secure control for Khartoum has become a crisis of global interest and one which the United Nations now seeks to put an end to. [Full Story] RUSSIAN MISSION TO CLAIM ARCTIC SEA-BED IN BID TO DRILL FOR OIL, GAS Russia has launched an exploration mission to the North Pole, in an effort to plant a flag at the sea bottom and claim the land (and by extension the resources that lie beneath the sea-bed). Some of the world's most extensive reserves of natural gas and possibly petroleum are believed to lie beneath Arctic Ocean sea-bed. [Full Story] LEBANON FACES DECISIVE VOTE IN BY-ELECTION, OPPOSITION SAID TO HAVE LEAD After last summer's brutal Hezbollah-Israel war, the people of Beirut, and Lebanon as a whole, are struggling to find a way forward. The nation has nearly split into pro-Hezbollah and pro-Western factions, and talk of civil war has repeatedly threatened to become reality. Now, in a by-election to replace assassinated Syria-critic Pierre Gemayel, the district of Metn will vote either for his Phalangist father, former president Amin Gemayel, or for Camille Khoury, hand-picked by Gen. Michel Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FMP). [Full Story] US CHRISTIANS BACK TWO-STATE SOLUTION IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT After years of Middle East policy dominated by the most vocal among evangelical Christian fundamentalists, those who believe Israel's domination of the Holy Land is a necessary step toward the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, moderate Christian voices are grouping together and seeking to be heard. They acknowledge that Palestinians have a right to a homeland as well, and that a sense of justice, and not dogma, should dictate policy. [Full Story] BIDEN-GELB PLAN FOR 'SOFT PARTITION' OF IRAQ WINS FAVOR The Iraq conflict has become exactly what it's proponents said it would never become, a bloody sectarian quagmire, threatening to rip the country apart along ethnic and confessional lines. Many warned that Iraq would be another Yugoslavia if its socialist dictatorship were toppled, splitting along ethnic and religious lines and descending into uncontrollable internecine violence. Could separating the three main communities, giving each a regional government, be the path to peace? [Full Story] UN SECURITY COUNCIL ORDERS 26,000 PEACEKEEPERS FOR DARFUR, LARGEST MISSION IN WORLD Darfur, beset by years of bloody internecine violence, with the Khartoum-backed janjaweed militia killing civilians in numbers the US government has officially declared to be genocide. For years, human rights groups have pleaded with the international community to intervene, with or without the support of the Khartoum government. Now, the UN Security Council has ordered the world's largest peacekeeping mission to secure Darfur. [Full Story] BEIJING SECURITY CAMERAS TREAT KISSES AS MUGGINGS A system of security cameras set up throughout the Chinese capital is overseen by computers that cannot distinguish between affectionate embraces and muggings. The government is seeking to ensure that violence is not a problem in the intensely crowded city, in order to step up commerce, tourism and public image, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games, to be hosted there. [Full Story] RUSSIA EXPELS 4 BRITISH DIPLOMATS IN LUGOVOI AFFAIR Russia has announced it is expelling 4 UK diplomats, in response to a move by the UK government to expel 4 Russian diplomats over the Kremlin's unwillingness to extradite Alexandr Lugovoi, tycoon and Putin supporter, for alleged involvement in the murder of Alexandr Litvinenko. [Full Story] MONSOONS HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN BANGLADESH, NEPAL, EASTERN INDIA Bangladesh is one of the world's most low-lying countries, with nearly half its area below sea level. At the end of the Himalayan watershed, it is prone to floods of sometimes incomprehensible proportions. This year's monsoons have taken at least 75 lives in one week, with 29 killed across eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday alone. [Full Story] MUSHARRAF, BHUTTO MEET IN SECRET EFFORT TO STABILIZE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT Serious trouble started for Pakistan's president General Pervez Musharraf when a band of radical students, who seek to institute an Islamist state in place of Pakistan's strained democratic system, took over the Red Mosque in central Islamabad. Musharraf took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, and has yet to restore the nation's democratic process. Musharraf has now met with Benazir Bhutto, exiled head of the main opposition party, in an effort to strengthen his government through a power-sharing deal with the nation's second largest political bloc. [Full Story] UK TREASURY TO CLOSE ARMS SALES OFFICE ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION The British Treasury department has announced plans to close the government's controversial office for arms sales, amid allegations of corruption in dealings with foreign governments and fears of proliferation. According to the Guardian, "The 450-strong defence export services organisation (Deso), based near Oxford Street in London, has long been the target of anti-corruption campaigners and opponents of the arms trade." [Full Story] NORTH KOREAN DENUCLEARIZATION COULD LEAD TO LASTING PEACE Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that US negotiations to achieve the de-nuclearization of North Korea may also lead to talks to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean war, which has been officially in a state of truce (at times fragile) since 1953. State Dept. negotiator Christopher Hill has said the 6-party regional talks could become comprehensive peace talks, with the aim of declaring an official end to the war by year's end. [Full Story] OUTER WALLS OF RED MOSQUE COMPLEX DEMOLISHED, MUSHARRAF GIVES ULTIMATUM TO MILITANTS INSIDE The standoff at the Red Mosque in the center of Islamabad, Pakistan, is nearing a potentially bloody crescendo. Pakistan's security forces have demolished nearly all the outer walls of the complex, and sporadic small-arms fire continues. At least 