The French-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced on Nov. 20 that journalist Joseph Guyler Delva fled from Haiti on Nov. 9. Delva said he'd started receiving death threats on Oct. 25. On the evening of Nov. 5 he found himself being followed by several people in a car. When he stopped at a gas station, some of his pursuers got out of their car and approached his vehicle. Delva drove away, and decided to leave for the US.

US Rear Admiral Gregory Smith accused Iran-backed "special groups" of being behind the bombing of a Baghdad pet market, which left 15 dead and 55 wounded Nov. 22. Two bombs hidden in a cardboard bird box exploded simultaneously at al-Ghazl market while it was crowded with people. The market's recent re-opening was hailed as sign of returning normalcy in Baghdad. "In raids overnight, Iraqi and coalition forces were able to identify and detain four members of a militia extremist group we assess as responsible for this horrific act of indiscriminate violence," Smith said. "Based on subsequent confessions, forensics and other intelligence, the bombing was the work of an Iranian-backed special groups cell operating here in Baghdad." However, Smith said there was "no evidence that the Iranian government ordered the attack."

Indian army troops are patrolling the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, following a wave of arson and violence this week. Protesters repeatedly clashed with police, and torched several vehicles and the local offices of the state's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). The street-fighting was sparked by protests both of atrocities earlier this year against Muslim residents in the nearby town of Nandigram, Purba Medinipur district, and the presence in the city of exiled Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen—who was flown to Delhi for her safety. The protests were called by the Muslim-supported All India Minority Forum (AIMF), which threw up roadblocks around the city—then fought back when police tried to break them up. AIMF leader Idris Ali was arrested Nov. 24 and charged with riot and property destruction. (IANS, BBC, Nov. 24; IANS, Nov. 21)

Near-simultaneous bombs exploded at courthouses in the northern Indian cities of Lucknow, Varanasi, and Faizabad Nov. 23, killing at least 13 lawyers (nine in Varanasi; four in Faizabad), and leaving over 50 injured. All three cities are in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where lawyers declared earlier this year they will not defend terrorist suspects. The explosives were apparently packed on parked bicycles at the court complexes. Authorities say they suspect militant groups trying to spark violence between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority. Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, was the site of terror attacks on a Hindu temple and a train station last year. Faizabad is near the site of the attack on the Babri Mosque in 1992, which sparked widespread Hindu-Muslim riots. (Jurist, NDTV, Nov. 23)

The Iranian town of Boroujerd, Luristan province, is tense and divided following the Nov. 10 destruction of a hosseinieh or monastery belonging to the Gonabadi Sufi order by the police and Basij paramilitary forces. According to Mohsen Yahyavi, the conservative parliamentary representative for Boroujerd, the trouble began when Sufis abducted and beat several youths affiliated with a nearby mosque. The Sufis, however, tell a different story. One young female follower of the order told IPS: "Religious vigilantes had once before tried to bulldoze the hosseinieh and succeeded in destroying parts of its walls. This time on the night before the hosseinieh was completely destroyed, the Basij militia and the vigilantes staged a bogus attack on a nearby mosque where there was a gathering to criticize Sufi beliefs. The attack was then blamed on the Sufis to justify the attack on the hosseinieh."

Iran's hardline daily newspaper Jamhouri Eslami made a rare attack on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for making espionage accusations against a former nuclear negotiator, Hossein Mousavian, and saying that influential politicians were using their power to have him cleared. Mousavian was an aide to former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. "Lately defaming political rivals has become common in the country and has replaced lawful behaviour," the newspaper wrote in an editorial. "We want to reject this kind of behavior as immoral, illegal, illogical and un-Islamic and remind wise figures that such a trend is dangerous for the country."

A statement by the Organization for Women's Liberation—Iran, Nov 8:

We condemn the war against people in Iran!
The risk of a military attack against people in Iran is imminent. The US administration is adamant about an attack against Iran. The US government is trying to gain support of other states and the public opinion in the US for the attack. The French foreign minister has defended military attack against Iran. They claim war is inevitable if Islamic regime is to be prevented from producing nuclear weapons. On the other hand the Islamic regime is flaring up the fire of war. Both sides have escalated their war propaganda. Economic sanctions against Iran too are adding to the prospect of death and devastation.

Your tax dollars at work. From the marijuana advocacy site CelebStoner, Nov. 14:

California crop report: Nearly three million pot plants destroyed
California not only leads the nation in pot production, but also in plant eradication. With the outdoor harvest over, the state's Department of Justice announced on Nov. 13 that 2.9 million cannabis plants were destroyed this year. That's an increase of 1.2 million plants since last year and a total increase of 1.8 million plants since 2005.