12/20	Know Justice, Know Peace -- The horrific terrorist attacks of September 11 forced the United States to confront a number of difficult questions: Should we respond to the assaults with our own attack, or should we refuse to fight violence with violence? How should the nation balance its traditions of freedom with its need for security? And how can we maintain our commitment to diversity and not let prejudice tear the country apart? (Global Exchange)
12/18	Adams urges end to Cuba sanctions -- Northern Irish nationalist leader Gerry Adams has urged Washington to end the four-decade U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. (CNN)
12/18	Cuba Leads Latin America in primary education, study finds -- Cuba, a Marxist nation with profound economic difficulties, leads Latin America in primary education, a regional task force has found. In test scores, completion rates and literacy levels, Cuban primary students are at or near the top of a list of peers from across Latin America, the task force reported. (New York Times)
12/17	Cuba receives U.S. shipment, first purchase since embargo -- The first shipment of American goods to be purchased by the Cuban government since the trade embargo was imposed nearly 40 years ago arrived in Havana harbor today. The shipment -- including more than 55 million pounds of corn -- is the first of several expected in the coming months. (New York Times)
12/17	Cuba travel-ban cases mired in system -- Nine years after the United States Congress granted the right to civil hearings for anyone accused of violating the Cuba travel ban, no judges have been hired and no hearings have been held. (Associated Press)
12/17	Human rights chief opposes military role in law enforcement -- The increasing presence of the military in areas of law enforcement will not solve the country's safety problems, a top human rights official said. National Human Rights Commission President Jose Luis Soberanes said the military should only take over the role of the police in exceptional cases, such as in the fight against narco-trafficking. (The News Mexico)
12/17	Rights commission deplores Colombia's record -- The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) ended its visit to Colombia Thursday with a condemnation of the extent to which the internal armed conflict has intensified, lamenting the consequent deterioration of respect for the civilian population's fundamental rights. (Inter Press Service)
12/14	Six dead, numerous injured in night of Israeli Violence: Quaker school attacked in Ramallah -- The latest Israeli attacks against the Palestinians began last night at around 7 pm when helicopters fired five missiles in central Ramallah. One of the missiles exploded in the Quakers "Friends Boys Schools," causing destruction and damage to eight classrooms, negating claims that Israeli military operates with "surgical precision," unless of course the school was a target. (Palestine Monitor)
12/14	Deadly Fumigation Returns to Putumayo: Violations of Colombian Law and U.S. Conditions -- For years, Colombia has been working to curb drug production in its territory. The growing narcotics industry is a problem that has had disastrous effects in both Colombia and the United States. In the past two decades, coca and poppy production-the raw materials for cocaine and heroin, respectively-has become a major concern for lawmakers and citizens of both countries. According to studies carried out by the United Nations Drug Control Program, today it is believed that Colombia has 400,000 acres dedicated to coca production. (Witness for Peace)
12/13	Castro warns on Americas trade plan -- After signing a summit declaration that supports a U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas, Cuban President Fidel Castro warned that the proposed treaty could lead to U.S. domination of Latin America. (Associated Press
12/12	53rd Anniversary of G.A. Resolution 194 (1948) -- 11 December 2001 marks the 53rd anniversary of the passing of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), the landmark resolution that reaffirmed the fundamental, inalienable rights of the Palestinian refugees -- to return, restitution and compensation. (BADIL)
12/12	Ochoa investigation slowed, criticized -- The investigation into the murder of human rights activist Digna Ochoa is being slowed down by the Defense Secretariat's (Sedena) delay in handing over information related to the case, the local press reported. (The News Mexico)
12/11	The Chocolate Industry: Slavery Lurking Behind the Sweetness -- When most people bite into a candy bar, it is unlikely that they take even a moment to consider where the chocolate they enjoy comes from. If they knew, it probably wouldn't taste as sweet. (Global Exchange)
12/11	3,500 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan by U.S. Bombs -- More than 3,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan by U.S. bombs, according to a study to be released December 10 by Marc W. Herold, Professor of Economics, International Relations, and Women's Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Professor Herold will announce his findings on Monday, December 10. (Presss Release)
12/10	Mexican govt's compensation offer rejected by families of victims -- Family members of victims of Mexico's so-called "dirty war" plan to reject compensation offered by the government because "a price cannot be put on life," Eureka Committee head Rosario Ibarra de Piedra, who lost a child in the war, said. (EFE)
12/10	Urgent Action: Prevent Military Action in Iraq -- Urge your member of Congress to support Rep. Ron Paul -- Global Exchange is deeply concerned about calls for expansion -- without Congressional assent -- of the limited congressional mandate granted to President Bush to pursue military action against the authors of the Sept.11 attacks to include Iraq. In response to these calls within Congress, on Tuesday December 11, the House International Relations Committee will be reviewing a joint resolution to authorize attacks on Iraq, submitted by Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-NC). Contact your member of Congress to sign on to Rep. Ron Paul's letter to prevent military action in Iraq. (Global Exchange)
12/10	Families pay the price of assault on Tora Bora -- Lying in a filthy bed with a bloody rag on his head, eight-year-old Zahid Ullah has a dirty syringe in his arm. His hands are curled like claws and his arms are wrapped in more bandages, all soaked in blood. Sometimes he turns over and moans in pain and sometimes, his nurses say, he calls out for his mother. (The Times UK)
12/10	Gap's same-store sales fell 25% in November -- "Unbelievably poor" is how New York analyst Richard Jaffe of UBS Warburg described Gap's 25 percent drop in same-store sales in November. (San Francisco Chronicle)
12/10	Rep. Miller Urges Companies, Consumers to Switch to Fair Trade Certified Coffee -- Congressman George Miller (D-CA) today urged coffee lovers around the country to begin Saturday, December 8, and every coffee day after that, with a cup of Fair Trade Certified coffee. American consumers are being encouraged to celebrate Fair Trade Coffee Day of Action and buy the blend of coffee that makes a tremendous difference to many of the world's coffee farmers and the environment.
12/9	House narrowly passes trade bill giving fast-track authority to Bush -- "I don't like fast track and I don't like free trade," said Duncan Hunter, a California Republican. "But I like less the idea of weakening my president [during wartime]. So, for that reason, and that reason only, I'm voting, just this once, in favor of fast track." (Wall Street Journal)
12/9	Suffer Palestine's Children -- Early in the morning of November 22, five Palestinian children were blown to pieces by an Israeli mine or bomb as they headed to school in Khan Yunis. The children were 6 to 14 years-of-age. (Dissident Voice)
12/9	Ex-FBI officials criticize tactics on terrorism -- The aggressive FBI dragnet -- championed by Attorney General John D. Ashcroft -- has provoked much commentary and criticism for its impact on civil liberties. Now, in a series of on-the-record interviews, eight former high-ranking FBI officials have offered the first substantive critique of the Ashcroft program, questioning whether the new approach will have the desired effect. (Washington Post)
12/7	Hamas says will attack PA officials if leader detained -- Members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas threatened to attack senior Palestinian Authority officials if the movement's leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, is kept under house arrest, Israel Radio reported. (Haaretz Daily)
12/6	Fast track passage won't defeat the "Seattle coalition" -- Now that fast track has been approved, pro-free trade analysts would no doubt like to begin ringing the death knell of the opposition forces. To the contrary, there are several reasons why this vote is only a small setback in the fight against corporate globalization. (Institute for Policy Studies)
12/6	House passes trade legislation -- In a victory for a wartime White House, the House narrowly approved legislation Thursday giving President Bush stronger authority to negotiate global trade deals. The vote was 215-214. (Associated Press)
12/6	Four women take emotional journey to record effects of war S.F. group finds pain, fear in refugee camps -- In her San Francisco office, Deborah James slipped on a blue burqa that she got while visiting refugee camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Along with the burqa, she brought back snapshots, video footage, spent bullet casings and metal ammunition pellets from the bombing of an Al Qaeda camp. They are all reminders of the bigger journey she and other activists are on: to see a new peace and prosperity in the region. (San Francisco Chronicle)
12/6	Mexico in danger of losing forests -- Mexico could lose its tropical jungles within decades if the government doesn't seriously hike the amount of money it allocates to deal with deforestation, according to the environment secretary (Associated Press)
12/5	Reconstructing Afghanistan: Statement by Global Exchange Women's Delegation to the Region -- The purpose of the trip was to investigate the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and among the refugee population, to assess the consequences of US bombing, and to talk to women's groups about what role they would like to play in a transition government. (Global Exchange)
12/5	Statute of limitations could stop investigation before it starts -- After the release of a report last week detailing hundreds of forced disappearances during the 1970s, President Vicente Fox and Interior Secretary Santiago Creel announced the creation of a special prosecutor, vowing to bring those responsible to justice. (The News Mexico)
12/5	Hemispheric court orders protection for human rights workers -- The Inter American Court of Human Rights has ordered theMexican government to provide protection to members of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center. (The News Mexico)