24 people have been killed since the hostage-taking and siege began 5 days ago. [Full Story] HRW CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO MILITARY, CIVILIAN ASSAULT THAT KILLED 2 PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON The New York based group Human Rights Watch has called on the Lebanese government to launch an independent inquiry into the violence that killed 2 and injured 28 Palestinian demonstrators in late June. Those killed are reported to have been civilians who were marching, unarmed, in a demonstration aimed at raising awareness of their situation and forcing a solution that might allow them to return to their homes in the Baddawi refugee camp. [Full Story] BBC REPORTER JOHNSTON, HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA, FREED UNHARMED Alan Johnston's ordeal became a global concern, when the BBC and his family organized a campaign to urge his immediate release. The release is a propaganda coup for the Hamas leadership, which after ousting Fatah from Gaza, has been stripped of its role in the Palestinian government. Former PM Ismail Haniyeh appeared with Johnston in a press conference at Haniyeh's Gaza residence and sought to project a new image of Hamas as keeper of law and order and responsible political leadership. [Full Story] AFRICAN LEADERS DISCUSS PLAN TO UNITE CONTINENT UNDER SINGLE FEDERAL SYSTEM Libyan president Muammar Qadhafi is not the first to propose uniting the continent under a single government, but his proposal is bold from any perspective. At the African Union summit in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Qadhafi has proposed that African heads of state should begin the process of integrating the diverse governments and systems under one central, democratic government. [Full Story] DEVELOPMENT BECOMES A NEW GLOBAL IDEOLOGY Ideologically-driven revolutions have sought to implant Utopian movements where authoritarian regimes once stood, but all too often, they have brought about new authoritarian regimes, which view dissenters as immoral or unthinking pawns of the old regime, and therefore, a universal threat. Now, Foreign Policy magazine has asked the question of whether "development", as an international policy agenda, is becoming the new universalizing ideology, with all the relevant risks. [Full Story] NEW STRAIN OF STEM RUST THREATENS WHEAT CROP ACROSS AFRICA, SOUTHERN ASIA A new strain of wheat-eating stem rust has emerged as a threat to the global food supply. Ug99, named for the place and date of its discovery, Uganda, 1999, takes advantage of weaknesses in wheat varieties which were specifically developed to be resistant to stem rust, and which have been so for nearly 4 decades. [Full Story] US, IRANIAN OFFICIALS MEET IN BAGHDAD TO DISCUSS SECURITY, STRATEGIC CONCERNS Diplomats from the US and Iran have met in direct talks for the first time in more than a quarter century. There was little anticipated to be gained from the meeting, except perhaps a premise for future security negotiations and a possible increase in mutual confidence in the goal of securing Iraq. The meeting was described by participants as "businesslike", Iran proposed a three-way forum to negotiate security solutions. [Full Story] SARKOZY WINS FRENCH PRESIDENCY WITH 53% OF VOTE When the French socialist party put forward Ségolène Royal as the candidate to be the nation's first woman president, there was a general consensus that the conservative party, for all its luminaries, would not have a figure palatable enough to replace Chirac and defeat Royal. Now, Nicolas Sarkozy, an inflammatory and charismatic figure, has won the presidency with a hard-line platform that takes on some of the nation's most prized political idiosyncracies. [Full Story] NEW IPCC REPORT PLOTS WAY TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE Two major reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year made front-page headlines across the world, warning of dire consequences of global climate change. Now, the new report, due to be released this week, plots a course to combat and reverse the climate phenomenon. [Full Story] MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS FROM MILITARY ARMS DEPOT IN MAPUTO A series of blasts in the center of Maputo, capital of Mozambique, left the population shaken. The explosions occurred in a massive military arms depot located near residential areas, in the Malhazine neighborhood. The government was immediately confronted with serious security concerns, but assured the public the explosions were the result of an accidental fire. [Full Story] DANUBE ADDED TO LIST OF MAJOR RIVERS IN DANGER OF DISAPPEARING How can a major river disappear? It is all too easy to thing this will never happen, that nature is in balance and will always find a way. But the reality is that nature replaced no-longer viable realities with others that can stand up to circumstance, and circumstance is stressing some major rivers beyond their capacity. The Danube is the latest to be added to a list of endangered rivers. [Full Story] BUSH COURTS LATIN AMERICA FOR ALLIES IN BIOFUEL PRODUCTION The war in Iraq is not winning US President George Bush any popularity points internationally these days, but a focus on the war against poverty and environmentally progressive energy production certainly might; or that is the bet the Bush administration is wagering as the president visits South America this week to discuss biofuel. [Full Story] ZIMBABWE OPPOSITION LEADER TSVANGIRAI KIDNAPPED, TORTURED, SKULL CRACKED This week, Zimbabwe's supreme court ordered the government to provide the detained opposition leader with legal counsel, access to family and aid groups, and immediate medical treatment. His wife described his condition as being unable to walk or see. The government denied him treatment for several days, and he is now in hospital with a cracked skull. [Full Story] SPAIN GOV'T REVEALS CONSERVATIVES FREED 295 ETA MEMBERS BEFORE SENTENCES WERE SERVED Spain's ruling socialist party (PSOE) has published information showing that the conservative Partido Popular (PP), currently in the opposition, freed 295 ETA convicts before their