Five people were killed and nearly 40 wounded in two bomb blasts in Afghanistan Dec. 29. Two US soldiers and their interpreter were among about 20 people wounded in a suicide car bombing in the small town of Charikar, 50 kilometers north of Kabul. There has been a suicide car bombing in Afghanistan every day since Dec. 26. A purported member of the Hezb-i-Islami faction of insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claimed responsibility for the Charikar bombing, claiming by telephone to AFP that several US soldiers were killed. A second, remote-controlled blast hit the southern town of Spin Boldak, on the border with Pakistan, killing a two-year-old and two adults, and leaving 19 injured.

From the International Transport Workers' Federation, Dec. 28:

Trade unionists and human rights activists are sending a strong warning signal to the international community following the detention of trade unionists by the Iranian secret police over the holiday period.

Israeli air-strikes continued on Gaza for a second day Dec. 28, bringing the death toll to 292, with more than 1,000 injured, 180 of them seriously. (Ma'an News Agency, Dec. 28) At the 36-hour point in Israel's "Operation Cast Lead," Israeli missiles hit some 40 smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border, killing two and injuring 22. Smuggled fuel being stored in the tunnels ignited, causing huge fires. The blasts prompted hundreds to race for new gaps in the border wall, but the refugees were met by Egyptian security forces, who used force to repel the crowds. (Ma'an News Agency, Dec. 28) Some 150 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel since the air-strikes began, killing one person and injuring about 12. (BBC News, Dec. 28)

A Greek government official's car was firebombed Dec. 26 while a petrol bomb was thrown at a bank and another group attacked a police car, authorities said. The car, used by a junior environment minister, Stavros Kaloyannis, was hit in front of his home in the northwestern city of Ioanina. The attack on a branch of the Greek Farm Bank in Psychiko, a suburb of Athens, caused minor damage. In the evening, youths attacked a police car passing in front of an Athens hospital. No injuries were reported.

China's official media reported the arrest of 59 Tibetans Dec. 25 on charges of inciting protests during the March unrest in the region. Reports cited Xin Yuanming, deputy director of the public security bureau of Lhasa, as saying "some people started making up stories and spreading rumors, posing a threat to the security of the region and its people." The 59 are accused of acting under orders of the Dalai Lama, and of downloading "reactionary" songs from the Internet for distribution within Tibet.

A deadly US military raid on an Afghan house Dec. 25 sparked protests and produced conflicting reports over who was killed. The US said the dead were 11 armed Taliban militants, part of a bomb-making cell in the Maiwand district west of Kandahar, on Thursday. US forces said they found dozens of land mines, grenades and bomb-making materials. But local Afghan officials said eight militants and four civilians were killed. Angry Afghans protested by blocking the highway between Kandahar and Herat with burning tires. (NYT, Dec. 26)

A suicide bomber on a bicycle in Iraq's northern city of Mosul targeted a protest against the Israeli air-raids on the Gaza Strip, killing one civilian and wounding 16 on Dec. 27. The protest was sponsored by the Sunni-backed Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). (AFP, Dec. 28) The attack came days after raucous parliamentary sessions over the pending agreement allowing foreign troops to remain in Iraq.

UN rights officials praised the Nicaraguan government's decision to give the indigenous Awas Tingni community official title to its traditional lands, marking the culmination of a decades-long struggle by the group to gain recognition and protection of its ancestral territory. "This affirmative step by the government of Nicaragua represents an important advancement in the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide," said Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people James Anaya.