A front-page New York Times story Nov. 28, "Afghans Offer Jobs to Taliban If They Defect," indicates that Hamid Karzai's government—presumably with Washington's support—is enlisting traditional tribal elders "to lure local fighters and commanders away from the Taliban by offering them jobs in development projects..." Note the "and commanders"—claims that the amnesty was just aimed at Taliban cannon fodder appear to have been the thin end of the wedge. The Canadian Press meanwhile reports that with the insurgency gaining ground—and a corrupt government unable to keep its promises—the amnesty effort is winning few former fighters. "The Taliban are getting stronger than they were before," said Haji Agha Lalai, a prominent Panjwaii district elder and former director of Kandahar's reconciliation program. "Also the government does not support us very well and we could not fulfill our promises to Taliban."

Thousands-strong protests were held in Bilbao Nov. 28 in reaction to the detainment of 34 members of a youth organization that Spanish authorities say is linked to the outlawed Basque separatist organization ETA. Two days earlier, angry protesters burned a bus and set fire to an underground station in the city. The suspected members of the illegal youth organization Segi were detained Nov. 24. The operation in the three Basque provinces and neighboring Navarre was ordered by the Audiencia Nacional justice Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has been responsible for many sweeps against against accused ETA operatives.

Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50% within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team of researchers at Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley, New York University and Harvard University. The study is to be published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague began proceedings Nov. 24 for the trial of two Congolese nationals believed to be responsible for the killings of more than 200 men, women, and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2003. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui both pleaded not guilty to three crimes against humanity and seven war crimes, including murder, sexual slavery, pillage, and the use of child soldiers.

Inaction to halt speculation on agricultural commodities and continued policies that promote "biofuels" are paving the way for a replay of the 2008 food price crisis in 2010 or 2011, warns Olivier De Schutter, the UN's special rapporteur on the right to food. The conditions that triggered the 2007-8 price crisis are still present, and panic in the international market is likely to reappear as early as next year, De Schutter said.

The US Justice Department Nov. 23 unsealed indictments against eight defendants for recruiting for and providing financial support to the Somali insurgent organization al-Shabaab. The defendants are being charged with recruiting approximately 20 individuals in the Minneapolis area on behalf of al-Shabaab, providing financial support for travel and weapons, and conspiring to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons outside the US.

Guatemalan foreign minister Haroldo Rodas announced Nov. 21 that Guatemala was not going to recognize the general elections to be held in Honduras Nov. 29 under the de facto regime installed after the June 28 removal of President Manuel Zelaya. He added that Guatemala would not send observers to the elections. Spain is also planning not to send observers because it "cannot support" elections under these conditions, foreign ministry sources told the Spanish wire service EFE Nov. 21.

On Nov. 17 the US-based United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) announced an agreement with Russell Athletic of Atlanta for the sports apparel maker to rehire 1,200 workers it laid off in January when it closed its Jerzees de Honduras plant soon after the workers joined a union. Russell, a subsidiary of Kentucky-based Fruit of the Loom, is to open a new maquiladora (tax-exempt assembly plant producing largely for export) in the same area as the old plant, the Choloma region of the northwestern Honduran department of Cortés. The new plant will be called Jerzees Nuevo Día ("Jerzees New Day").