sentences were completed, during 8 years in power. The move comes as Popular leaders, attacking the PSOE government on a daily basis, has planned a massive demonstration for Saturday to accuse the government of caving to terrorism for freeing De Juana Chaos to avoid his hunger strike ending in death. [Full Story] FIRST JUDGES, NOW LAWYERS ON STRIKE AGAINST GOV'T AGGRESSION IN UGANDA On 1 March 2007, Ugandan security forces under the control of President Yoweni Museveni stormed the offices of the High Court, assaulted civilians, lawyers and judges, and re-arrested 6 suspects that had only just been granted bail. The action showed not only disrespect for the peaceful process of adjudication, but also for the legal independence of the judiciary in making its rulings. [Full Story] IMPRISONED ETA FIGURE DE JUANA CHAOS REPORTED NEAR DEATH Spain's Basque region, known there as Euskal Herria or Euskadi, faces new tensions as supporters of hunger-striking convict say government has failed to push for lasting peace, conservative victims' families group pressures government to cease all negotiation with ETA or its banned political wing Batasuna. Demonstrations turned violent in Bilbao as demonstrators demanded a solution to the crisis. [Full Story] HOWARD ATTACK SIGN OF RADICAL SHIFT AWAY FROM DEMOCRATIC VALUES Australia's prime minister John Howard, has launched a rhetorical attack against US presidential candidate and US senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Howard took the unusual step of attacking not only an individual candidate for a foreign head of state, but also suggested that if a Democrat wins, it would be a victory for terrorists. The comment is controversial enough because Obama is not the first US politician to propose a phased withdrawal of troops, but also because it appears to reveal allegiance to a specific party in a foreign state. [Full Story] BUSH ANNOUNCES PLANS TO SEND 21,500 MORE SOLDIERS TO IRAQ After much speculation and many leaks, US pres. George W. Bush has announced he will send more than 20,000 additional soldiers into Iraq warzone, will require Iraqi government to take action against sectarian movements fomenting violence across Iraq. Bush also said that "Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me". [Full Story] US GUNSHIPS STRIKE TWO LOCATIONS IN SOMALIA Even as Somalia is struggling to withstand a resurgence in the violence that has beset the country for over 15 years, as the transitional government attempts to establish itself in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu, after a ground invasion by neighboring Ethiopia, the United States has launched at least two airstrikes against positions in the area of Ras Kamboni, Badmadow Island, in the south of the country. [Full Story] DARFUR REFUGEE CRISIS WORSENS, STABILIZATION FORCE NEEDED The peace agreement signed between the main rebel faction in Darfur and the Khartoum government last May was tenuous at best from the outset, and seems in serious jeopardy of failing. The desperate situation in Darfur is now deteriorating, as violence against civilians not only continues but appears to be escalating, and foreign forces remain ineffectual. [Full Story] WAR TO UNDERMINE SOMALI FOOD, AID SUPPLIES After Ethiopia admitted to placing at least four thousand ground troops into Somalia, to aid the powerless 'transitional government' based in Baidoa, it became apparent that full-blown war had broken out between Somalia's neighbor and the militia of the Union of Islamic Courts, governing most of the country since early June. Now, aid groups say the fighting will disrupt efforts to get food and other aid to the millions of poor Somalis in need in the anarchic political and economic situation. [Full Story] ETHIOPIA INVADES SOMALIA, SEEKS TO OUST UNION OF ISLAMIC COURTS The Horn of Africa appears headed for open war, as Ethiopia has admitted, after a week of combat, that its forces are operating inside Somalia, in an effort to aid the powerless Baidoa government. Ethiopia has sided with the weak transitional government, itself exiled from the capital, while its neighbor Eritrea has provided assistance to the sectarian militia that has spent much of the year trying to pacify the country. [Full Story] FMR CHILEAN DICTATOR, AUGUSTO PINOCHET, DIES AT 91 General Augusto Pinochet, head of the Chilean armed forces, leader of the coup of 11 September 1973, that toppled the government and ended the life of socialist president Salvador Allende, has died. For 17 years, he ruled Chile with an iron fist, nationalized key industries and directed a campaign of kidnap, torture and murder against thousands of dissidents. [Full Story] HEZBOLLAH LEADS OPPOSITION COALITION IN BID TO OUST LEBANON GOVERNMENT Demonstrations in Beirut are threatening to topple the moderate government of PM Fouad Siniora. The militant group, Hezbollah, comprised of political, religious and militia factions, has called for the replacement of the sitting government and brought as many as 1 million supporters into the streets of downtown Beirut to show the strength of its political coalition. [Full Story] UK AUTHORITIES FIND SIGNIFICANT QUANTITY OF POLONIUM-210 IN CLOSE CONTACT OF MURDERED SPY, LITVINENKO Investigators in the UK have said they found a "significant quantity" of Polonium-210, the intensely radioactive isotope that killed former Russian spy Alexandr Litvinenko, in the body of a close associate of the victim. The discovery raises fears about wider contamination and the possibility that others may have been targetted. [Full Story] SCIENTISTS SAY LITVINENKO POLONIUM POISONING BEARS HALLMARKS OF SOPHISTICATED STATE OPERATION When former Soviet spy, Alexandr Litvinenko accused the Russian state, under Vladimir Putin, of organizing his murder, the diplomatic community was faced with a possibly explosive situation. Now scientists in the United Kingdom are saying the polonium-210 isotope found in Litvinenko's system suggests a level of sophistication that would require not only state sponsorship, but likely military cooperation. [Full Story] FMR RUSSIAN SPY LITVINENKO DIES IN LONDON, AFTER APPARENT RADIATION POISONING Alexandr