12/5	ADC joins ACLU and others in lawsuit -- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) joined 18 other civil and human rights organizations in a lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting disclosure of information about the thousands of individuals arrested and detained since the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11th. (ADC Press Release)
12/5	Sharon's war cannot be won -- Once again the world has had to confront the horror of innocent men, women and children killed by suicide bombers in the heart of Jerusalem and in Haifa. No decent person can refrain from condemning such attacks in the strongest terms. Such deeds harm not only their innocent victims, which in this case probably included Palestinian citizens of Israel, but also the just cause of Palestine. (New York Times)
12/4	High-tech launches trade push as vote nears -- High-tech lobbyists, stung by criticism that they have failed to deliver Democratic votes for presidential trade negotiating authority, said Monday they have been closely engaged on the issue and are in the midst of a full-scale push for the legislation. The House plans to vote Thursday on so-called trade promotion authority, even though GOP leaders acknowledge they still lack the votes to pass it. (CongressDaily)
12/4	Despite lack of trade support, Chamber tells House, 'vote it' -- U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said Monday House GOP leaders should hold a vote on renewing presidential trade negotiating authority Thursday even if they expect the measure to fail. "I'm willing to take the risk," Donohue told reporters. He said that if House GOP leaders called Thursday morning to report the votes would not be there, his advice would be, "Vote it." (CongressDaily)
12/4	US gives Israel green light to 'defend itself' against terrorists -- The White House said that Israel had the right to defend itself against Palestinian suicide bombings, and placed the onus of resolving the latest crisis squarely on Yasser Arafat. (The Independent)
12/4	UN General Assembly voted for six resolutions criticising Israel -- The resolutions, none of them binding, were adopted despite a plea by Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Yehuda Lancry, for the assembly not to "endow Palestinian terrorism with an international legitimacy". (AFP)
12/4	Israel attacks Palestinian civilian population -- The Israeli army has just attacked the West Bank town of Ramallah, with helicopter missiles hitting Palestinian police offices within the Ministry of Interior building. Two Palestinians were wounded in the attack. (The Palestine Monitor)
12/3	GOP Makes Pitch for High-Tech Donors -- At a recent closed-door meeting of House GOP leaders, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.) made an unusual proposal: that they press ahead with a vote on trade negotiating authority this year even if they lack the votes to pass it. (Washington Post)
12/3	Trade Advocates Mount Campaign For Votes -- Supporters of presidential trade negotiating authority are preparing an intensive three-pronged campaign this week -- involving communications, whipping and coalitions -- to build support for the controversial trade bill heading to the floor next week. (CongressDaily)
12/3	Lil' rally around big profits -- After marching on downtown Seattle sidewalks where pepper spray tainted the air and thousands cried out against the World Trade Organization in 1999, about three dozen demonstrators rallied at Westlake Park yesterday in defense of capitalism. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
12/3	This Dangerous Patriot's Game -- Few in the United States question the necessity for unusual civil measures in keeping with the current state of emergency. But a number of the Bush Administration's new laws, orders and policies are deservedly controversial. (Observer)
12/3	Government fights war on terrorism and drugs as one in the same -- As the United States wages a war on two fronts, against both terrorism and drugs, Ethan Nadelmann poses a fair question of priorities. "Which white powder do we want the government looking for," asks Nadelmann, executive director of the Lindesmith Center, a non-profit drug policy organization. "Do we want them focused on anthrax or do we want them focused on cocaine?" (St. Petersburg Times)
12/3	Kukdong workers to visit U.S. colleges, celebrate labor rights breakthrough -- From Nov. 28 - Dec. 6, Workers from Kukdong will visit a dozen U.S. colleges and universities to share their experiences and celebrate this extraordinary labor rights success with the students, administrators and faculty who helped make it happen.
11/30	Wake Up, America -- It is the broadest move in American history to sweep aside constitutional protections. Yet President Bush's order creating military tribunals to try those suspected of links to terrorism has aroused little public uproar. Why? Because, I am convinced, people do not understand the order's dangerous breadth -- and its defenders have done their best to conceal its true character. (New York Times)
11/30	Mexico probes 275 'disappearances' -- More than two decades after Mexico's so-called "dirty war," the government's human rights agency reported Tuesday that 275 leftists vanished while in government hands. (Associated Press)
11/30	Acteal: Improper Justice -- The release of six paramilitaries involved in the Acteal massacre is a confirmation of the failure of the Department of Justice of the Republic in the legal processes to demonstrate the responsibility of those involved. Source: Miguel Angel de los Santos (Miguel Angel de los Santos)
11/30	Political parties call for Congress to live up to Indian Rights Law -- Senators from two of the three major congressional parties have asked the lower house of deputies to direct more resources to indigenous communities and that modifications be made to the federal penal code to continue with constitutional changes required by the recently passed Indian Rights and Culture Law. (TheNewsMexico.com)
11/30	Release of Acteal murderers generate protest in Chiapas -- Almost four years after the Acteal massacre, members of the Las Abejas organization are protesting this week's release of six prisoners they consider to be responsible for the murder of 45 men, women and children. (TheNewsMexico.com)
11/30	Availability of cheap labor in the South does not compensate for the absence of proximity with the USA -- The maquiladoras still find the The Puebla-Panamá Plan and the "Marcha al Sur" Program unattractive, even after President Fox's invitation to contribute to the creation of a "great corridor" for the industrial, commercial and services sectors. (La Jornada)
11/30	Another war on terror. Another proxy army. Another mysterious massacre. And now, after 19 years, perhaps the truth at last... -- The eyes of the world are on Afghanistan, but today a Belgian appeals court is due to consider a case with disturbing contemporary parallels. Robert Fisk reveals shocking new evidence that the full, horrific story of the Sabra and Chatila massacres of 1982 has not yet been told. (The Independent)
11/27	Big vote in U.N. against U.S. embargo against Cuba -- The U.N. General Assembly, for the 10th consecutive year, voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for an end to the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, with Havana saying not even most Americans approved of the 4-decade-old sanctions. The vote was 167-3, identical to last year's record vote. Those opposing the resolution, in addition to the United States, were Israel and the Marshall Islands, the same countries who supported Washington in 2000. (Reuters)
11/27	In War, It's Power to the President -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan have dramatically accelerated a push by the Bush administration to strengthen presidential powers, giving President Bush a dominance over American government exceeding that of other post-Watergate presidents and rivaling even Franklin D. Roosevelt's command. (Washington Post)
11/27	The facts support the protesters -- 'There are dangerous, violent hooligans here," read the graffiti scrawled in chalk on a downtown building. "The cops." Not an original accusation, perhaps, but not wildly inaccurate. During a weekend of small and ongoing provocations, the most disturbing and violent incident I witnessed was initiated by the Ontario Provincial Police. (The Ottawa Citizen)
11/27	For South Africa's poor, a new power struggle -- In South Africa, the most despised acronym is arguably not HIV, the AIDS virus that infects nearly a quarter of the adult population, but GEAR, the ANC's economic package -- Growth, Employment and Redistribution -- which opens the door to global trade. (Washington Post)
11/26	Israelis being offered free housing in West Bank settlements -- Israelis are being offered free housing in an isolated part of the West Bank where settlers have been leaving because of danger from the Palestinian uprising and an economic slump, a municipal official said Wednesday. (Associated Press)
11/26	Fox says jailed general has "right to trial in civilian courts" -- Activists have said they will go to an international tribunal to press for the release of a military general who was jailed in 1993 after suggesting the army pay greater attention to human rights. (AP)
11/26	Israel "regrets" death of five children, announces probe -- Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin bin Eliezer voiced "regret" for the deaths of five Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip and announced an inquiry, after reports said an army booby-trap was to blame. (AFP)
11/26	U.S. farmers elated over Cuba trade -- U.S. grain vendors on Thursday celebrated a decision by Cuba this week to buy up to $10 million in food and medicine supplies from the United States to deal with Hurricane Michelle's devastation. "We're very excited about it," said Audrae Erickson of the American Farm Bureau. "We believe it's the beginning of rebuilding our trade relationship with Cuba." (Miami Herald)
11/24	Free Speech R.I.P.! -- Several hundred people have been detained secretly by the government since Sept. 11. A coalition of civil liberties, human rights and Arab-American groups charge that a growing number of reports "raise serious questions about deprivations of fundamental due process, including imprisonment without probable cause, interference with the right to counsel and threats of serious bodily injury." (New Haven Valley Advocate)
11/21	No More Innocent Victims: Stop The Bombing in Afghanistan! -- International Days of Action, Dec 7-10, 2001. Unless massive food shipments resume, hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghans will die this winter. The death toll could reach beyond one million people -- a disaster of holocaust proportions. This must not happen. At this crucial time, it is important that we do whatever we can to support the people of Afghanistan. (Global Exchange)
