Iraqi and US military forces will beef up security ahead of landmark provincial elections set for Jan. 31, when up to 15 million Iraqis could go to the polls in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Already candidates have been targeted for death. On Dec. 31 unidentified gunmen shot Mowaffaq al-Hamdani, a candidate for Mosul, and on January 3 a member of the Kurdish Communist Party was killed by unknown assailants in Kirkuk. (AFP, Jan. 8) Among those who will be fielding candidates for the first time are leaders of Iraq's traditionally marginalized Black community, who say they were inspired to run by Barack Obama's victory in the US. "Obama's win gave us moral strength," said Jalal Chijeel, secretary of the Free Iraqi Movement. "When he became a candidate, so did we."

Finnish officials are deliberating on whether to offer asylum to former terror suspects detained at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay. The US has proposed that Finland take in Uighur prisoners, members of the Turkic minority in western China. Some 15 Uighurs are currently imprisoned at Guantánamo, and are unable to return to China for fear of being tortured. The facility houses about 250 prisoners and has held about 750 prisoners since it began operations. It is unclear how Finland would classify the detainees, who have not been charged with any crimes. Most likely, they would be considered refugees. (UNPO, Jan. 8)

Peace brokers proclaimed a breakthrough in efforts to halt the Gaza conflict Jan. 7 as Israel's cabinet considered a Franco-Egyptian initiative and Russia pressed for a diplomatic solution in talks with Hamas. Israel stopped short of saying whether the plan floated by the presidents of Egypt and France after a summit at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh would be accepted. Hamas representatives also said the plan was under consideration. (Middle East Online, Jan. 7)

The TamilNet news service reports that Red Cross and other aid and medical evacuation vehicles are being barred access to the northern pocket of Sri Lanka still held by the Tamil Tiger rebels, which has come under heavy bombardment in recent days. Sri Lankan army forces are blocking all traffic in and out of the zone, while government air-strikes continue. An unknown number of wounded civilians apparently remain trapped in the besieged pocket. (TamilNet, Jan. 7)

An Anglo-French oil company is poised to send more than 1,000 workers into a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon inhabited by uncontacted indigenous tribes. The company, Perenco, has just been given the go-ahead from the Peruvian government to drill for oil in the region. It is estimated to be the biggest oil discovery in Peru in 30 years.

In a victory for constitutional rights, two Transportation Security Authority (TSA) officials and JetBlue Airways have paid Raed Jarrar $240,000 to settle charges that they illegally discriminated against the US resident based on his ethnicity and the Arabic writing on his t-shirt. TSA and JetBlue officials prevented Jarrar from boarding his August 2006 flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport until he agreed to cover his shirt, which read "We Will Not Be Silent" in English and Arabic, and then forced him to sit at the back of the plane. The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Jarrar’s behalf in August 2007.

Israeli tanks and troops surged into towns across the Gaza Strip Dec. 6, battling Hamas fighters through the streets and alleys of Gaza City in the heaviest fighting of the 11-day-old offensive. Israeli air-strikes hit three UN-run schools, killing at least 45 people—bringing the Palestinian death toll in "Operation Cast Lead" to 635 and sparking urgent new ceasefire calls.

Turkish warplanes and Iranian artillery bombarded Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Jan. 5, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said. "Turkish planes and Iranian artillery bombarded Aquwan and the Iranians bombarded Maradu. The bombardment lasted for about one hour starting from 7 PM," said the spokesman, Ahmed Denis, said. He had no immediate word on any casualties.