Litvinenko, a former Russian spy, who defected after working witht the Soviet KGB, and who appears to have been poisoned, died yesterday in a London hospital. Litvinenko was reportedly investigating the contract killing of investigative journalist and fellow Kremlin critic, Anna Politkovskaya. [Full Story] RISK OF RETURN TO CIVIL WAR IN D.R. CONGO Reports suggest there is a new risk of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the opposition party leader announced he rejects the election results that returned the presidency to Joseph Kabila. The Roman Catholic archibishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Frédéric Etsou, also denounced the election result as a rigged vote designed to deliver Congo's mineral wealth to western powers, telling Radio France International "results that are coming out are not the results that are being published". [Full Story] D.R. CONGO VOTES IN FIRST FREE ELECTIONS IN 40 YEARS The Democratic Republic of Congo voted Sunday in its first free and decisive presidential elections in four decades. It is hoped that a peaceful transition with a recognized, elected government, will bring peace to the war-ravaged country. More than four million people have been killed in civil war, just since 1998, and decades of instability and violent conflict have taken many more lives. [Full Story] OAXACA SCENE OF FEDERALES CRACKDOWN, STRIKERS DISPERSED In hopes of bringing peace and normalcy to strike-ridden Oaxaca, outgoing pres. Vicente Fox ordered 4,600 Federal Preventive Police, airlifted in from the capital, to occupy the city's central square, or Zócalo. The move came after 5 months of smothering general strikes, with a broad coalition of demonstrators demanding the resignation of regional governor Ulises Ruiz and establishing barricades. [Full Story] GRAMEEN BANK, FOUNDER YUNUS WIN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and entrepreneur who founded the Grameen Bank to give micro-credit loans to poor small-business owners, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yunus shares the prize with the bank he founded, the award given for the bank's efforts to help eradicate endemic poverty among large populations through individual financing. [Full Story] INDIA TO PUSH FOR POLIO ERADICATION In late September, India announced it was planning an aggressive campaign to halt the spread of polio, a paralyzing disease nearly eradicated worldwide a decade ago. The plans came after official reports showed 5 times as many new cases in the first 9 months of 2006 as in all of 2005, with about 90% of the 297 new cases concentrated in Uttar Pradesh state alone. [Full Story] BOLIVIA INTENT ON REGAINING ACCESS TO THE PACIFIC After the 1879 War of the Pacific, Chile retained control of coastal territory that had previously been party of Bolivia, leaving the Andean nation landlocked. The nation famous as a symbol of Spanish imperial wealth, for the Potosí silver mines, the richest ever uncovered, would be geographically isolated and would become the poorest nation in South America. [Full Story] TANKS SEEN MOVING INTO BANGKOK, THAILAND, COUP FEARED Tanks are reported as "heading for central Bangkok", reports confirmed by journalists on the ground, as of 11:41am EDT. There is suspicion the military action is an attempted coup, either to restore democracy after elections earlier this year were annulled, or to overthrow the existing government, in an effort to establish a system the nature of which is not yet known. [Full Story] AT CUBA SUMMIT 50 WORLD LEADERS DISCUSS POLICIES AMONG 'NON-ALIGNED NATIONS' More than 50 heads of state have gathered in Havana, Cuba, for a summit meeting to organize a geopolitical policy that would resist unipolar US control of economic and strategic affairs. The summit is a prelude to the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, this week. The summit placed strengthening of diplomatic institutions and promotion of economic development in poor regions as priorities. [Full Story] DARFUR AGAIN VERGES ON MASS KILLING, MILLIONS IN PERIL The troubled western region of Sudan, Darfur, is again at the center of a kind of perfect storm of cynicism, ignorance and neglect. Even as the UN Security Council has voted to authorize a force of 20,000 "blue helmet" peacekeepers, incorporating the 7,000 African Union (AU) soldiers already in the region, Sudan's ruler Omar al-Bashir has ordered the AU out and massed 10,000 soldiers on the edge of Darfur. [Full Story] SENATE REPORT SAYS HUSSEIN NEVER HAD AL-QAEDA TIES As the 5th anniversary of the attacks of 11 September 2001 approach, the US Senate's Intelligence Committee has issued a report officially finding that Saddam Hussein never collaborated with al-Qaeda in any sense. In fact, he was hunting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who would later name his organization "Al-Qaeda of Mesopotamia" or as per Pentagon briefings "Al-Qaeda in Iraq". Hussein was suspicious of the Islamist radicalism of al-Qaeda and did not view them as friendly to his regime and its interests. [Full Story] TOP MEXICO ELECTORAL COURT TO DECIDE ELECTION TUESDAY Mexico's special court, established to resolve electoral protests in a constitutional process, has announced it will decide what the final official count is for the 2 July balloting, and whether or not the established count is valid. Felipe Calderón currently holds a 240,000 vote advantage in the official tally, and nothing points to the court annulling the election. [Full Story] DESPITE THOUSANDS OF CIVILIAN DEATHS, FEW MURDER CASES HAVE BEEN BROUGHT IN IRAQ WAR While prisoner abuse has been a widely reported charge, with shocking images and public outrage to keep attention on the subject, there has been relatively little similar public outrage expressed over situations where civilians have died in questionable circumstances. The Washington Post reports there has been a tendency not to investigate many such deaths, with top officials saying "in private" that there's "a tendency to consider Iraqi civilian deaths an unintended consequence of combat operations". [Full Story] UN-BROKERED LEBANON CEASEFIRE COMES INTO EFFECT A ceasefire