Security sources in Cairo said Feb. 8 that hundreds of Egyptian nationals who have returned from the Gaza Strip over the past three days are under investigation following claims they were trying to join Hamas. The Egyptians were reportedly members of fundamentalist groups who entered the Palestinian territories after the toppling of the Gaza border fence on Jan. 23 to join Hamas and fight against the Israeli occupation. The sources said Hamas asked them to return to Egypt. The sources told Reuters news agency that 600 Egyptians were seized, but women and children were allowed to return to their homes. (Ma'an News Agency, Feb. 8)

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith signed an order Feb. 7 for the extradition of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical cleric imprisoned in the UK who is wanted by federal prosecutors in New York. Al-Masri, the former imam of north London's Finsbury Park Mosque, has 14 days to lodge an appeal to the High Court against extradition and may also appeal to the House of Lords or the European Court. Al-Masri, who is blind in one eye and sometimes wears a hook in place of one of his missing hands, is currently serving a seven year sentence at the high-security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London. He denies US claims that he tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and aided a 1998 hostage-taking raid in Yemen. (Bloomberg, Feb. 8)

Congolese forces arrested Col. Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, accused former leader of the rebel National Integrationist Front (FNI), and handed him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Ngudjolo is alleged to have played a key role in a murderous attack on the village of Bogoro, Ituri province, in February 2003. He is facing three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes, including sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers. He is the third Congolese national sent to the ICC, after Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and Germain Katanga. (UN News Service via AllAfrica, Feb. 7)

Pakistani Taliban fighters led by commander Baitullah Mehsud Feb. 6 announced the suspension of attacks against security forces in the Waziristan tribal region and the Swat valley for an indefinite period. Maulvi Muhammad Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, told reporters in Peshawar from an undisclosed location that the militants had stopped attacks because the "government has softened operations" against the militants. "We have stated earlier that if anyone does not want to fight us, we will also not fight with them. But if anyone imposes war on us we will fight with them," Omar said. But in Islamabad, interim Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said the security forces had "broken the back of the militants and they are on the run." Khan said a grand jirga or council of elders will be convened soon to end hostilities in the tribal regions. (PTI, Feb. 6)

A 37-year-old US businesswoman and married mother of three is seeking justice after she was thrown in jail by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh. Yara, who does not want her last name published, was bruised and crying when she was released from a day in prison after she was strip-searched, threatened and forced to sign confessions by the kingdom's "Mutaween," or Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

From the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), Jan. 6:

As a result of the continuous efforts and collaboration between the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) and the workers of the water supply trade unions in Basra, we were able to achieve some of our demands; including the main demand which is hiring the contract employees as permanent employees with full benefits. This achievement came as a result of a demonstration held by the workers on site and following the meeting between the head of FWCUI, Subhi Albadri, and the officials of the ministry of the water resources in addition to the warning that was issued by the workers in which they stated that they will stage a strike on-site unless the ministry responds to their demands.

The US Forest Service, with minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, has approved a permit allowing the UK's Vane Minerals company to explore for uranium in the Kaibab National Forest just outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. The site is less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon's southern rim. If deposits are found, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore tumbled two decades ago. The Forest Service ruled that the canyon could be "categorically excluded" from a full environmental review because exploration would last less than a year and might not lead to mining activity. (Denver Post, Feb. 7)

Protesters from the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations returned to the prospective uranium mining site near Sharbot Lake, Ontario, Feb. 4 after mediation talks with the provincial government that began last fall broke down. Robert Lovelace, co-chief of the Ardoch First Nation, said the protesters are standing outside the gate to the site to prevent the mining exploration company Frontenac Ventures Corp. will start test drills there, as it is legally entitled to do. "We're monitoring the site and if Frontenac Ventures attempts to bring a drill onto the site, we'll blockade that drill," he said.