The trial of Saddam Hussein continues to get more problematic. From the London Times, Jan. 24:

THE court trying Saddam Hussein has replaced its chief judge a day before the former dictator returns to the dock. The Iraqi Special Tribunal yesterday named Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman, a Kurd from Halabja, where 5,000 died in a gas attack during an offensive by Saddam’s forces, to succeed Rizgar Amin.

Judge Amin, who is also Kurdish, quit after criticism of his handling of the dictator. Since the beginning of the trial Saddam’s tirades from the dock have delayed proceedings and angered many Iraqis, including senior politicians.

A victory for historical memory—doubtless motivated by the Turkish state's desire to gain EU entry. But as this Jan. 23 press release from Amnesty International makes clear, the greater victory will be when the law under which Orhan Pamuk was charged is repealed.

A glimmer of hope. But will the Supreme Court uphold it? From the Jan. 24 New York Times, via Mediachannel:

A federal judge has ordered the Pentagon to release the names and nationalities of hundreds of prisoners detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rejecting the government's argument that it would be a violation of their privacy and expose them to retaliation by terrorist groups.

You can almost feel blood pressures rising on Wall Street and in corporate board rooms. From Dow Jones Newswire, Jan. 23:

Bolivia Pres Names Cabinet; Marxist In Energy Post
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday announced his 16-member Cabinet, which includes a Marxist journalist to drive Bolivia's energy policy and a street protest leader to head the new Ministry of Water.

The appointment of Andres Soliz Rada as Minister of Hydrocarbons could signal a tough fight for the multinational gas and oil companies operating in Bolivia.

Days before the historic inauguration of Evo Morales in Bolivia, the Andean nation scored another victory—in its struggle against Bechtel, the California engineering giant which had sued the impoverished nation before a World Bank trade court to demand compensation for a water-system privatization contract cancelled by a popular uprising in 2000. Apparently sensing the turning tide, Bechtel has withdrawn its suit. This Jan. 19 account from The Democracy Center in Cochabamba:

Evo Morales was sworn in as Bolivia's president before assembled foreign dignitaries at the congressional building in La Paz Jan. 22, dressed in a sports jacket and white shirt but no tie. One day before, he celebrated with his indigenous supporters at the pre-Columbian ruins of Tiwanaku, dressed in full indigenous regalia, including a head-dress embroidered with the wiphala, symbol of the Quechua-Aymara peoples. This marked the first time that Bolivia's traditional indigenous authorities, known as mallkus (condors), handed over a staff of command and ceremonial vestments to a Bolivian president-elect. (IPS, Jan. 19)

Two explosions in North Ossetia near a border post between the Russian Federation and Georgia's unrecognized breakaway Republic of South Ossetia seriously damaged the main pipeline that supplies gas to Georgia and Armenia Jan 22. The FSB concluded it was caused by explosive charges equal to some 800 grams of TNT. The prosecutor's office of the Republic of North Ossetia reportedly suspects militants from neighboring Ingushetia. A third explosion in the Russian Federation's Karachaevo-Cherkessia Republic damaged the main power line supplying electricity from Russia to Georgia.

A conviction in a torture-killing in Iraq... But no prison sentence—just a "reprimand"...

FORT CARSON, Colo., Jan 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. Army jury on Monday ordered a military interrogator be reprimanded but not sent to prison for the killing of an Iraqi general who was stuffed head first into a sleep bag.

Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer, the highest ranking Army official charged in the death of an Iraqi detainee, also was ordered to forfeit $6,000 in pay and given 60 days of restricted movement.