Big kudos to the African American-oriented NewsOne website for relentlessly calling out Ron Paul's ties to the white supremacist radical right. Now they have dug up an unseemly affair covered by the New York Times in 1981—today disgracefully ignored by the supposed "liberal media"!—that implicates the supposed "libertarian" presidential hopeful in an attempted mercenary invasion and coup d'etat to establish a white separatist homeland in the Black-majority Caribbean nation of Dominica. No, we aren't kidding. It seems that one of Paul's more ugly contemporary supporters, Don Black of the neo-Nazi outfit Stormfront, at that time a Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, was indicted by US federal authorities in the plot, dubbed "Operation Red Dog." The scheme called for hiring mercenaries to overthrow then-Prime Minister Eugenia Charles and restore the previous prime minister, Patrick John—and then creating an Aryan paradise on the island, funded through casinos, cocaine and brothels. On the day the mercenary force was to set out for Dominica in a small ship on the Louisiana coast, they were busted by BATF agents—who found over thirty automatic weapons, shotguns, rifles, handguns, dynamite, a confederate flag and a Nazi flag. In a brief flurry of coverage, the media dubbed the plan the "Bayou of Pigs." Prosecutors tried to subpoena then-congressman Paul and ex-Texas governor John Connally after mercenary leader Mike Perdue said they were in on the plot. The request was turned down by a federal judge. David Duke—also now an outspoken Paul supporter (check out his website)—was called to testify before a grand jury, but took the Fifth Amendment.

At least 20,000 marched in Istanbul Jan. 19 to mark five years since the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink—and to protest the lack of justice in his case. Marchers carried black signs reading "We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian," written in Turkish and Armenian. Three people have been imprisoned in the slaying of the writer, but charges of official negligence or state collusion were rejected. A 17-year-old Turkish nationalist soccer player was convicted of the killing, but earlier this week an Istanbul court acquitted 19 suspected accomplices.The journalist, shot dead outside the Istanbul offices of Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, had angered Turkish nationalists by describing the mass killing of Armenians a century ago as genocide. (CNN, BBC News, Jan. 19)

Japanese industry minister Yukio Edano on Jan. 20 promised the mayor of a city where gravel apparently contaminated in the Fukushima nuclear disaster was used for building material that he will instruct Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay compensation for related damage. Radioactive gravel is believed to be responsible for high radiation readings in a new apartment complex in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima prefecture. The contamination was first discovered when dosimeter readings of children in the city revealed that a high school student had been exposed to 1.62 millisieverts in a span of three months—well above the government's annual 1 millisievert safety limit. Investigations traced the radiation back to the student’s three-story apartment building, where officials detected radioactive cesium inside the concrete. The gravel used in the cement came from a quarry in Namie, a town within the 12-mile evacuation zone instated in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant last March. Investigators found that some 5,200 metric tons of gravel from Namie was likely shipped to over 200 companies, making its way into apartment buildings, schools, bridges, and possibly temporary homes for Fukushima evacuees. A dozen families live in the tainted Nihonmatsu apartment complex, which was built six months ago. (Kyodo, Jan. 20; ABC News, Jan. 16; Mainichi Daily News Jan. 6)

An Israeli government plan to create a greenbelt around Jerusalem is fueling opposition among Palestinians and their supporters. Mayor Nir Barkat hopes the plan, which focuses on archeological preservation, will boost tourism in Jerusalem, but critics say the parks amount to a land grab that consolidates Israel's grip on occupied East Jerusalem. "People say, 'It's just a park,' but these parks change totally the political scope of Jerusalem and have a direct impact on the lives of Palestinians," says Hagit Ofran, who monitors Jewish settlements for Peace Now. Efrat Cohen Bar, an architect with the progressive Israeli urban planning group Bimkom, which recently conducted a study of national parks in East Jerusalem and evirons, terms them "green settlements"—serving to keep Palestinians off the land while expanding Israeli control.

Colombia's Caño-Limón oil pipeline was bombed by presumed FARC guerillas Jan. 20—with pumping still halted following a similar attack one week ago, the national oil company Ecopetrol said. The new rupture, at Convención in Norte de Santander department near the Venezuelan border, has local communities worried about an oil slick that is advancing on the Río Catatumbo. Authorities are racing to contain the oil before it contaminates the river. Two days earlier, a blast ruptured the smaller Zulia-Ayacucho pipeline through the region, also threatening the Catatumbo. The attacks come amid a new FARC offensive in Norte de Santander, which included a car bomb attack in Tibu that killed three civilians.

Mali's army says 47 were killed in ongoing clashes this week with a new Tuareg rebel group, whose members include former pro-Qaddafi fighters. "Our armed forces have bravely beaten back the attacks of the former Libyan fighters and the MNLA rebels," the armed forces said in a statement Jan. 19, using the acronym of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. But MNLA spokesman Moussa Ag Acharatoumane denied the government's account, telling the Reuters that his fighters had killed around 30 to 40 soldiers. Both rebel and government forces claim to be in control of Aguelhoc. The MNLA spokesman said fighting was suspended in Tessalit to allow for the withdrawal of Algerian soldiers who had been helping Mali. Sources told Al Jazeera that the army is conducting house raids and arrests in the northern towns of Gao and Kidal, targetting Tuareg tribal sheikhs, as well as Tuareg military and political figures.

From Lower Manhattan's Downtown Express, Jan. 18:

Girl killed on Delancey St.
A 12-year-old girl on her way home from Castle Middle School on Henry St. was struck and killed by a car around 2:40 p.m. Fri., Jan. 13 at Delancey and Clinton Sts, at the Williamsburg Bridge ramp.

Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a warning to Israelis to stay away from Bangkok, citing intelligence indicating that Hezbollah militants could be preparing an attack in Thailand ahead of the Feb. 12 fourth anniversary of the assassination of the Shi'ite movement's senior commander Imad Mughniyeh. Israel reportedly informed Thai authorities on Dec. 22 that three Hezbollah operatives had entered Thailand in order to launch an attack on Israeli tourists. On Jan. 13, Thai authorities arrested Idris Hussein (also rendered Hussein Atris), a dual Lebanese-Swiss citizen, at Bangkok airport a few minutes before he was due to board a flight out of the country. Hussein was charged with possession of ammonium nitrate and other controlled chemical substances after a search of a building he had rented in Samut Songkhram, southwest of Bangkok. A manhunt is said to be underway for at least one other suspect. Following Hussein's arrest, Israel, the US and nine other countries issued travel advisories warning against visiting Bangkok. US ambassador Kristie Kenney said on Twitter the threat is "Bangkok specific" and "credible." (Bloomberg, Bangkok Post, Jan. 17; JTA, Ha'aretz, Jan. 15)