A green-energy ballot initiative in Missouri, Proposition C, was approved by voters, calling for the state to increase the use of renewable energy to 15% by 2021, mandating steady yearly increases. Prop C made Missouri the 27th state to require its utilities to buy a set amount of power generated by renewable sources.

Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia Nov. 6 began habeas corpus hearings for six Algerians challenging their detention at Guantánamo Bay. The hearings are the first to be held since the Supreme Court granted detainees at the facility the right to challenge their captivity in Boumediene v. Bush in June. The government has not brought criminal charges against the men, but has said that they planned to join al-Qaeda in hostilities against the US. Lawyers for the men challenged the sufficiency of the government's evidence, and criticized Leon's decision to close the hearing to the public after he found that some of the evidence used against the six should be kept classified. His ruling on the petition is expected later this month.

On his Electronic Intifada Nov. 5, Ali Abunimah digs up the hardline pro-Israel dirt on Rahm Israel Emanuel, Barack Obama's first appointment, for chief of staff. While Emanuel was doubtless chosen for his "key role in delivering a Democratic majority in the 2006 mid-term elections," there is plenty here that will serve as grist for the theorists of conspiratorial Jewish control of the government:

Threats from resurgent paramilitary groups continue against the San José de Apartadó Peace Community in Colombia's conflicted Urabá region. On the morning of Nov. 7 at the San José vereda (hamlet) of Playa Larga, some 50 rifle-wielding paramilitaries in camo gear and characteristic armbands detained resident Jairo Berrio Arango. He was forced to undress as the gunmen held a rifle to his head and threatened to kill him on the spot. When his father arrived on the scene and pleaded with the gunmen, they said they wouldn't kill him now—but that they had six San José community members targeted for death, and that they should flee immediately to avoid assassination. They said they had the cooperation of the army. Five families have already fled the vereda of Esperanza, where Berrio Arango's family is from. (San José de Apartadó Peace Community statement, Nov. 8)

Mexican federal police Nov. 7 apprehended Gulf Cartel kingpin Jaime "the Hummer" González, one of the country's most-wanted men, in an intelligence operation in the border city of Reynosa. An armed commando tried to rescue González as troops drove to Reynosa airport to fly him to Mexico City, sparking a fierece gun battle. González is a founding member of the Gulf Cartel's armed wing, Los Zetas, and is believed to be close to the group's leader Heriberto "the Executioner" Lazcano. (EFE, Nov. 8; Reuters, Nov. 7)

As the grassroots right groundswell mobilized by Sarah Palin subsides in defeat, the New York Times reports Nov. 7 a sudden surge of gun sales across rural America—explicitly seen as a response to the election of Barack Obama—with NRA propaganda fueling the flames:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a letter congratulating US president-elect Barack Obama, said his nation and the world expect "fundamental" changes to US policy, and "welcomed" the prospect for "justice, respect for human rights, friendship, and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs."

Two Iraqi insurgent groups called on president-elect Barack Obama to withdraw US forces from Iraq, an Internet monitoring service reported Nov. 7. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State of Iraq said it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group. "You do not interfere in the affairs of our countries," he continued in an apparent reference to Muslim nations. "We, in turn, will not prevent commerce with you, whether it is in oil or otherwise."