as laid out in UN Security Council resolution 1701, passed unanimously on Friday, came into effect this morning. Though Hezbollah launched a record number of rockets yesterday into northern Israel, and Israeli warplanes continue to batter Beirut and other sections of southern Lebanon less than half and hour before the 8am deadline, one hour later there were reports that Israeli aircraft were "absent" from Lebanese skies and that Hezbollah had ceased firing rockets into Israel. [Full Story] CASTRO HANDS OVER POWER, TEMPORARILY, TO BROTHER After nearly 5 decades in power, Cuba's authoritarian leader Fidel Castro, has relinquished power to his brother and appointed succesor, Raúl Castro. The move is supposed to be temporary, as a means of providing for a transition should complications arise or recovery be lengthy, after his surgery to correct acute intestinal bleeding. [Full Story] JAPAN TO AID IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES MONITORING TEAM Philippine president Gloria Arroyo's government announced Sunday from Malacañang presidential palace in Manila that Japan will be joining the International Monitoring Team officially aiding in the moderation of peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been leading an insurrection on the large southern island of Mindanao. [Full Story] ISRAEL-LEBANON ESCALATION NOW MAJOR INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC CRISIS Diplomacy will play a vital role in any resolution to the Israel-Lebanon conflict, but will involve tough choices for any parties joining the negotiations. While having expressed visceral opposition to contact with Damascus, the White House is likely to have to cobble together an improbable coalition of rivals to achieve a functional ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border territories. [Full Story] ISRAEL EASES CONDITIONS FOR CEASE-FIRE United Press International is reporting Israel has eased the conditions it requires to suspend military operations and its blockade against Lebanon. PM Ehud Olmert, in a speech to Israel's parliament expressed his determination not to yield to any group that launches missiles into Israeli cities, but signalled that moving Hezbollah away from the Israeli border could bring about a cease-fire. [Full Story] RALLIES IN MEXICO CITY CALL FOR VOTE-BY-VOTE RECOUNT The uncertified result of Mexico's presidential election of 2 July is leading to wider calls for a national hand recount. The liberal leader of the Partido por el Bien de Todos has said the election was frought with ballot fraud and official acts of sabotage and intimidation and that the count is illegitimate and incomplete. [Full Story] ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT RAPIDLY ESCALATING Israel's bombardment of Lebanon is described today as "relentless", with new targets in northern Lebanon having been hit and civilian death tolls and injuries mounting. Leaders at the G8 summit have issued a joint communiqué blaming Hezbollah attacks on civilians for the violence, demanding an end to rocket attacks, but calling on Israel to cease all operations in Lebanon that could harm civilians. [Full Story] MIDEAST ESCALATION COULD FLARE INTO WAR Israel's attack on Lebanon has escalated, with bombing of Beirut's international airport, the main highway between Beirut and Damascus, at least one power station, several bridges, and a mounting sea blockade. Israel says it holds Lebanon responsible for Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers and is acting in self-defense. [Full Story] UN NAMES 10 MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORIES FOR 2006 Every year, the United Nations publishes a list of the 10 most serious stories most overlooked by global press, world governments and international bodies. The list often includes multiple crisis situations which could degenerate into full-scale war. Developing nations, whose situations are often misunderstood or dismissed by news media, as too complicated, intractable, or of marginal relevance, take the spotlight this year. [Full Story] UN SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE SEEKS GLOBAL REGULATIONS The United Nations conference on light weapons proliferation is facing a burgeoning black market trade which spreads new and used small arms around the globe, fueling civil wars and organized crime. Recent months have seen a number of reports urging governments to tackle the problem; in May, the rights group Amnesty International reported the illicit trade was "out of control", fueled by an "opaque chain" of private interests. [Full Story] CATALUNYA VOTES FOR NEW ESTATUT, GAINS MORE AUTONOMY FROM MADRID Catalunya —commonly written 'Catalonia' in English—, a region of northeastern Spain, along the Mediterranean and the French border, has approved a new regional charter by popular referendum. The 'Estatut' gives the culturally distinct and historically complicated region greater autonomy over taxes revenues, policy and infrastructure. [Full Story] WORLD GRAIN STOCKS FALL TO 57 DAYS OF CONSUMPTION This year’s world grain harvest is projected to fall short of consumption by 61 million tons, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand. As a result of these shortfalls, world carryover stocks at the end of this crop year are projected to drop to 57 days of consumption, the shortest buffer since the 56-day-low in 1972 that triggered a doubling of grain prices. [Full Story] JOURNALIST HOSPITALIZED AFTER FOUR MONTHS ON HUNGER STRIKE Independent Cuban journalist, Guillermo Fariñas Hernández, is now hospitalized in critical condition, after 4 months on hunger strike, which led to his needing emergency surgery. Fariñas has said he would follow through with the hunger strike until the last, facing possibly deadly consequences in hopes of spurring reform that would allow reporters to gather information and to report on and criticize government activities. [Full Story] MOST WANTED INSURGENT LEADER KILLED IN AIR-STRIKE Reports from Baghdad suggest Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US airstrike on 7 June 2006. The official announcement was made by Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and