11/21	Israeli forces increasing use of torture -- Amnesty International said Tuesday that Israeli security forces are increasingly using torture against Palestinian suspects despite a 1999 High Court ruling, which sought to stop the practice. Members of the Israeli security forces are benefiting from impunity for torture or ill-treatment of Palestinians (AFP)
11/20	Capitol Hill tunes in to Tancredo -- Amnesty has been shelved. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is up for a thorough overhaul. The idea of putting troops on the border no longer seems strange to many. (Denver Post)
11/20	Afghan women gather for faltering first march -- Shedding their head-to-toe burqas, hundreds of women gathered in the Afghan capital on Tuesday to demand their rights after five years of stifling Taliban rule. (New York Times)
11/20	Sharon 'summoned' by Belgian court -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is being summoned to a Belgian court to answer questions over his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres, say Belgian media reports. (BBC)
11/20	Militia kidnaps 6 Colombian mayors -- A right-wing militia announced Monday it was holding six mayors hostage to protest their attempts to reach grassroots peace agreements with leftist guerrillas in Colombia. Police confirmed that several mayors from war-riven northwest Antioquia state have been reported missing since Sunday. (Associated Press)
11/19	Human Rights fact finding delegation will investigate refugee conditions and food aid in Pakistan and Afghanistan -- From November 18 to November 30, a five-person fact finding team sponsored by the international human rights organization Global Exchange will examine refugee conditions in Pakistan and investigate how food aid is being distributed in Afghanistan. The delegation will focus on the plight of women as it seeks female Afghans' views on what they think a post-Taliban government should look like. (Global Exchange)
11/19	Some crash relatives fear deportation -- Fearing deportation, some relatives of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587 are afraid to claim the bodies of their loved ones or leave the country to bury them, family members and community leaders said Wednesday. They called on the federal government to grant an amnesty so that those in the United States illegally can regain entry into the country if they return to the Dominican Republic to bury their dead. (Associated Press)
11/19	Feds questioning 5,000 male foreigners -- Investigators are knocking on the doors of Middle Eastern visitors in the United States and looking through the files of foreign students as part of a widening terrorism inquiry, sparking complaints about racial profiling. (Associated Press)
11/19	Must government share evidence with detainees? -- "At issue here is whether our government can lock up human beings without affording them a meaningful chance to defend themselves," says David Cole of the Georgetown University Law Center. Civil libertarians fear that, should the court rule in favor of the government, the threshold for evidence used to keep illegal aliens behind bars could be lowered. (Miami Daily Business Review)
11/19	Bush pushes for more trade authority -- President Bush, buoyed with a big trade victory where President Clinton suffered a major failure, hopes to score an even bigger legislative triumph in an upcoming showdown vote in the House. Republican leaders have set Dec. 6 for a House vote on Fast Track legislation. (Associated Press)
11/19	WTO member nations agree to launch development round at tough talks in Doha -- Member countries of the World Trade Organization Nov. 14 agreed after six days of often difficult talks here to begin negotiations aimed at setting new rules governing trade in areas ranging from agriculture to services, and from intellectual property protection to import tariffs on industrial goods. (International Trade Daily)
11/19	On U.S.-Saudi Relations: With us ... or against? -- Of the many mysteries that Americans have tried to investigate in the fight against terrorism, few topics are more impenetrable than the role of Saudi Arabia. And none is more taboo. (San Francisco Chronicle)
11/16	U.S. is reportedly prepared to allow food sales to Cuba -- For the first time since the United States imposed trade sanctions against Cuba four decades ago, Havana is negotiating a deal with American producers to buy food and agricultural products to replenish stocks destroyed by a recent hurricane. (New York Times)
11/16	Fox lacks resolve to free Gen Gallardo, son charges -- The youngest son of Mexican political prisoner Gen. Jose Francisco Gallardo said Thursday that President Vicente Fox has the power to free his father, but lacks the resolve to challenge the powerful Mexican military. (The News Mexico)
11/16	Seizing Dictatorial Power -- Misadvised by a frustrated and panic-stricken attorney general, a president of the United States has just assumed what amounts to dictatorial power to jail or execute aliens. Intimidated by terrorists and inflamed by a passion for rough justice, we are letting George W. Bush get away with the replacement of the American rule of law with military kangaroo courts. (New York Times)
11/14	Doomed from the start, Doha round is a hollow victory for corporate-managed trade -- Trade negotiators' inability to meet their goals of dramatically expanding the World Trade Organization's (WTO) reach during the Doha meeting shows that the "free trade" agenda is ultimately doomed to fail. Still trying to repair its image and legitimacy after the collapse of talks in Seattle, the WTO's announcement of a new round of trade talks is a half-baked plan full of holes and vague, sometimes contradictory language. (Global Exchange)
11/14	WTO OKs new round of trade talks -- Bleary-eyed delegates at the World Trade Organization conference agreed Wednesday to start a new round of much-anticipated talks to free up global commerce after the lone holdout -- India -- said it would not object. (Associated Press)
11/14	In Colombia, a local push for peace -- El Penol's mayor, has joined 14 angry colleagues in a rebellion of their own. Tired of war and frustrated with the central government's failure to stop it, the mayors have signed a cease-fire agreement with the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-largest guerrilla insurgency, that calls on the National Police to leave their towns. (Washington Post)
11/14	Mexican general says president is hiding rights violations -- Mexican Gen. Francisco Gallardo, who has been in prison since 1993, on Friday accused President Vicente Fox of "covering up" human rights violations committed by high-ranking military officers. (EFE)
11/14	Refining opened to private sector -- Eleven months after coming to power, the Fox administration yesterday unveiled its six year plan for Mexico's energy sector. The energy secretary outlined how the electric power industry will be reformed. (El Financiero)
11/12	Starbucks says program will reward responsible suppliers -- Starbucks Coffee on Monday unveiled a plan to pay coffee suppliers up to 10 cents more per pound if they protect the environment and abide by local minimum wage and worker safety laws. The test program, scheduled to be announced at a coffee suppliers conference in Costa Rica Monday, comes as the coffee industry faces a worldwide glut that has pushed wholesale prices down 40 percent, to around 40 cents per pound. (Associated Press)
11/12	Israeli army invades Tal village -- At 3 am this morning, Israeli tanks and troops invaded Tal, a Palestinian controlled village in the Nablus area. Israeli soldiers killed Mohammad Yusif Hamid while in his house. Twelve Palestinians have been arrested, and the Israeli army demolished a civilian home. (Palestine Monitor)
11/12	Rights groups say Israel tortures prisoners, despite court ban -- Israeli authorities continue to torture Palestinian detainees, despite a 1999 Supreme Court ruling banning the practice, three human rights groups said Sunday. (Associated Press)
11/12	Freed environmentalists fear for their lives -- The renowned environmentalists Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, who were freed by President Vicente Fox on Thursday, said they would fear for their lives if they were to return to their homes and continue defending the environment, the Mexican press reported. (The News Mexico)
11/12	Fox takes steps to end army's rights abuses -- Nearly a year after President Vicente Fox took office promising to clean up Mexico's human rights record, he is taking his first steps to address the military's long history of impunity and rights abuses. (Washington Post)
11/12	CNDH affirmed that 250 people were executed during the dirty war -- The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) affirmed that 250 people of the 531 considered missing were executed, according to this social organization's report. In it, it establishes that "the last time these people were seen they were present in municipal or state prisons and in federal offices, including military installations like the Military Camp #1, with the majority of them being in the hands of the White Brigade." (La Jornada)
11/12	Activist sentenced for Colombia protest -- Mark Colville of the Amistad Catholic Worker Community in New Haven was sentenced to serve 45 days in Bridgeport's North Avenue Jail for trying to deliver a letter to Mr. Dean Borgman, President and CEO of Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford asking him to stop building Blackhawk Helicopters to be sent to Colombia. Mark was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Criminal Trespass in the First Degree for his arrest on December 6, 2000 with five others. (Catholic Relief Services)
11/12	Where are you? -- Experienced, respected food aid organizations warn that even before the bombing of Afghanistan began on October 7, some 7,500,000 Afghans were -- through a gut-wrenching combination of poverty, drought, war, dislocation, and repression -- at risk of starving to death this winter. When the bombing began, almost all delivery of food from the outside world stopped. (WorkingForChange.com)
11/9	US Government's $2.5 Million Biopiracy Project in Mexico Cancelled: Victory for Indigenous Peoples in Chiapas -- After two years of intense local opposition from indigenous peoples' organizations in Chiapas, Mexico, the US government-funded ICBG-Maya project aimed at the bioprospecting of Mayan medicinal plants and traditional knowledge has been "definitively cancelled" by the Project's Chiapas-based partner, ECOSUR -- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. The US government confirmed today that the ICBG-Maya Project has been terminated. (ETCGroup.org)
11/8	Coffee roasters rev up PR machines on low coffee prices -- Negative publicity about the struggles of cash-strapped coffee farmers facing thirty-year price lows set against high roaster profits has set public relations efforts whirring at leading roasters. Within the last month alone, Swiss roaster Nestle SA has said it's "very concerned" about the current low coffee prices, while U.S. specialty roaster Starbucks Corp. has agreed to promote "fair trade" coffee and contribute $1 million to a fund for farmers. (Dow Jones Newswires)
11/8	Globalization protest kicks off at AUB -- Jose Bove strolled in late to the opening session of the World Forum on the WTO Monday night, but his strong call for Arab action resounded through the hall, crowded with activists and students. Bove, the French farmer turned anti-globalization activist, urged Arabs to "rise up and fight against globalization -- the newest form of colonialism." (Daily Star, Lebanon)
11/8	Greenpeace sails to Doha to show WTO the environmental side of trade -- Greenpeace announced Friday its intention to go to Doha and conduct campaigns for more equitable world trade, which are planned to take place outside the World Trade Organization's Fourth Ministerial Conference in the Gulf emirate of Qatar to be held from Nov. 9-12. (Daily Star, Lebanon)
11/8	Beirut prepares to host alternative to Doha WTO meeting -- A gathering of Lebanese and international labor unions, women's groups, environmentalists and civil society organizations, the forum will provide space for those questioning and opposing the World Trade Organization -- voices they say are being silenced at the fourth WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar on Nov. 9-15 (Daily Star, Lebanon)
11/8	Release of Political Prisoners Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera -- Global Exchange is thrilled with the long overdue release of political prisoners Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera from prison in Iguala, Guerrero. While we applaud President Fox for taking this action, we are concerned about the ten members of the Organizacíon Campesina Ecologista de la Sierra de Petatlán y Coyuca de Catalán (OCESP) who remain in prison in Guerrero or are being persecuted with invalid warrants for their arrest. (Global Exchange)
11/8	FTAA is best weapon against economic downturn -- Gaviria said he was confident Congress would give Bush fast track authority -- allowing the administration to negotiate international trade agreements and submit them to the legislature, which can only pass or reject them without making modifications -- despite the fact that lawmakers have not granted the authority since 1994. (EFE)
11/7	Farmers to congress: Not So Fast with Fast Track -- As corporate America intensifies pressure on Congress to pass Fast Track trade promotion authority before the World Trade Organization ministerial adjourns in Doha, Qatar later this week, farmers and ranchers are sending a different message: not so fast with Fast Track. (National Farm Action Campaign)
11/7	Call for big changes to global financial system -- A group of former finance ministers from emerging market countries will today propose fundamental changes to the global financial system, including an international bankruptcy procedure for government borrowers. (Financial Times)
11/6	IMF leaving Argentina to face toughest test alone -- As Argentina faces its darkest economic hour, the International Monetary Fund is deliberately staying at arm's length from a situation that could result in the largest sovereign debt default in history. (Reuters)
11/6	Israeli occupation forces killed three Palestinians today -- Palestinian sources from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) told the Palestine Media Center (PMC) that Israeli occupation forces killed three Palestinians today 6 November. The incident took place in front of the PRCS crews, after they were prevented from treating the victims. (Palestine Media Center)
11/5	Death threats renew fear of violence against rights workers -- A death threat against five human rights defenders, made public Thursday, has added to the climate of hostility and insecurity felt in Mexico since the Oct. 19 assassination of Digna Ochoa. The anonymous note demanded 30 million pesos from the federal government or the human rights defenders would be killed. (The News Mexico)
11/5	Greenpeace: Fox administration to legalize GM crops -- In closed-door meetings with agribusiness executives, the Agriculture Secretariat (Sagarpa) is working to legalize the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops, Greenpeace Mexico announced on Thursday. The meetings were convoked by Sagarpa to discuss the creation of a measure that would set the rules by which GM agricultural products could be grown and sold on a large scale. (News Staff)
11/4	At WTO talks, protesters will be out of sight, but not out of mind -- When representatives of the 142 member countries of the World Trade Organization gather in Doha, Qatar, next Friday, the antiglobalization street protesters who severely disrupted the WTO's last meeting won't be there. But their demands could still threaten the talks. (Wall Street Journal)
11/2	Coca invades Colombia's coffee fields -- The coffee crisis, as it is called here, has helped create a countrywide recession. Unemployment is near 20 percent, and higher in the countryside where war and scant public resources make poverty nearly inescapable. That, in turn, has given the country's various armed groups -- Marxist rebels on one side, a counter-guerrilla paramilitary force on the other -- a larger pool of idle young men and women from which to fill their ranks. Recruiting has never been easier. (Washington Post)
11/2	Colombian coffee growers start sowing poppies -- Coffee income -- boosted by advertisements featuring the mustachioed Juan Valdez -- brought a measure of social cohesion to regions wracked by four decades of civil conflict in Colombia. But the latest price drop has led to an upsurge in kidnappings, violence and farming of drug crops. (Financial Times)
11/2	Killing of Rights lawyer strains Fox's credibility -- Mexico's top human rights official said today the government's credibility has been jeopardized by law enforcement's failure to properly investigate death threats against Digna Ochoa y Placido, a leading human rights lawyer who was killed last week. (Washington Post)
11/2	Court orders Mexico to probe death -- The Interamerican Human Rights Court has ordered Mexico to investigate the death of a prominent human rights lawyer and provide security for her colleagues -- a decision applauded Friday by human rights groups. (Associated Press)
11/1	Israeli government escalates violence: Israeli army invades 'Arraba -- It has just been reported that the Israeli government has assassinated Jamil Jadallah Qawasmi. An eyewitness confirms that 22 year old Jamil was killed by a missile from an Israeli helicopter while standing in the yard of his home in Hebron. (Palestine Monitor)
11/1	Peres says he may see Arafat, drawing criticism from right -- Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said today that he would probably meet this week with Yasir Arafat, and that he had drafted a new peace plan for the Middle East. (New York Times)
11/1	Intifada in the Aftermath -- By now, accepted wisdom says that an unexpected outcome of the September 11 attacks in the US may well be the Palestinian Authority's salvation from extinction at the hands of Ariel Sharon. But the more optimistic scenario, that the sudden reordering of US strategic priorities in the region might lead to an interim solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, remains far off. (MERIP)
11/1	Many pessimistic about Fox's vow to aid Ochoa investigation -- The European Union this week joined a long list of governments and organizations condemning the Oct. 19 murder of human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa, but many say despite growing pressure, some Mexicans are not optimistic President Vicente Fox's administration will resolve the case. (The News Mexico)
11/1	U.S. plans scaled back delegation after meeting fixed for Doha -- The U.S. and other World Trade Organization members struggled this week with how to handle sending delegations to the Ministerial meeting Nov. 9-13, after political confirmations that the meeting would move forward as planned in Doha, Qatar. (Inside US Trade)
10/31	Radio warns Afghans over food parcels -- The United States is seeking to avert further criticism over the use of cluster bombs in Afghanistan by warning the Afghan people not to confuse unexploded bombs with food drops. (BBC News)
10/31	War needs good public relations -- For some people, war is terror, disaster and death. For others, it's a PR problem. At the Rendon Group, a public-relations firm with offices in Boston and Washington, pleasant news arrived the other day with a $397,000 contract to help the Pentagon look good while bombing Afghanistan. (Norman Solomon)
10/30	Coca invades Colombia's coffee fields -- Coffee shrubs the color of army fatigues cover the hills above this village, which is set in a deep valley cut by the River Samana. But near the peaks, the bright green stripes of another crop can be seen between the coffee, spelling trouble for Colombia's most renowned industry and the United States' drug war. (Washington Post)
10/29	A dangerous appetite for oil -- For 70 years, oil has been responsible for more of America's international entanglements and anxieties than any other industry. Oil continues to be a major source both of America's strategic vulnerability and of its reputation as a bully, in the Islamic world and beyond. (New York Times)
10/29	For trade protesters, 'slower, sadder songs' -- Next month, international financial and trade officials will gather in two important meetings -- one in Doha, Qatar, and the other in Ottawa -- to resume a series of talks that were scheduled before, but questioned after, the attacks on Sept. 11. Strident demonstrations against globalization may occur in Europe, but protesters in the United States are scrambling to see if they can hold together a movement now that their most effective way of getting attention is out of sync with the national mood. (New York Times)
10/29	It's time to ask "borderless" corporations: Which side are you on? -- A recent New York Times headline asked an insinuating question: "After the Attacks, Which Side Is the Left On?" The Times should find the nerve to put the same question to the major players of business and finance. Which side is Citigroup on? Or General Electric and Boeing? (The Nation)
10/29	For coffee traders, disaster comes in pairs -- The price of raw coffee -- in decline for several years -- plummeted to a record low last week. The fall has been dizzying. Futures contracts on the coffee exchange, the benchmark for prices around the world, had been as high as $3.05 a pound, in May 1997. But last Monday, they bottomed out at 42.5 cents a pound, then rose slightly. And the future looks no brighter. (New York Times)
10/26	Ochoa's murder mars Mexico's "new" democratic image -- In 1994, an election year, the ruling party's presidential candidate was shot dead at a rally, and a few months later, another top ruling party politician was murdered in downtown Mexico City. Those deaths fit in with the way politics played out in Mexico under the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which, after 71 years in power, lost the presidency last year to Vicente Fox of the conservative National Action Party (PAN). (The News Mexico)
