The powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ended his self-imposed exile in Iran and returned to his stronghold hometown of Najaf in central Iraq this week. Al-Sadr fled Iraq in 2008 after the government issued an arrest warrant for him. His return was seen as evidence that his faction struck had struck a deal to have the warrant cancelled in exchange for al-Sadr's movement joining the new government led by Nouri al-Maliki.

More than 1,000 protesters took to the streets in Erbil, Iraq's Kurdish regional capital, to condemn a new law requiring all public demonstrations to have government permits. Protesters said the law is part of a broader crackdown on free speech in the autonomous Kurdistan region. In the past six months, the government has sued at least 60 writers or media organizations for publishing work critical of the government, according to the Kurdistan Journalists' Syndicate. Aso Karim, a legislator with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said the restrictions were necessary because "Iraq is not politically stable." (NYT, Jan. 4)

The Jan. 4 assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who angered Islamists by calling for a revision of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, reveals escalating polarization between secular and fundamentalist forces. Shahbaz Bhatti, federal Minister for Minorities, said Taseer sacrificed his life for religious freedom and equality. "Those who issued [the] decree for killing should be investigated and blasphemy laws should be reviewed to control the increasing intolerance in society," Bhatti said. (Associated Press of Pakistan, Jan. 5)

For the first time, Coptic Christians took to the streets in Egypt in a series of angry protests after a bomb blast during New Year's Eve midnight mass at Alexandria's al-Qiddisin (Saints) Church left 32 dead and some 100 injured. Chanting "With our souls and blood we save the cross," Copts marched through Cairo and tried to storm the Radio and TV headquarters in Maspero.

Following a wave of angry protests across the country, Bolivia's President Evo Morales revoked a decree that lifted fuel subsidies and caused price hikes of up to 82%. In a message late Jan. 31, Morales said he had decided to rescind the decree after meeting with labor and indigenous leaders who convinced him that the price hike for gasoline, diesel and other fuels was "inopportune."

Our last issue featured the story "9-11 at Nine: The Conspiracy Industry and the Lure of Fascism" by World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, calling out the growing embrace of right-wing and virulently anti-Semitic conspiracy theory by the left-wing blogosphere and alternative media. Weinberg also had to issue a statement dissenting from the right-wing conspiranoid drift at New York's non-commercial WBAI Radio, where his program, the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, has been exiled to 2 AM and stripped by 30 minutes as a punitive measure in response to his protests. Our September Exit Poll was: "Is World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg an agent of the Illuminati, pawn of the Bilderbergs, Mossad operative and/or shape-shifting reptilian?" We finally received the following responses:

From War Resisters League, Dec. 17:

Whose stories are we telling about the war in Afghanistan?
On the day following the White House report on the war in Afghanistan that names the war as a qualified success and calls for the US to "stay the course," we must lift up the alternative stories and reports of this near-decade of occupation, including yesterday's Veterans for Peace action at the White House.

Violence has rocked the Nigerian city of Jos since a wave of bombings Dec. 24 left 32 dead and some 100 wounded. Riots have pitted Christians against Muslims, with both churches and mosques vandalized, and an estimated 50 more killed. The bombings targeted a Christian market, but also a road leading to a major mosque. Supposed Islamist militants also killed six Christian worshippers in the nearby town of Maiduguri that day. The Joint Military/Police Task Force is patrolling the streets, and is appealing to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama'atul Nasril Islam (JNI) to call off their angry youths.