was later confirmed by US Gen. Casey. The White Housesaid the removal of Zarqawi could be a moment of hope for Iraq, but will not end the ongoing sectarian and insurgent violence. [Full Story] BACHELET DISMISSES POLICE COMMANDER FOR VIOLENT CRACKDOWN Michelle Bachelet's government has tried to bridge the divide between seizing a unique opportunity to increase spending due to the copper boom and demonstrating the fiscal responsibility she has promised will allow her government to build long-term reforms into Chilean social policy. But her $130 million spending plan does not include a major education-spending increase. High school students have been organizing to call for nationwide increases, saying only with better education is an egalitarian democracy truly possible. [Full Story] UGANDA TO DESTROY 57,000 WEAPONS The nation of Uganda is taking important steps toward reducing the risk of regional arms poliferation, by destroying a stockpile of old and out-of-use weapons and weapons seized from illegal sources. The move is part of Uganda's pledge to the 2004 Nairobi Protocol, which required signatory nations of Africa's Great Lakes region to reduce the threat of proliferation of light arms across borders, to the peril of civilian populations and political stability. [Full Story] BACHELET OUTLINES BROAD NEW SOCIAL SPENDING, BACKED BY STATE COPPER PROFITS Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first female president, has faced opportunity, temptation and regional economic upheaval, and she is showing signs of following the wisest course, while staying faithful to her pledges. In her first state of the nation address, the new president has said she will use windfall state profits from the inflated copper markets to fund social programs, but without relaxing her policy of strict fiscal discipline. [Full Story] AMNESTY REPORTS INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRADE 'OUT OF CONTROL' Amnesty International has published a new report examining the international arms trade, and its findings indicate there is little control on the expanding web of private interests seeking to profit from a proliferation of dangerous weapons. The report also illustrates the ways in which this scattering of dangerous weapons has lead to severe human rights abuses. [Full Story] NEPAL PARLIAMENT SWORN IN UNDER NEW PRIME MINISTER After King Gyanendra declared he would reinstate the lower house of parliament, which he disbanded, claiming a state of emergency in his war to put down Maoist insurgents, agreements were reached with the 7-party alliance of mainstream opposition parties which had staged the massive and growing demonstrations. That 7-party alliance reconvened parliament on Friday and today swore in its interim Prime Minister, who will oversee the vote and negotiations to draft a new constitution. [Full Story] CHAD CONFLICT RISK IN TURBULENT REGION In the region of the Chad-Sudan border, it is Sudan that has won most of the outside world's attention in recent years. This has been due to separate civil wars with rebels in the east, south and west of the country, the peace deal with the southern rebels and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Now Chad, which has taken in huge numbers of refugees fleeing the genocide in Darfur, has a severe crisis with its own stability. [Full Story] NEPAL OPPOSITION STAGES MASSIVE PRO-DEMOCRACY RALLY AGAINST ABSOLUTE MONARCH The opposition movement in Nepal has captured the attention of the world press, in part because of the extremes involved in the situation. Many poor people putting their lives at risk to demonstrate against an absolutist monarch. The highest places in the world, extreme weather, and high stakes, as pro-democracy activists seek to forge a way out of authoritarianism, while Maoist rebels seek a communist regime and the king seeks to hold onto power. [Full Story] CHERNOBYL DISASTER 20 YEARS ON, STILL NOT FULLY ADDRESSED The world's worst nuclear accident occurred 20 years ago this week in Chernobyl, Ukraine, under the Soviet regime of the USSR. Fallout from the explosion directly contaminated an area inhabited by 5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Now, a new study based on research from the Russian Academy of Sciences finds 200,000 people or more will eventually die from maladies directly caused by the Chernobyl disaster. [Full Story] PLANS MAY ALREADY BE UNDERWAY FOR IRAN STRIKE The New Yorker magazine has published a story by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh which cites sources with links to the Pentagon and to US intelligence as saying the Bush administration may already have plans to target Iran's nuclear research facilities with "tactical nuclear weapons", i.e. 'low-yield' bombs with radioactive fuel but massive destructive capability. [Full Story] US CLASHES WITH RULING SHI'A IN TROUBLED IRAQ Reports from Baghdad suggest the bodies of some 69 Iraqis were found yesterday, at several sites where sectarian clashes occurred. In one incident, it appears at least 30 people were massacred. Aides to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr cited as saying 18 killed in US-led raid; Iraqi police allege 22 civilians killed in raid on mosque. [Full Story] 'PERMANENT CEASEFIRE' DECLARED BY ETA BEGINS TODAY Spain's 4-decade long conflict with terrorist group ETA, fighting for separation of the Basque country from Spain, today appears at an end. Two days ago, the organization surprised many by declaring a "permanent ceasefire", without receiving any guarantees about its goals or about the future of its membership. [Full Story] LUKASHENKO GOV'T ORDERS MASSIVE ARRESTS OF DEMONSTRATORS The authoritarian regime of Belarus pres. Aleksandr Lukashenko has used mass-arrest as a tool to silence opposition to its dubious recent election win. Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich has gone to the prison where his supporters are being held, demanding international opposition to rule of embattled Lukashenko. [Full Story] WORLD WATER DAY HIGHLIGHTS EFFECTS OF POVERTY, CLEAN WATER SCARCITY ON 1 BILLION WORLDWIDE Parts of east Africa have not seen rain for six years and six nations there are facing extreme famine. Through events organized by UNESCO, the UN and NGOs are hosting World Water Day today, to raise awareness of the problem of scarcity of safe drinking water affecting an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. [Full Story] BELARUS POLL "SEVERELY FLAWED", GOV'T TO FACE SANCTIONS In the weeks before the election, held yesterday, Belarus pres. Lukashenko imprisoned an estimated one-third of the top campaign staff of his lead rivals. The state openly called any opposition to his reelection a threat to the nation and warned of "bloodshed" if there were protests. The EU says the vote took place in a "climate of intimidation" and opposition leaders say the state-orchestrated results were an illegal "seizure of power". [Full Story] CHINA'S WORST-KEPT SECRET Beijing is nervous about a movement stirring in the remote countryside. The severe hierarchy and stratified economic system dominating the ancient nation are provoking violent demonstrations and calls for economic reforms by poor in rural areas. [Full Story] BELARUS PRES. THREATENS TO "WRING THE NECKS" OF OPPONENTS Belarus president Lukashenko has spent years stamping out opposition through a combination of abuses through the state police (still KGB), jailing of dissidents, press censorship, expropriation and propaganda. Opposition to democratic means is almost total under his rule, and the state mobile phone provider has warned of bloodshed. [Full Story] BACHELET TAKES OFFICE, CHILE'S FIRST WOMAN HEAD OF STATE Michelle Bachelet, winner of Chile's recent presidential election, has been sworn in and has taken power as the nation's first woman president. She inherits the economic legacy of fellow socialist, outgoing pres. Ricardo Lagos, who leaves surpluses in government revenue, a rapidly expanding economy and a well-functioning balance between free market policies and expansive social programs. [Full Story] RARE QUAKE HITS MOZAMBIQUE, ZIMBABWE, SOUTH AFRICA The quake shook buildings in the south of Mozambique, in the capital, Maputo, reportedly causing many to flee into the streets. The tremors were also felt in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Save river quake was Mozambique's worst in more than 100 years. [Full Story] PHILIPPINES UNDER MARTIAL LAW AGAINST ALLEGED COUP Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of the Philippines, has declared a state of emergency after police clashed with demonstrators at rally in Manila where thousands of Filipino citizens and a former president called for her to step down. Arroyo declared the efforts part of an attempted military coup d'état and a "threat to the nation". [Full Story] CHINA FREES JOURNALIST IMPRISONED SINCE TIANENMAN PROTESTS Journalist Yu Dongyue has been imprisoned by Chinese authorities since the Tianenman Square pro-democracy protests of 1989. He was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly throwing eggs filled with red paint at a portrait of Mao Zedong displayed at the entrance to the Forbidden City. After two reductions in his sentence, he is now being released to his family. [Full Story] OBSERVERS WARN UGANDA ELECTION PROCESS NOT FAIR Uganda is a complex political fabric in a volatile regional patchwork. The nation has been ruled for 20 years by one man at the head of one party (NRM), and now President Yoweri Museveni will face his first multi-party election contest. Recent weeks have seen arrests, allegations of intimidation and use of single-party government structures to impede opposition campaigns. [Full Story] 3 BANKERS LOSE EXTRADITION APPEAL IN ENRON CASE Three former executives for Greenwich NatWest, a subsidiary of NatWest Bank, have lost their appeal for refusal of extradition to the US on charges of fraud in connection to the Enron corruption case. The executives may now face up to two years in a federal prison awaiting trial, classified as "fugitives from justice" solely for fighting extradition. [Full Story] PRÉVAL DECLARED WINNER IN HAITIAN ELECTION 4 MILLION KILLED IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SINCE 1998 Ongoing armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken an estimated 4 million lives since 1998. Estimates range from attributing 2 to 4 million deaths to the 5 year war, to placing 3 million during the war and 1 to 2 million more in fractious post-conflict unrest and deprivation. The Lancet now reports 36,000 people per month are still dying from a combination of armed conflict, criminal violence, disease and malnutrition. [Full Story] EUROPE INVESTIGATION SAYS EU GOV'TS LIKELY KNEW OF RENDITION NETWORK Prelminary findings from the Council of Europe's investigation into human rights abuses and a secret CIA network of extralegal detention facilities report high probability that European governments knew what US forces were doing on their soil and in neighboring countries. [Full Story] A BUBBLE TOO FAR In the summer of 2005, the Economist magazine led with a story entitled "After the Fall". The article discussed in detail the problems inherent in what appears to be the most expansive boom real estate has seen since records began, and of all markets studied, only Germany, Japan and Hong Kong were not contributing to the inflation. [Full Story] NORWAY TO BUILD ARCTIC SEED BANK The Norwegian government has announced plans to create a global seed bank, to be located in the nation's arctic subsoil, to preserve all world crop varieties against extinction, should any number of natural disasters strike. The seed bank will be located inside a frozen mountain on the island of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. [Full Story] CHILE ELECTS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT Michelle Bachelet has a long and turbulent political biography. She and her mother were kidnapped and tortured by the Pinochet government, after her father was murdered for his political affiliation with the Allende government. They were forced into exile by the military regime and Bachelet has worked to restore democratic principles to Chilean government. Like Ricardo Lagos before her, she is a moderate socialist, intent