10/26	UN condemns Mexican killing -- Ochoa defended many of Mexico's poor UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson has urged Mexican authorities to capture and prosecute the killers of leading human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa. (BBC)
10/26	Asia leader criticizes globalization -- With Pacific Rim leaders pushing more economic globalization, Malaysia's leader delivered an alternative broadside Saturday against ways of the West he says are leaving too many people behind. (Associated Press)
10/24	At least six Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank -- At least six Palestinians were killed Wednesday in an Israeli incursion into a West Bank village, Israeli and Palestinian officials said, one of the bloodiest clashes in more than a year of fighting. (Associated Press)
10/24	Forget the war against poverty -- Despite the grand hopes of an escape from poverty laid out by African leaders, without extra help from the west, the slump in commodity will threaten the economies of coffee producers like Uganda and Tanzania and cocoa exporters like Ghana and Ivory Coast, all of whom owe large sums to the west. (The Guardian)
10/24	Brutality smeared in peanut butter -- There is no easy way out of the spiralling morass of terror and brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective wisdom, both ancient and modern. What happened on September 11 changed the world forever. Freedom, progress, wealth, technology, war -- these words have taken on new meaning. (The Guardian)
10/23	Price-hit Panama coffee growers warn of crisis -- Price-rocked Panama coffee growers on Monday warned of a round of bankruptcies, farm closures and deepening poverty for coffee pickers, if the government did not step in with $6 million in emergency aid. (Reuters)
10/23	Fair-trade movement brews new hope for coffee growers -- Inside a Starbucks cafe on Denver's 16th Street Mall, bank-loan specialist Beth Bockenstedt, 44, ordered up a $3.80 Caramel Macchiato last week. She knew about fair-trade coffee. She'd seen the brochure featuring Santiago Rivera. The cafe in Denver offered no fair-trade coffee as a daily brew. Bockenstedt said she might be inclined to try it or buy fair-trade beans for home instead of French Roast. (Denver Post)
10/23	Diversity's peace -- The protest signs were mixed and varied. One read, "Stop the War in Afghanistan." But another read, "Stop Racial Scapegoating." And another, "Defend Civil Liberties." Through all these messages runs a racial thread that marks what makes this movement for peace different from others in the past. It's broader and more diverse than you can imagine. It's a peace movement that looks like America. (San Francisco Chronicle)
10/23	War not going quite as planned -- Militarily, the Taliban movement is proving to be harder to crack than expected; diplomatically, efforts to forge a post-Taliban coalition also have been frustrated by the contradictory demands of different factions and external powers. (Inter Press Service)
10/23	UN set to appeal for halt in the bombing -- The United Nations is set to issue an unprecedented appeal to the United States and its coalition allies to halt the war on Afghanistan and allow time for a huge relief operation. (The Observer)
10/23	We are being reoccupied -- The government of Ariel Sharon has finally revealed itself as a government of war. Now his real intention -- to destroy the peace process he never agreed with -- has been unmasked. (The Guardian)
10/23	Mexican government condemns murder of rights lawyer -- The Mexican government roundly condemned on Sunday the murder of an internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer, a slaying that rights workers called a sharp blow to Mexico's developing democracy. (Reuters)
10/22	Close, But No Cigar: Starbucks' programs show improvement in commitment to fair trade, but not nearly enough -- While Starbucks slowly and slightly increases its Fair Trade Certified offerings, a crisis has enveloped the coffee industry which is threatening the livelihoods of coffee producers around the world. (Global Exchange)
10/22	Starbucks buying more Fair Trade coffee beans -- Starbucks Coffee announced yesterday that it will buy a million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee within the next 18 months, and also is giving $1 million to be used for capital investments, quality improvement, credit, and other initiatives to boost the standard of living for coffee farmers. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
10/22	Demand Justice for Human Rights Defenders: Express your outrage at the killing of Digna Ochoa y Plácido -- Internationally known human rights attorney Digna Ochoa y Plácido was assassinated in her office on Friday, October 19. (Global Exchange)
10/22	Mexican Human Rights Lawyer is killed -- One of Mexico's most prominent human rights lawyers was found shot to death in her office here on Friday, bringing criticism of the administration of President Vicente Fox from environmentalists and rights advocates. (New York Times)
10/22	Batiz: Human Rights Defender's Assassination Politically Motivated -- The Prosecutor for the Federal District, Bernardo Batiz, reporting on the death of Digna Ochoa, human rights defender, stated that the motive for the killing "is undoubtedly political in nature," given that a warning to PRD members was found in the lawyer's office. (El Universal Online)
10/22	10 Reasons to stop bombing Afghanistan -- Why not treat terrorists like the criminals they are, building a long-term, world-wide coalition to stop terrorism that includes the U.N. and world court? If we use the media more effectively instead of operating in secret, and invest the billions of dollars we are spending to pulverize Afghanistan to address social and economic needs around the globe, we will be on a more productive path toward making the world safer from terrorism. (AlterNet)
10/22	President's declarations in Europe are lies -- The National Indigenous Congress (CNI) "is at that moment not disposed to contact president Vicente Fox, in order to discuss the counterreform" on indigenous rights and culture, assured Larisa Ortiz, representative of the Congress, who is in Spain to "spread the version of the Mexican Indigenous" against "Fox' mendacious declarations before the European spaces". (La Jornada)
10/22	Russia fears U.S. has hidden Afghan agenda, fighter says -- Russia summoned the commander of Afghan anti-Taliban forces to a meeting in neighboring Tajikistan over the weekend as escalating U.S.-led attacks fueled a new competition for foreign influence over this country. (Los Angeles Times)
10/21	The high, hidden cost of Saudi Arabian oil -- George W. Bush warned that the nation faced an oil crisis. He was right, but not in the way he foresaw. The crisis that came has nothing to do with prices at the gas pump, or environmental obstacles to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Rather, it has to do with the political and military price the United States must pay for its dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf. (New York Times)
10/19	U.S. may use military in hemisphere -- The United States will use military force where appropriate to fight terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, the State Department's top anti-terrorism official said Monday. (Associated Press)
10/19	Chiapas governor calls for tighter border security -- At the same time President Vicente Fox is touting Mexico's unconditional support for the war against terrorism, the governor of Chiapas is continuing his months-long campaign of asking the federal government to provide more surveillance of the nation's southern border. (The News-Mexico)
10/19	Israel is re-occupying Palestinian Territories -- Israeli forces entered the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, shelling civilian neighborhoods in the town and occupying the Paradise Hotel on Al Mehid Street. So far, seven Palestinian civilians have been injured, three in very critical condition as a result of the Israeli shelling. (Palestine Monitor)
10/19	The coming Arab crash: If the Saudi and other pro-western regimes are lined up against Bin Laden, they will fall -- The west's most important friends in the Arab Middle East -- Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah of Jordan, Mubarak of Egypt and the PLO's Yasser Arafat -- are probably the world's most vulnerable political quartet. It is likely that endemic problems and the Islamic fundamentalist tide gripping their countries will bring an end to their regimes within the next five years. (The Guardian)
10/19	Oil Omissions: Bush Sr., Cheney have big stakes in Saudi status quo -- The New York Times ran an interesting article Sunday, as interesting for what it did not say as for what it did. Headlined, "Fears, Again, of Oil Supplies at Risk," the piece by Neela Banerjee addressed the nightmares that George W's war has raised among those concerned about oil. (WorkingforChange)
10/19	China braces for impact of membership in W.T.O. -- China is girding itself to defend its huge yet fragile economy from an invasion by foreign companies once its membership in the World Trade Organization is ratified. (New York Times)
10/19	IMFC and Development Committee meetings to be held November 17-18, 2001 in Ottawa -- These meetings will bring together ministers and central bank governors from around the world to discuss issues of importance to the membership of the IMF and World Bank. (IMF External Relations Department)
10/19	A rational alternative to thoughtless bombing' -- The bottom line is this: Ordinary Afghan people, men and women and children who have never done anything wrong to anyone, are getting mangled and killed by American bombs. The innocents have spouses, parents and friends, and these spouses, parents and friends quite naturally hate those who mangled and killed their loved ones. (AlterNet)
10/19	U.S. propaganda to Taliban: 'You are condemned' -- The Pentagon is sending radio broadcasts into Afghanistan telling the Taliban they are "condemned," and the messages seem to suggest that U.S. troops will eventually be on the ground in that country. (CNN)
10/19	100,000 Afghan children could die this winter -- As many as 100,000 Afghan children could die this winter unless food reaches them in sufficient quantities over the next six weeks, the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, warned on Monday. (AFP)
10/19	Jails: New claims of mistreatment continue to come from attorneys and relatives of the 700 held in terrorism probe. -- Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said Tuesday that there has been no wholesale abuse of those being detained in the five-week federal terrorism investigation, even as four more cases surfaced in which young men allegedly are being kept from their attorneys and confined in jails without proper food or protection. (Los Angeles Times)
10/19	Nafta dispute is in court once again -- A frequent goal of trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement is to speed and simplify the settlement of cross-border commercial disputes out of court. But the limits on their effectiveness are visible in a five-year dispute between an American company and the Mexican government, which went back to court yet again this week. (New York Times)
