A spike in food prices has triggered deadly riots in Mozambique this week, where the government declared the price hikes "irreversible" after an emergency cabinet meeting. Two of those killed are reported to have been children. Some 25 businesses were looted or damaged, and 12 buses attack by the protesters. The price of bread has risen by about 30% in the past year in Mozambique. The violence has been the worst in Mozambique since 2008, when clashes between police and rioters over rising prices left at least four people dead. (BBC News, Sept. 2)

On Sept. 2, Slovakia commemorated the victims of a massacre in the Devínska Nová Ves quarter of Bratislava three days earlier with an official day of mourning, following a decision at an extraordinary cabinet session. The cabinet also approved compensation for relatives of the victims. In the attack, a 48-year-old attacker shot seven people and injured 15 others, including a Czech citizen, before committing suicide after evidently being fatally shot by a police bullet. The targeted family was of mixed ethnic Slovak and Roma composition, leading widespread suspicion of a racist motive in the attack. (Romea.cz, Sept. 2; Romea.cz, Sept. 1; Radio Slovakia International, Aug. 31 )

Attacks by Hamas' armed wing will continue "in any form and in any place,” including inside Israel, a spokesman said Sept. 2. The organization's al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for killing four settlers in a drive-by shooting at the Beit Hagai settlement near Hebron two nights before, and for injuring two Israelis in a similar attack at Romodin Junction near Ramallah the following day. Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said the second attack was "a slap in the face" for those who said the deadly shooting near Hebron would not be repeated.

The US Department of Justice announced Sept. 1 that it has charged Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimulla Mehsud in connection with the Dec. 30 attack on CIA Afghan outpost Camp Chapman that left nine people dead. Mehsud identifies himself as the head of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer on Aug. 27 called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove any mention of Arizona and its passage of SB 1070 from a human rights report issued by the State Department. The report, submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as part of a universal review, discussed the passage and current injunction of portions of SB 1070 within a section entitled, "A commitment to values in engagements across our borders." Brewer's sternly-worded letter called inclusion of any mention of SB 1070 "offensive" in light of the membership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), including Cuba and Libya.

From Global Exchange, Aug. 17:

The Iraq Debacle: The Legacy of Seven Years of War
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, mark the August 31st withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with the following evaluation and recommendations:

Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Aug. 29 the agreement Germany's RWE public utility signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government, which included possible future gas supply for the Nabucco pipeline project, is illegal. RWE announced two days earlier that it had signed a gas cooperation agreement with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government.

Our August issue featured the story BP: The Case for Public Ownership by Billy Wharton, a reprint from In These Times. Our multiple-choice Exit Poll was: "Should BP be nationalzied?" We received 16 votes. The results follow: