A remotely detonated car bomb attack on the Batasan complex that houses the Philippines House of Representatives at Quezon City in Manila Nov. 13 killed four, including the suspected target—Rep. Wahab Akbar (Basilan), a former Muslim militant who backed operations against the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. Twelve other were injured in the blast, including two congressmen. National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales revealed that authorities received an intelligence report three weeks ago about threats on Akbar's life, according to the Philippine ABS-CBN TV News. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has offered a $100,000 reward for information that can prevent such attacks in the future.

Colombians went to the polls on Oct. 28 to elect 18,527 local and regional officials, including mayors, governors, municipal council members and deputies. As has been usual in regional elections, turnout was low. The campaign was marked by the murders of 29 candidates—mostly attributed to the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)—and efforts by right-wing paramilitaries to extend their influence.

Peruvian miners began an open-ended strike on Nov. 5, affecting copper, tin, iron and zinc mines owned by Southern Copper Corp., Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Newmont Mining Corp., Doe Run Resources Corp, Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SA, Minsur SA, Shougang Hierroperu, Cia. Minera Raura SA and Cia Minera Santa Luisa. Copper prices have gone up 10% on the international market this year, in part because of reductions in output caused by strikes in Peru (including a five-day national walkout in May), Chile and Mexico. Peru is the world's largest producer of silver; it comes in third in copper, zinc and tin production and fifth in gold production.

The US House of Representatives voted 285 to 132 on Nov. 8 to approve the Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA, or TLC for its initials in Spanish). The agreement, which eliminates tariffs and establishes new rules for foreign investment, was approved by Peru's Congress in June 2006. It still requires ratification by the US Senate, but the measure is expected to pass when it comes up for a vote the week of Nov. 12.

On Nov. 7 Chilean authorities suddenly moved prisoners José Huenchunao and Patricia Troncoso Robles to the hospital in Angol in Region IX, apparently because of the effects of a 28-day hunger strike. Along with three other prisoners—José Millalen, Jaime Marileo and Hector Llaitul—Huenchunao and Troncoso started an open-ended hunger strike on Oct. 10 to demand the release of more than 20 indigenous Mapuche activists they consider political prisoners; an end to the militarization of the traditional Mapuche territories; and an end to repression.

From the all too appropriately named political blog Morons.org, Nov. 12:

We apparently have a new Attorney General....
Last Thursday, Judge Michael Mukasey was confirmed as Attorney General by the Senate in a vote of 53-40 in the dead of night, at 11:04PM. This happened just two days after Mukasey was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, making it an unusually quick confirmation. So quick, in fact, that none of the Senators running for President were able to return to Washington in time to vote on it. So quick that no one had any time to arrange a filibuster, should they have desired to block the nomination.

David Adler on his Lerterland blog exposes the latest ugly manifestation of idiot leftism—which, unfortunately, seems to be rapidly eclipsing any legitimate critique of empire. Arundhati Roy's latest seems to be an advocacy of revolutionary suicide—a cheerful admission that the jihadists and Maoists she roots for would hang feminists, bohemians and dissident intellectuals such as herself if they ever acheived power. We don't know whether to laugh or cry over this one:

Spain's King Juan Carlos (now famously) told Hugo Chavez to "shut up" after the Venezuelan president repeatedly referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist" at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 10. (AP, Nov. 11) The following day, Chavez upped the ante by suggesting that Juan Carlos knew in advance of the abortive 2002 coup d'etat in Venezuela. Chavez asserted that Spain's ambassador had appeared at Venezuela's presidential palace during the two-day coup to support interim "president" Pedro Carmona—with the King's blessing. "Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" Chavez rhetorically asked at a news conference "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup-plotters without authorization from his majesty."