10/18	Sweatshop Case May Grow -- The U.S. District Court in Saipan signed an order this week opening the door to more potential plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging widespread sweatshop abuses in the island's garment trade. "This is huge," said Michael Rubin, a San Francisco-based attorney representing 972 Saipan factory workers from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Bangladesh and other low-wage nations. "It's unbelievable. This adds up to 20,000 additional plaintiffs." (Los Angeles Times)
10/18	Mexican immigrants face new set of fears -- The whole nation has been anxious this past month, but for millions of Mexican immigrants around the country there have been added fears. (New York Times)
10/17	Campesinos demand end to GM imports -- Campesino organizations from Chihuahua to Chiapas on Tuesday called on President Vicente Fox's administration to block genetically modified (GM) corn allegedly being imported from the United States. (The News-Mexico)
10/17	Right-wing Israeli minister is shot -- Suspected Palestinian gunmen shot and seriously wounded Israeli right-wing, anti-Arab cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in an assassination attempt on Wednesday, dealing a serious blow to U.S.-led peace efforts. (New York Times)
10/17	Threat of terrorism leaves trade summit plans in doubt -- Less than a month before thousands of government officials and private experts were scheduled to gather for the first global trade summit meeting in two years, a Bush administration official said today that the threat of terrorism had left arrangements for the meetings in doubt. (New York Times)
10/17	Yes, there is an effective alternative to the bombing of Afghanistan -- As the bombing of Afghanistan continues for the second week, the Pentagon has admitted that some bombs went astray. Two hundred Afghan civilians have been killed so far and more will die if the bombs continue to fall. (The Independent)
10/17	US offers Taliban role in future state -- The US sought to prise open alleged cracks in Afghanistan's Taliban regime yesterday, by offering moderates a possible role in any new Afghan government. (The Independent)
10/17	Promises, promises -- Colin Powell tells Pakistan's General Musharraf that he will help solve the problem of Kashmir. Tony Blair offers Yasser Arafat the vision of a Palestinian state. But should we take them at their word? History shows that assurances made in wartime aren't always everything they seem. (The Independent)
10/16	San Diego State joins Worker Rights Consortium! -- It is with great joy that I write these words... San Diego State University has agreed to become affiliated with an independent monitoring organization, the Worker Rights Consortium. (San Diego State University)
10/16	Questions swirl around men held in terror probe -- In a high-security wing of Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center, an unknown number of men with Middle Eastern names are being held in solitary confinement on the ninth floor, locked in 8- by 10-foot cells with little more than cots, thin blankets and, if they request it, copies of the Quran. Every two hours, guards roust them to conduct a head count. (Washington Post)
10/15	Inside Corporate America -- You'd think Democrats would blast Zoellick for this crude, heartless and somewhat oddball maneuver to jam through Bush's big business agenda while a nation mourned. But this week, war-spooked Democrats in Congress are expected to vote to revive the moribund trade legislation. (The Observer)
10/15	Killing by Israeli army undermines truce -- Israel sabotaged US and British efforts to solidify a Middle East truce yesterday by carrying out the first assassination of a Palestinian militant since the attacks on America on September 11. (The Guardian)
10/15	Will a few holes in the runway of Kandahar airport make a difference? -- True, we bombed Osama bin Laden's camps. I bet we did. There would have been no difficulty in spotting their location because, of course, most of them were built by the CIA when Mr bin Laden and his men were the good guys. (The Independent)
10/15	Calling for a wider, but smarter war -- Was there anything symbolic in the fact that the first reported civilian deaths were of four Afghans who worked as security guards for a United Nations mine-clearing project in Afghanistan? An errant US Tomahawk cruise missile killed individuals involved in a humanitarian project. (AlterNet)
10/15	Killing them softly: Starvation and dollar bills for Afghan kids -- The Pentagon's air drops of food parcels and President Bush's plea for American children to aid Afghan kids with dollar bills will go down in history as two of the most cynical maneuvers of media manipulation in the early 21st century. (Norman Solomon)
10/15	'Hate Free Zone' posters sprinkled in cities nationally -- San Francisco-based Global Exchange plans to dispatch more people to put up posters in New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Boulder, Colo., and Boston this weekend. (Associated Press)
10/15	The World Bank's former Chief Economist's accusations are eye-popping -- including how the IMF and US Treasury fixed the Russian elections -- In 1999 the World Bank fired Stiglitz. He was not allowed quiet retirement; US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, I'm told, demanded a public excommunication for Stiglitz' having expressed his first mild dissent from globalization World Bank style. (The Observer)
10/15	P&G eschews fair-trade coffee offered by some sellers -- Procter & Gamble Co. is resisting the decision of some companies to sell coffee that returns more profits to growers. Instead, P&G prefers its tradition of helping poor communities where the coffee is grown. (Associated Press)
10/13	Refugees back Taliban's casualty figures claim -- Civilians fleeing Afghanistan yesterday reported mass burials of bombing victims in and around the eastern city of Jalalabad, supporting claims by the Taliban of major casualties and extensive damage to property. The refugees' accounts are the first provided by sources independent of the Taliban. (The Telegraph)
10/12	In-State Tuition OKd for Migrants -- Gov. Gray Davis Thursday signed legislation allowing students who are longtime residents and California high school graduates to pay the same tuition at state colleges as other residents. (Los Angeles Times)
10/11	There isn't a target in Afghanistan worth a $1m missile -- Heikal can see no logic in the attack on Afghanistan. For a start, he says, there is nothing there worth attacking. "I have seen Afghanistan, and there is not one target deserving the $1m that a cruise missile costs, not even the royal palace. If I took it at face value, I would think this is madness. (The Guardian)
10/11	London folly of aid and bombs -- Four weeks remain before winter envelops Afghanistan, during which enough food must be delivered to last until March. Yet the US is prepared to drop, at its own best estimate, barely one quarter of one day's needs. (The Guardian)
10/11	Trying to try Sharon -- On November 28, a Belgian court will decide whether Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon can be tried for his alleged role in the slaughter by Lebanese militiamen of untold numbers of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut in 1982. (MERIP)
10/11	The charge of the trade brigade -- The World Trade Organization is still, unbelievably, planning to meet in the Middle East nation of Qatar in a month's time. There, hundreds of high level trade officials and politicians will attempt to resurrect the talks that collapsed in Seattle two years ago. (Globe and Mail)
10/10	Statement by Alianza Civica-Chiapas about the Chiapas Elections -- This election was characterized by a lack of training of electoral officials, vote buying and coercion, new fraud mechanisms, an abstention rate of over 50% of the population, a wide array of political party options which fragmented the vote, and the lack of opposition coalition candidates due to an electoral reform which prevented the formation of coalitions. (Press Release)
10/10	Chequerboard of oil, minefields -- The only permanent geopolitical factor which stirs and boils this vast cauldron of human misery is the global power game over the future Eurasian Pipeline Network that has turned Central Asia into a post-Cold War Middle East-in-waiting. Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran, just like the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, are pawns disguised as key players in the Eurasian "chequerboard of oil and minefields", as one expert calls it. (Athens News)
10/10	Fear of chaos stops US bombs from falling on Taliban tanks -- American and British bombing runs have so far not targeted Taliban armour and artillery emplacements around Kabul in order to delay an attack on the capital by the opposition United Front. The calculation stems from fears that the early fall of Kabul to the UF could create administrative chaos as long as there is no Afghan transitional government in place. (The Telegraph)
10/10	Anti-terrorism coalition strains U.S-Israel ties -- The campaign against Osama bin Laden is severely testing the United States' relations with its closest Middle East ally, Israel, which many Muslims say is a root cause of the Sept. 11 attacks. How Israel deals with its long-festering conflict with the Palestinians -- and how they respond -- could determine the fate not only of peace prospects but the Arab world's fragile support for the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition. (USA Today)
10/10	Signs of the Times -- The obituaries are already appearing in newspapers around the world: "Anti-Globalization Is So Yesterday," reads a typical headline. It is, according to the Boston Globe, "in tatters." Is it true? (The Nation)
10/10	As the Smoke Clears, New Attitude on Security Alliance Emerges in Mexico Diplomacy: Attacks on U.S. have stimulated support for the concept of treating terrorism as a common threat. -- The attacks set off a fierce debate within the Mexican political elite on how the country should respond to the U.S. call for a global campaign against terrorism. (Los Angeles Times)
10/10	Judge dismisses all charges against Gap anti-sweatshop protestors -- The judge dismissed all charges against the anti-sweatshop protestors arrested May 6, 2000 at the Fashion Fair mall. (Labor/Community Alliance)
10/9	Agencies question Afghan aid drops -- International medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers said the humanitarian action was "a piece of military propaganda aimed at making the U.S.-led attack more acceptable to international opinion." (CNN)
10/9	Chiapas Elections: PRI retains dominance, abstention rates very high -- In local Chiapas elections this Sunday October 7 the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) retained its dominance in the municipal governments and State Congress, followed by the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the National Action Party (PAN). (Global Exchange)
