In Mexico's third mass shooting in less than a week, gunmen who arrived in SUVs opened fire Oct. 27 at a carwash in Tepic, capital of the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, killing at least 15. All but two of the victims worked at the carwash, and most were clients of the same drug treatment center, Alcance Victoria (Victory Outreach). Three victims wore matching T-shirts emblazoned with "Fe y Esperanza," or "Faith and Hope." (LAT, Oct. 28)

A 14-year-old boy was killed Oct. 24 when Moroccan security forces intervened in a protest encampment established by indigenous Sahrawi residents about 14 kilometers outside Laayoune, capital of the occupied territory of Western Sahara. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis have erected tents to protest the social policy of Morocco in the territory, and to demand their right to employment, housing and a decent living. (Magharebia, Oct. 25)

In New York's "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy, xenophobes are ironically protesting construction of a Sufi community center—even as Sufi mosques and shrines are getting blown up regularly in Pakistan by the same political forces that were behind 9-11. Imam Rauf of the planned center (the Cordoba Institute), meanwhile, is being paid by the State Department to go on good-will tours of the Islamic world.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, on an official visit to Iran, said Oct. 25 that the Islamic Republic and Bolivia pursue a common objective in fighting against imperialism and injustice in the world. "Iran and Bolivia have identical revolutionary conscience which allows for the expansion of relations and accounts for the closeness of the two states," IRNA reported the Bolivian leader as saying in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz.

At least 13 young people were shot dead and 15 wounded in an attack on a house party in Ciudad Juárez—the second such massacre in less than a week in the violence-torn Mexican city bordering Texas. Gunmen in three cars drove up to the home around 11 PM on Oct. 22 and began shooting, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office said. The dead were 14 to 20 years old, and a 9-year-old was gravely wounded. On Oct. 17, gunmen similarly stormed two homes in Ciudad Juárez, killing nine young people. (AP, Oct. 23)

Spanish Jesuit missionary José María Korta, 81, a founder of the Indigenous University of Venezuela (UIV), began a public hunger strike this week at the gates of the National Assembly building in Caracas, to demand liberty for three Yukpa indigenous leaders charged in the killing of two people during a gunfight last year. Korta says the three, Sabino Romero, Olegario Romero and Alexánder Fernández, have been falsely accused because of their efforts to defend traditional Yukpa lands. Korta is joined in the hunger strike by Ramón Sanare, agro-ecology director at the UIV. (Ultimas Noticias, Oct. 23; El Universal, Caracas, Oct. 21)

Most of the 33 British passengers on May's ill-fated aid flotilla to Gaza have asked to give oral testimony to the Turkel Commission to Examine the Maritime Incident, a lawyer acting on their behalf said yesterday. The group say they are resisting what they see as efforts by the commission, appointed by the Israeli government, to belittle their evidence by having them submit only very basic information about their experiences. Daniel Machover, who is representing 29 of the passengers, said the Israeli Foreign Ministry approached the British Foreign Office Oct. 21 and gave them a four-day deadline to gather basic information to be passed on to the commission. Machover said the passengers see the rushed request as a "calculated snub...not a genuine effort to welcome their evidence." (Ha'aretz, Oct. 22)

Israel has started building at least 544 apartments since a 10-month construction freeze expired late last month. Palestinians charge that construction in the settlements is aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the issue has brought recently renewed US-brokered peace talks to a halt. In a statement, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace Robert Serry called the construction activity "alarming," saying it is "illegal under international law" and "will only further undermine trust."