As of Jan. 7 it was still unclear when or whether the second round of Haiti's controversial Nov. 28 presidential and legislative elections would take place. A runoff was originally scheduled for Jan. 16 but has been postponed indefinitely as a result of charges that political groups, including the Unity party of President René Préval, compromised the voting through fraud. A 12-member technical team from the Organization of American States (OAS) was in Port-au-Prince analyzing the voting results and was expected to issue a report early in the week of Jan. 10 on the validity of the elections.

The right-wing chattering and blogging classes are squealing with unanimous denial that Jared Loughner was influenced by their recent effluence of ultra-bellicose thunder. Timothy P. Carney on the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog takes issue with Paul Krugman's sensible call in the New York Times ("Climate of Hate," Jan. 9) for partisans to refrain from "eliminationist rhetoric." Writes Carney:

As South Sudan voted in its independence referendum Jan. 9-10, more than 60 were killed in the disputed region of Abyei, in a series of clashes between a local police force made up of Ngok Dinka tribesmen and militias of the nomadic Misseriya tribe, said an official of the Abyei Referendum Forum (ARF). The casualties included about 40 Misseriya tribesmen and 24 Dinka civilians. (Xinhua, Jan. 11)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Jan. 10 for the release of opposition candidates, journalists and others detained in Belarus during the crackdown on protests following the Dec. 19 election. Police beat and arrested protesters and rounded up opposition candidates after the vote, which officially handed a fourth term to President Alexander Lukashenko. As of last week, some 200 of the estimated 650 detainees were still being held. (Reuters, Jan. 10)

The defense chiefs of South Korea and Japan met in Seoul Jan. 10, agreeing to work on two pacts aimed at boosting military cooperation. Seoul's defense minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa pledged to seek "future-oriented" military relations. The talks came after a recent high-profile visit to Seoul by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called for greater cooperation with Tokyo and Washington in the wake of North Korea's Nov. 23 attack on a border island. Following his talks with South Korean brass last month, Mullen urged "much more trilateral cooperation" in response to security challenges from Pyongyang, and suggested unprecedented three-way military drills.

The Tunisian government said Jan. 10 that 14 had been killed in unrest over the weekend in the western towns of Kasserine, Regueb and Thala, while labor and opposition leaders put the figure at 25. Authorities claim the police opened fire on protesters in self-defense. The government has ordered the closure of schools and universities across the country until further notice. Protesters have attacked public buildings and local offices of the party of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has ruled since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1987.

Although no other evidence is given, Fox News on Jan. 9 quoted a Department of Homeland Security memo stating that Jared Lee Loughner—primary suspect in the previous day's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson—is "possibly linked" to American Renaissance, a self-styled far-right think-tank that DHS says promotes views that are "anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG [Zionist Occupational Government], anti-Semitic."

From Charter 97, Minsk, Jan. 7:

"European Belarus" demands immediate release of all political prisoners
"European Belarus" civil campaign demands the international community to impose the harshest political and economic sanctions against the usurper, and unconditional immediate release of all political prisoners. It was stated on January 5 at a press-conference in Warsaw by "European Belarus" coordinator Zmitser Barodka.