This profile of Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in the Sept. 24 New York Times (online at Iran Focus) is a skillful piece of subtle obfuscation. It notes (largely in the past tense) the ties between the National Council of Resistance and the Mujahedeen Khalq (MEK) without stating explicitly that the latter is the armed wing of the former. It also states that Mujahedeen Khalq "has been labeled a terrorist organization" by "the West" without stating explicitly that it is on the US State Department's list of "foreign terrorist organizations." It notes that Mujahedeen Khalq received shelter in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, but says nothing about its current status in Iraq under the US occupation. The group has played into the US strategy of portraying the Iranian regime as bent on procuring nuclear weapons, but its past suggests it would serve as an unreliable client for Washington at best...

Some 1,600 immigrants who say they were abused at the Elizabeth detention center in New Jersey between August 1994 and June 1995 have won a $2.5 million settlement from the private prison company which operated the facility. The suit was brought in March 1996 against Esmor Correctional Services of Melville, NY; the company is now based in Florida and is called Correctional Services Corp. In settling the class action suit, Brown v. Esmor, the company acknowledged no wrongdoing. After legal fees are paid, some 1,600 detainees--many of whom have since been deported--will divide about $1.5 million, with plaintiffs' awards based on how long they were held and what abuses they suffered. Attorneys for the two sides signed off on the settlement on May 19 of this year; Dickinson R. Debevoise, US District Judge in Newark, approved it on Aug. 10.

British MP George Galloway, current darling of the left for his testimony against the Iraq war before the US Senate earlier this year and for slaying such mediocre dragons as Christopher Hitchens, reveals a disturbing side in a Sept. 9 interview with the loopy conspiranoid site Prison Planet, in which he both blames the Jews for persecution of Jews (including bringing Hitler to power), as well as for unleashing the global terror wave upon the world.

From the UK Guardian, Sept. 21:

Western aid groups and journalists, including the BBC, helped Islamists in a bid to overthrow the Uzbek government, prosecutors claimed yesterday at the start of a trial of 15 men accused of organising May's uprising in Andijan.

From Direland, Doug Ireland's political blog, Sept. 22:

The internationally renowned correspodent for The Independent -- the great British journalist Robert Fisk -- has been banned from entering the United States. Fisk has been covering war zones for decades, but is above all known for his incisive reporting from the Middle East for more than 20 years. His critical coverage of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, and the continuing occupation that has followed it, has repeatedly exposed U.S. and British government disinformation campaigns. He also has exposed how the bulk of the press reports from Iraq have been "hotel journalism" -- a phrase Fisk coined.

A group of some 3,000 indigenous people gathering to mark the official opening of a new reserve are trapped in the remote village of Maturca, Roraima state, after its bridge burned down. Authorities say settlers opposed to the creation of the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve deliberately burned the bridge, which is the only access into Maturuca. Brazil agreed to create the reservation in April, despite strong opposition from local landowners and settlers. Some 3,500 people had gathered at Maturuca for the celebrations. (BBC, Sept. 23)

A man splashed his own blood on a column outside the federal courthouse in Binghamton, NY, where four anti-war protesters were on trial for engaging in a similar protest at a military recruiting station. Gary Kline, 50, of Montour Falls, walked past police officers and splashed the blood on a column outside the Binghamton Federal Building. He then made handprints on the surface. Local police released Kline, saying any charges would have to come from federal prosecutors.

From the UK's New Statesman, Sept. 19, via the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA):

As the country wakes up from 25 years of conflict and despair, a young female politician is taking on the warlords and winning. F Brinley Bruton reports from Farah Province
August temperatures in Farah Province, on the border with Iran, can hit 50 C, beating residents into a submissive slouch. But on a Friday in Farah's capital, the offices of Malalai Joya, who is running for parliament, crackle with life. All activity focuses on a woman who is slumped in a chair, her head bowed and the side of her face swollen. Her mouth hangs slack and her tongue worries at her crooked teeth.