10/9	PRI conserves majority in Chiapan Congress -- The Congress of Chiapas will once again be composed of an absolute PRI majority, the party which according to the State Electoral Institute (IEE) triumphed in 72 of 118 municipalities. (La Jornada)
10/9	Abstentionism calculated at 60% -- The elections celebrated this Sunday in Chiapas to renew the 118 municipal presidencies and 40 local deputies were distinguished by abstentionism within the electorate of 2,189,571 voters and by the significant numbers of voting stations which were not installed in the EZLN's zone of influence. (La Jornada)
10/9	Mexican labor protest gets results -- At the time, it seemed an insignificant act of disobedience. About 900 workers at Mexmode, which produces sweatshirts for colleges in the United States, boycotted the company cafeteria because they were fed up with finding worms in their salads. (New York Times)
10/9	Nicaragua Pre-election Delegation Report -- A delegation sponsored by Global Exchange visited Nicaragua on a fact-finding delegation to assess pre-election conditions. The ten delegation members were academic experts, union leaders, activists, experienced election monitors and other Nicaraguan specialists, many of whom had spent significant periods of time living and studying in the country. (Global Exchange)
10/9	Anti-terrorism bills raise online privacy issues -- Both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have introduced new legislation aimed at making it easier to fight terrorism. But critics fear the laws take away too much privacy. (NewsFactor Network)
10/8	Municipal Elections in Chiapas -- This coming Sunday, October 7 2001 local state elections will be held in Chiapas. One hundred eighteen municipal governments and forty local deputies are up for decision. Historically, elections have brought heightened tensions and violence within communities as political parties fight for votes. (Global Exchange)
10/8	Drawing a line between terrorists and guerrillas -- With government officials and legislators set on revamping the nation's security policy after the events of Sept. 11, the line between guerrilla groups and terrorist organization has yet to be clearly defined. (The News)
10/6	Gephardt says he will fight Bush on trade -- The prospects that Congress would give President Bush enhanced trade authority received a blow today when Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the House Democratic leader, said he would lead the charge against the measure. (New York Times)
10/6	Thomas unveils trade negotiating authority proposal -- Ways and Means Chairman Thomas this afternoon formally unveiled a proposal to renew presidential trade negotiating authority, and announced his committee will mark up the legislation Friday. (National Journal's CongressDaily)
10/6	Fox to visit Bush to express support -- President Vicente Fox of Mexico will visit President Bush in Washington next week to show his nation's support for the U.S. war on terror. (Associated Press)
10/5	A divisive trade dispute -- U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has tried to cast the Fast Track bill in patriots-versus-the-enemy tones, likening its opponents to terrorists and anti-globalization anarchists. (San Francisco Chronicle)
10/5	Fast Track: Countering the Myths -- The Administration and Republican lawmakers are hurling the nation into a senseless rush to advance an unpopular free trade agenda, propagating numerous myths along the way. (Institute for Policy Studies)
10/5	Israeli Terrorist Forces (IF) kill five Palestinians in attack on Hebron -- Five Palestinians were killed and 15 wounded in a dawn incursion Friday by Israeli tanks backed by helicopters into Palestinian-controlled areas of the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron, police and hospital sources said. (Agence France Presse)
10/5	White House rejects Sharon's criticism -- Sharon's blast came after Bush said on Tuesday that part of his long-term vision for Middle East peace was a Palestinian state. Bush said this had "always" been his policy. (Associated Press)
10/5	Sharon warns U.S. not to 'appease' Arabs -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bluntly warned the United States on Thursday not to "appease" Arabs at Israel's expense and said Israel would chart its own course in the fight against terrorism. (CNN)
10/5	Amnesty International urges investigation of Ariel Sharon -- A court in Brussels will begin to consider arguments about whether Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may be investigated in Belgium for alleged war crimes committed in Lebanon in 1982 while he was Israel's Minister of Defence. (Amnesty International)
10/5	How the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Undermine Democracy and Erode Human Rights: Five Case Studies -- The IMF and World Bank say their policies are designed to succeed in the "long run." But after more than 20 years of managing dozens of economies, the institutions have created more inequality, more environmental destruction, and no real security. (Global Exchange)
10/4	Trade compromise proposed -- Seeking to advance President Bush's hopes for expanding trade with other countries, House Republicans and a small group of Democrats yesterday unveiled a compromise proposal to strengthen the president's authority to negotiate trade agreements. They announced plans for a House vote next week. (Washington Post)
10/4	Prison companies get hot -- America's new wall of homeland security is creating a big demand for cells to hold suspects and illegal aliens who might be rounded up.Stocks of private companies that build and operate prisons for governments have zoomed as high as 300 percent in anticipation of internment camps and new prisons. (New York Post)
10/4	Show the evidence -- Although American and British officials say they have "no doubt" that Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist organization were behind the crimes of Sept. 11, so far no actual evidence has been made public. (New York Times)
10/4	The algebra of infinite justice -- People are being asked to make two leaps of faith here. First, to assume that The Enemy is who the US government says it is, even though it has no substantial evidence to support that claim. And second, to assume that The Enemy's motives are what the US government says they are, and there's nothing to support that either. (The Guardian)
10/4	Genocide or peace -- The new consensus has missed something. It's a consideration which is well-understood in peacetime, but often, and disastrously, ignored in war. It's the factor which defeated Napoleon and possibly Hitler. It's the item which brings all humanitarian operations to a halt. It is, of course, the winter. (The Guardian)
10/4	Don't forget Latin America -- Things have not been going well in Latin America for some time. The events of Sept. 11 are making the situation worse. The No. 1 problem is the economy. (Christian Science Monitor)
10/4	We are all Palestinians -- To most Israelis, Durban was "just like the dark days of the past," as described by an Israeli editor at the daily Haaretz. (Al-Ahram Weekly)
10/4	A year of war crimes and resistance -- Colonial occupation is now universally viewed as a crime against humanity. Many atrocities -- diverse in nature, but all equally appalling -- have been perpetrated against occupied peoples, especially in countries of the southern hemisphere. (Al-Ahram Weekly)
10/4	The decline and fall of the Israeli left -- Anyone visiting Israeli academia in the mid-1990s must have felt a fresh breeze of openness and pluralism blowing through the corridors of a hitherto stagnant establishment, painfully loyal to Zionist ideology in every field of research that touched upon Israeli reality, past or present. (Al-Ahram Weekly)
10/2	Before attacks, U.S. was ready to say it backed Palestinian state -- Before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the Bush administration was on the verge of announcing a Middle East diplomatic initiative that would include United States support for the creation of a Palestinian state, administration officials said, and it is now weighing how to revive the plan. (New York Times)
10/2	Four new settlements to be created - Protest campaign started -- Four new settlements are about to be created on Sunday, October 7, at various points in the occupied territories. (Gush Shalom)
10/1	Background and information about Mexican maize and the contamination -- Mexico is the center of origin and diversity for maize, one of the most widely consumed grains in the world. Such centers of origin and diversity are important regions for the development of new breeds or varieties of crops. The introduction of genetically modified species (all genetically identical) drastically reduces genetic diversity. (Global Exchange)
10/1	Serious genetic contamination revealed in Mexican maize -- Greenpeace today called on Mexico to adopt emergency measures to combat the first serious outbreak of genetic pollution in the centre of diversity of maize, located in several communities in the state of Oaxaca. (Greenpeace)
10/1	Results revealed about studies in Oaxaca -- The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) confirmed yesterday that natural varieties of maize, which is cultivated in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca are "contaminated" with genetically modified (GM) maize. (La Jornada)
10/1	Justice, Not War -- A momentous decision confronts us as a nation: Do we define the violence of Sept. 11 as an act of war or as a crime against humanity? If we define it as war, it couches the issues in nationalist sentiment and separates us from the people of other nations. (Washington Post)
10/1	Mexico President vows to support U.S. 'all the way' -- Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Friday that Mexico was prepared to go "all the way" to help the United States hunt down those responsible for Sept.11 suicide attacks on New York and Washington. (Reuters)
10/1	Fund organized for Mexican victims -- At least 15 Mexicans are listed as missing in the World Trade Center attacks, though Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda has said the number of those killed but not identified could be far higher. (Associated Press)
9/30	Feinstein tries to put student visas on hold -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein said yesterday she will push to suspend all new foreign student visas for six months while officials improve immigration tracking to keep terrorists from sneaking into the country. (San Francisco Chronicle)
9/30	Border crossers need new ID cards -- Thousands of Mexican citizens could be turned away from the U.S. border next week for failing to replace their border-crossing cards with new counterfeit-proof visas. (Arizona Republic)
9/30	With war in the air, home is but a dream -- the Mexicans say, if the attacks have socked the American economy, then they have pummeled the already anemic Mexican job market.
