Although it was only the attempt on a luxury cruise ship that made headlines, Somali pirates attacked five vessels last week, with shipping experts saying the operations were apparently directed from a mysterious "mother ship" prowling the busy Indian Ocean corridor.

Most vessels escaped, but one was commandeered, bringing to seven the number of vessels now being held captive along with their crews by pirates operating along Somalia's coastline, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

Rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles were fired at the US-owned Seabourn Spirit, carrying 150 western tourists, by gunmen in two small speedboats, but the ship's captain managed to change course and speed away. Thousands of merchant ships carrying oil and other critical coommodities pass the Somali coast to the Cape of Good Hope every year. (IOL, Nov. 12)

From NY Newsday, Nov. 14:

Brooklyn man killed in hit and run

BY ASHLEY HARRELL
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Luis Perez contributed to this story.

A Brooklyn factory worker and father of three was killed in a hit and run while he was walking home from a night with friends, police and family said yesterday.

A gray BMW truck heading east on Myrtle Avenue struck Lucino Galindo, 51, at the corner of Emerson Place around 1 a.m. and did not turn back, police said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Mexican leader Vicente Fox of being a "puppy" of President Bush and warned: "Don't mess with me, sir, because you'll get stung." Fox shot back Nov. 14 that "we have dignity in this country" and demanded an apology. Chavez responded by calling home his ambassador, and Mexico quickly responded in kind.

"The whole world knows that this didn't begin on the Venezuelan side," Venezuelan Ambassador Vladimir Villegas said. When asked what the driving issue was behind the controversy, he said, "look a little bit north"—a reference to the United States.

Tensions between Fox and Chavez boiled over after the summit in Argentina, where Fox defended a US-backed proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Chavez proclaimed the idea dead. On Nov. 13, Mexico issued a statement saying Chavez' insult "strikes at the dignity of the Mexican people and government." Early the next day, Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said Mexico would expel the ambassador if Venezuela didn't apologize by midnight.

From the opening days of the Iraq campaign in March 2003, there were uncorroborated reports of use of chemical and other unconventional weapons. These reports emerged again with the re-taking of Fallujah one year ago. Thanks to the work of an Italian documentary team, these claims are now in the headlines again—in Europe at least. From the UK Independent, Nov. 15:

A prominent French anti-globalization activist blamed the wave of urban unrest on failed government policies and the social and economic marginalization of immigrants. "Riots have nothing to do with Muslims, Arabs or African immigrants as propagated by the media," José Bové told IslamOnline.net Nov. 8. "The unrest has its roots in decade-old failed social policies to improve the situation in France's poor suburbs."

More than 500 troops of the Colombian National Police attacked a group of Nasa Indians who were occupying a plantation in the southwestern department of Cauca Nov. 10, leaving one dead and more than 40 injured. Belisario Camallo Guetoto, 16, was killed when police opened fire on the occupation at Finca Japio de Caloto. Yerson Mensa, 21, remains in critical condition after taking a bullet in his back.

The Association of Indigenous Cabildos of North Cauca (ACIN) states that contrary to press reports, police did not succeed in evicting the occupation, but have thrown up roadblocks effectively barring food and medical services from the finca. (ONIC communique, Nov. 11 via Red de Defensores no Institucionalizados)

Hundreds of heavily armed Maoist guerillas stormed a jail in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, killing at least four people and freeing about 350 prisoners, including many fellow guerrillas. The rebels entered Jehanabad town the night of Nov. 13 in small groups, cut off power and raided the prison in one of the biggest-ever attacks by Maoist guerrillas.

A forensic team working in the mass graves of Bosnia announced it had found the remains of 227 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre Nov. 11. Murat Hurtic, the lead excavator, said the exhumation at the village of Snagovo, 30 miles north of Srebrenica, had discovered "147 incomplete and 80 complete bodies."