From Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network, Jan. 30:

Workers shut off Iran Sadra's Bushehr shipyard's gate
"We'll stay on strike until we achieve our goal"

Following the sacking of 38 workers at Iran Sadra's Bushehr shipyard on 30 January, 150 workers shut off the shipyard's gate. According to a report by the government-controlled ILNA, Iranian Labour News Agency, the Iran Sadra workers' representative said: "An agenda had been arranged in the [Bushehr] province governor's office, according to which if the company has orders then its workforce will be returned to work and they will sign contracts so that the problem is resolved. But not only has the problem not been resolved, but after a month has passed 38 workers have also been sacked."

The House passes a non-binding resolution against the "surge"; the Senate fails to. Opponents invoke the need to "support the troops." Is anybody listening to the troops and their families? From Military Families Speak Out, Feb. 5:

Military Families Urge Congress to Vote Down Bush Request for Billions to Contine Iraq War
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) members today called on Congress to support our troops and honor the fallen by voting against President Bush's request for a supplemental appropriation that would allow the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to continue. Military Families Speak Out, an organization of over 3,200 military families opposed to the war in Iraq, is the largest organization of military families opposing a war in the history of the United States.

Nepalese PM Girija Prasad Koirala has vowed to amend the country's constitution to meet the key demands of Madheshi protesters from the country’s southern plains, BBC News reported on Feb. 8. He pledged to introduce a federal system of governance and more representation of the southern plains in the parliament.

We're glad the hijacking was thwarted, but we don't quite get the politics behind this incident. The hijacker was supposedly seeking asylum from Mauritania (which remains a pretty oppressive place despite the democratic transition supposedly underway there), but Mauritania said the hijacker was a Moroccan from the Western Sahara. From 1975 to 1980, Mauritania occupied the southern half of Western Sahara; since then, Morocco has occupied the entire country. Are we ever going to find out who this guy really is and what he wanted? From AP, Feb. 16:

From the Japanese American Nichi Bei Times, Feb. 16:

On Feb. 7, the court martial of Ehren Watada, the Sansei army lieutenant from Hawai'i who refused deployment to Iraq to participate in what he considers an illegal war of aggression, ended in a mistrial. Watada, 28, may find himself back in court, however, for a retrial next month.

We hope. From Reuters, Feb. 16:

BOGOTA - A scandal over suspected Colombian government links to illegal right-wing militias could hamper President Alvaro Uribe's bid to clinch a free-trade deal with the United States.

From the Regina Leader-Post, Feb. 16:

A new chapter began this week in Canada's relationship with the United States with new American regulations that require passports for air passengers entering the U.S. All non-Americans need a passport to enter the U.S. and Americans require one to re-enter.

From Human Rights Watch via Reuters, Feb. 16:

Dakar — The Guinean government has failed to control security forces responsible for rapes, robberies and more than 110 killings since mid-January, Human Rights Watch said today. After the imposition of martial law on February 12, security forces committed numerous abuses during house-to-house searches for weapons earlier seized by a small group of violent protesters from police stations and other government installations. "Guinean security forces are using martial law as an excuse to terrorize ordinary Guineans," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Under the guise of reestablishing law and order, they're acting like common criminals, beating, robbing and brutalizing the population they're supposed to protect."