9/30	Bishop Arizmendi asks Mexican indigenous people to "bury their weapons" -- A Chiapas bishop asked the Tzotzile indigenous community in Los Altos de Chiapas to stop buying arms and to "bury" the ones they already have. (Associated Foreign Press)
9/30	Collective passion -- This is a war against terrorism, everyone says, but where, on what fronts, for what concrete ends? No answers are provided, except the vague suggestion that the Middle East and Islam are what "we" are up against, and that terrorism must be destroyed. (La Jornada)
9/28	Powell settles a score -- According to the Europeans, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted to them that he fell into the trap that Sharon set for him during his last visit to Jerusalem. Powell agreed at that time, that Israel alone would be the one to decide whether the result, not the effort, gives Arafat a passing grade to the next stage of the Mitchell Report. (Ha'aretz)
9/28	Terrorist attacks bad news for Mexican economy -- Mexico was already in an economic slump when terrorists attacked the United States. Now things here will almost certainly get worse. Perhaps no country in the world is more dependent on the U.S. economy than Mexico. (Associated Press)
9/28	In patriotic time, dissent is muted -- The surge of national pride that has swept the country after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 has sparked the beginnings of a new, more difficult debate over the balance among national security, free speech and patriotism. (New York Times)
9/27	Arafat, Peres move on new peace talks -- Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to take the first steps to ending a year of violence, boosting U.S. chances of Arab support for its fight against terrorism. (Toronto Star)
9/27	Breakthrough in Mexico: Kuk Dong workers win independent union -- Workers at the Kuk Dong factory in Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico have finally won their independent union and a signed collective agreement. This is a precedent-setting victory that could open the door to worker organizing in Mexico's maquiladora sector where, to date, independent unions have not been tolerated. (CLR and Maquiladora Solidarity Network)
9/27	Jackson still undecided on trip to Afghanistan -- Jesse Jackson has been invited by the Taliban and members of the Pakistani government to negotiate the situation peacefully. Bush and Powell are urging Jackson not to go. (CNN)
9/27	Boost for Bush on 'fast track' trade deal -- A compromise proposal to give President Bush "fast-track" trade negotiating authority has been hammered out by key members of the US Congress. The agreement could hand a significant victory to the administration, which has said that launching new world trade negotiations is a vital part of a package of economic measures needed in the wake of the September 11 attacks. (Financial Times)
9/27	A widow's plea for non-violence -- I have heard angry rhetoric by some Americans, including many of our nation's leaders, who advise a heavy dose of revenge and punishment. To those leaders, I would like to make clear that my family and I take no comfort in your words of rage. (Chicago Tribune)
9/27	Muslim college students in US report threats -- In recent days, at least five Middle Eastern students have been assaulted on U.S. college campuses while several others have received threats. (Reuters)
9/27	Coffee glut and drought hit Nicaragua -- A devastating drought and plummeting coffee prices have driven Nicaragua into one of its worst economic crises in years, bringing scenes of hunger, malnutrition and misery to its impoverished countryside. (Washington Post)
9/26	Energy future rides on U.S. war: Conflict centered in world's oil patch -- Beyond American determination to hit back against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks, beyond the likelihood of longer, drawn-out battles producing more civilian casualties in the months and years ahead, the hidden stakes in the war against terrorism can be summed up in a single word: oil. (San Francisco Chronicle)
9/26	The wartime opportunists -- Fast track and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. A corporate tax cut. Oil drilling in Alaska. Star Wars. These are some of the preposterous "solutions" and responses to the terror attack offered by corporate mouthpieces. (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman)
9/26	Bush seeks trade negotiating authority vote this year -- President Bush wants Congress to consider renewing presidential trade negotiating authority before adjourning this year in order to help stimulate the economy. (National Journal's CongressDaily)
9/26	US govt misuses WTC/Pentagon attacks to defend fast track and new WTO round -- The Bush administration began a new drive Monday to persuade Congress to grant President Bush the authority to negotiate trade agreements, telling lawmakers passage would help the fight against global terrorism. (Associated Press)
9/26	US offers trade deals for allegiance -- The Bush Administration in The US is making aggressive use of economic measures, including trade deals and threats of sanctions, in a "carrot and stick" approach to winning key international support in its war on terrorism. (Australian Financial Review)
9/24	Coming protests are principled to some, 'un-American' to others -- Despite the cancellation of World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington this week, several groups of demonstrators say they are coming nonetheless for what they are calling a demonstration for peace and against the growing likelihood of American military intervention abroad. (Fox News)
9/24	Peace and justice threatens to "disappear Zapatista bases" -- On August 20, in San José Bascán, four families were expelled by PRIs from the Emiliano Zapata Ejidal Union, with the complicity of the PRD organization Kichañob. (La Jornada)
9/24	Mixed operations bases beefed up in Chiapas -- In response to the wave of assaults and ambushes against members of the Public Security Police in Chiapas -- which has resulted in two deaths in the last 15 days, as well as dozens of civilians wounded and injuries to two state police officers -- the Mixed Operations Bases (BOM) presence in the area has been reinforced. (CNI Online)
9/24	Opposition to Bush's war -- After President Bush's "win this war" speech to Congress Thursday night, Senate majority leader Tom Daschle and Senate minority leader Trent Lott strode to a podium where Lott declared, "Tonight, there is no opposition party." On the streets of America, however, there is an opposition. (The Nation)
9/24	Nike lies low, despite upbeat report -- Terrorist attacks on the East Coast last week dashed any plans for fancy video clips, star athlete appearances, or new product presentations that typically accompany annual Nike gatherings. (Associated Press
9/24	New Nike panel to tackle company's factory issues -- Nike, criticized for working conditions at its factories outside the United States, will create a committee to oversee the company's labor, environmental and diversity policies. (Seattle Times)
9/24	Hamas said ready to temporarily suspend suicide attacks -- Members of the militant Hamas group and other Palestinian officials said on Saturday that Hamas was willing to suspend suicide attacks inside Israel "in the coming period" unless it was provoked by Israel. (Reuters)
9/24	Third-world imports besiege Mexico farmers -- For Rodrigo Hernandez, ground zero in the war over globalization is not Genoa or Seattle, but a stretch of freeway slicing through a desolate swamp. It's where he and hundreds of other farmers last month dumped 400 tons of pineapple they couldn't sell. (LA Times)
9/24	Attack on America: Intelligence gathering and human rights restrictions -- There can be no doubt that an enormous lapse in our national intelligence efforts has occurred. In response to public criticism, some officials have decried certain human rights restrictions which they claim have impeded the ability to taken action and to obtain needed information from "unsavory persons." Specifically, they are referring to U.S. legal prohibitions against assassinations. (Jennifer Harbury)
9/23	International opinion opposes US military strike - poll -- International public opinion opposes a massive U.S. military strike to retaliate for suicide attacks on America by hijacked aircraft, according to a Gallup poll in 31 countries whose results were released on Friday. (Reuters)
9/23	Those at towers margin elude list of missing -- Most of the people listed as missing in the twin towers disaster were part of the World Trade Center's life as an elite corporate community. Determining who was missing among them after the terrorist attack, however painful, would not be that hard. (New York Times)
9/22	Sharon feels US anger after Arafat seizes the diplomatic high ground -- George Bush's chances of building an American-led war coalition including Arab and Muslim countries abruptly improved yesterday when Yasser Arafat bowed to intense diplomatic pressure and announced a unilateral ceasefire. (The Independent)
9/22	The nuclear threat: West's worst scenario -- A leading authority on Pakistan's nuclear programme has given warning of a "nightmare scenario" in which a destabilised Pakistan lost control of its nuclear weapons to supporters of the Taleban. Any military action against Muslim terrorists within Afghanistan will have to take account of that. (The Times)
9/22	Empire's terrors -- The root causes of last Tuesday's catastrophe are multilayered. First, there is the issue of crushing poverty in the global South. Take, for example, the Middle East, the apparent home of the suicide pilots of Sept. 11. (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
9/22	Why do you think these attacks happened? -- To answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of the crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden network. (Chomsky interview)
9/21	In the Gaza Strip, Anger at the U.S. Still Smolders -- "We are against terrorism," said Abd al-Raof Abu Daka, a captain with the Palestinian police force in the southern town of Rafah, who watched as his headquarters was hit. "We don't like Americans to die. But the Israelis are hitting us with American weapons." (New York Times)
9/21	Debate over targets highlights difficulty of war on terrorism -- Though President Bush has vowed to attack not only terrorists but the countries that harbor them, his administration continues to grapple with the diplomatic and military complications of translating that pledge into action. (Washington Post)
9/21	US 'lacks knowledge to launch land war' -- "The US armed forces do not have a single soldier or officer who speaks Pushtu [the principal language of the Taliban]," said a senior Western military official. "They will have to first hire hundreds of Pushtu speakers. That shows how much they lack on the ground for this upcoming battle in Afghanistan." (Inter Press Service)
9/20	Killing bin Laden will not stop terrorism, says Congress report -- Senior American counter-terrorism experts believe that killing or capturing Osama bin Laden and destroying his power base will not achieve very much, because there are plenty of other people and groups willing to take his place. (Independent Digital)
9/20	Congresswoman Barbara Lee speaks out -- Let's pause for a moment... and let's look at using some restraint before we rush to action." Because military action can lea