upon leading Chile's governing center-left coalition, while continuing free-market policies, evening the wealth divide. [Full Story] ARCTIC ICE MELT WILL SOON OPEN NORTH-POLE SHIPPING As ice melts across the arctic north, and the Arctic Ocean opens up in summer months, the mythic Northwest Passage is expected to open to regular shipping, and Russia's Northern Sea Route is expected to rival it in global trade traffic, within a generation. It is also expected the Arctic Ocean will be completely without ice in warm months by the end of the 21st century. [Full Story] POVERTY DISGUISED BY DISTANCE The Economist magazine has published an article, in the 20 December edition, dealing with the subject of poverty relative to environment. It examines the economic situations of two men, one an impoverished elderly man in remote Appalachia, the other an accomplished surgeon in Kinshasa, DR Congo. The two men earn roughly the same income per month, but live broadly different lives, juxtaposed in possibly surprising ways. [Full Story] PERMAFROST MELT IMPERILS INFRASTRUCTURE, HOMES A new study by American researchers, published today in Geophysical Research Letters, suggests the top layers of arctic permafrost could be melted by the end of this century. Researchers believe the melt would release large amounts of contained carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to an accelerating cycle of warming and interrupting deep ocean currents that help regulate the planet's climate. [Full Story] DEPENDENT SPECIES ALSO FACE EXTINCTION PERIL New calls from conservation groups to take swift and sweeping action to protect species endangered by global climate change are gaining attention. This week, three such groups filed suit against the US government to gain listing for the polar bear as a species endangered by climate change. A planetary "extinction crisis" is spreading and accelerating... [Full Story] CATALÁN SUPREME COURT RULES GOVERN MUST PROVIDE BILINGUAL INSTRUCTION For the 3rd time over the span of roughly 1 year, the Supreme Court of Catalunya has ruled that the Generalitat must provide bilingual instruction —the option to study in Castilian instead of Catalán— at least until the age of 8 in primary schools. [Full Story] POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN DIVERSE SPAIN Spain's opposition PP has accused the regional government of Catalunya of "investigating, inspecting and sanctioning" businesses that put signs exclusively in Castilian (the language commonly known as "Spanish", though it originates in the central Spanish region of Castile, and other regions use other languages), according to La Vanguardia newspaper. [Full Story] CHINA ACCUSED OF WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AGAINST CITIZENS The human rights investigative and lobbying organization, Human Rights Watch, has issued a new report on China, which alleges widespread violence against citizens who seek justice. The report also claims officials deliberately block petitions to higher levels of the government. [Full Story] OIL DEPOT FIRE LEADS TO SPREADING SMOKE & SOOT CLOUD OVER LONDON Today the city of London was obscured by a cloud of black smoke emanating from a massive petroleum fire at the Buncefield fuel depot, in Hertfordshire, near Luton airport, north of London. The fire resulted from at least one severe explosion at the fuel storage facility. The blast occurred just after 6:00 GMT and was reportedly heard up to 100 miles away, including in northern France and the Netherlands. [Full Story] HANDICAPPING FOR NUCLEAR POWER Petroleum is a finite resource, a "fossil" fuel that cannot be replaced when existing volume has been exhausted. The UK is finding it hard to cope with Kyoto-agreed obligations. Current infrastructure cannot extract enough power from wind or tide... So, the nuclear power lobby came up with a great solution: build more nuclear power plants despite the enormous costs of maintenance, cleanup and storage. [Full Story] CARTERET ATOLLS OFFICIALLY TO EVACUATE PLANET'S FIRST CLIMATE CHANGE REFUGEES On 26 November, the Guardian newspaper first reported that inhabitants of the Carteret atolls, six islands which form part of Papua New Guinea, in the southwest Pacific, have been subject to the first officially mandated permanent climate change evacuations. Rising sea levels have placed the circular grouping of six islands in serious danger of permanent inundation, and have left the soil useless for harvesting traditional foods. [Full Story] SPANISH JUDGE ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR 3 US TROOPS Spanish Judge Santiago Pedraz has issued an international arrest warrant for 3 US soldiers who were operating a tank when it fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, in April 2003. The hotel was known to be the lodging headquarters for international journalists in Baghdad, and was not considered a military target. [Full Story] UK NATIONAL ID CARD SCHEME: FARCE OR BIG BROTHER? The British government's plan to implement a national biometric identification system by 2007 is seen by some as a farcical if dubious exercise in futility. For others, it heralds the final phase in technocracy's closing its grip on the open society. The plan as currently envisioned will use 13 biometric features to match human beings to their ID cards, thus, in theory, proving their identity. [Full Story] UZBEK GOVERMENT USING BRUTAL TACTICS TO GLOSS OVER ANDIZHAN MASSACRE Human Rights Watch has documented a massive and intensive campaign of intimidation across Uzbekistan, designed to gloss over the government's massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Andizhan, in May of this year... Prosecutors now seek to paint the entire affair with the broad brush of a war against Islamist extremism. HRW reports that government forces have been harassing witnesses and using violence against (perhaps random) citizens, in order to extract "confessions" of having participated in the Andizhan demonstrations, to their having been a "violent uprising", and to their being backed by international "terrorists". [Full Story]
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