The international community has been attempting to restore peace to West Africa, long torn by multiple inter-related ethnic and civil conflicts. Now, just as Liberia is hailed as a success story—with the country's first post-war president, and Africa's first woman president, taking office Jan. 16—neighboring Ivory Coast is once again descending into war. Behind the new bloodshed is a continuing Anglo-American-versus-French struggle for control of the region and its precious resources—including significant and virtually untapped oil reserves.

Suicide bombers killed 26 people in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province Jan. 16, heightening fears that Taliban militants are copying the tactics of Iraqi insurgents. An attacker riding a motorcycle blew himself up as a crowd left a wrestling match in Spin Boldak, on the Pakistan border, killing 20 and wounding at least 20 more. It was the deadliest suicide attack since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001. Hours earlier, three Afghan soldiers and a civilian died in a suspected Taliban suicide car-bombing in Kandahar city. Another car bomb in Kandahar Jan. 8 claimed the lives of a Canadian diplomat and two Afghans. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the strike.

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) issues this response to "The Afghanistan Miracle" by Diane Tebelius, an op-ed which ran in The Seattle Times Oct. 4, 2005:

The "Miracle" or a Mockery of Afghanistan?
Ms. Diane Tebelius, Republican congressional candidate and observer in the Afghan elections sponsored by the International Republican Institute, is perhaps the first election observer in Afghanistan who wasted no time to communicate her impression in The Seattle Times of October 4, 2005.

Iraq's oft-fractious trade unions issued the following joint statement yesterday at the end of a two-day meeting in Amman, Jordan. The meeting was attended by labor representatives from throughout Iraq.

A Joint Statement Issued by the Iraqi Trade Unions Concerning the Programs of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Iraq

The Iraqi economy has been severely affected by decades of sanctions, wars and occupation. The Iraqi trade unions and federations believe in the capacity of the country with all its oil and mineral resources to provide a decent living standard for Iraqis.

The federations and unions consider that the wars and occupation have caused a dramatic decrease in the living and social standards of Iraqis and especially of workers.

The federations and unions stress the importance of complete sovereignty for Iraq over its petroleum and natural resources so as to develop them in a way that assures a complete reconstruction of the country. We wish to stress the following points in regard to the policies of the IMF and World Bank in Iraq:

An alleged commander of a Mexico's clandestine Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) and two other suspected guerillas were arrested in the state of Veracruz, officials announced Jan. 12. Gustavo Robles Lopez, 29, and two others were arrested when authorities approached their car which had suffered a breakdown along a rural highway, said federal police Capt. Camilo Castané. Two more suspects fled the scene, he said.

Will Chile be the next to join South America's growing anti-imperialist bloc? Michelle Bachelet will certainly not prove a radical populist like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez or Bolivia's newly-elected Evo Morales. But she could prove a more moderate member of the bloc, like Brazil's Lula de Silva, Argentina's Néstor Kirchner or Uruguay's Tabare Vazquez. (Peru could be next, where candidate Ollanta Humala is cut from the more radical mold.) From the AP, Jan. 16:

Gee, we can hardly wait for this one. From Reuters, Jan. 15:

TEHRAN - Iran is planning a conference to assess the scale of the Holocaust, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejects as a myth, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday.

There they go again. "We apologize, but I can't tell you that we wouldn't do the same thing again," says John McCain. Why do politicians always talk out of both sides of their mouths like this? What does an apology mean if you readily admit you would engage in the same behavior again? Absolutely nothing. From AP, Jan. 17:

Islamic groups yesterday vowed to step up anti-US protests in Pakistan over an alleged CIA airstrike on a border village, as intelligence officials said al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader was supposed to be in the village for an Islamic holiday when it was struck.